Valve buffer stage

[drummerman]

Controversial subject, especially when it comes to Chinese ones, but let me tell you, it works a treat.

Adds weight, scale, sweetness (smoothness?) to any system.

Fantastic build quality with a precision aluminium machined case and rastered pots which would probably embarrass some more 'enthusiast' units at twenty times the price. - Not for the willy waving audiophile though for which size/weight equates to quality as this thing is minute.

Folks have questioned the validity of these units ie. how can a 12V supply give enough power to the tubes ... etc.

Me don't know. There is an inverter which reportedly supplies around a hundred volts to each valve. - Whatever. - They glow very dimly and get fairly warm but not hot. You can touch them.

This probably fares well for longevity of the valves, some Chinese 6JN or something like that and I dont really care how the unit achieves what it does but it is silly value.

Some change the tubes for some NOS Mullards or similar but why bother. The chi bottles seem perfectly good.

Even if you question the technical aspects of this thing, look at it as a lovely tone control for a system that could do with a little glow, going beyond what mere bass and treble controls usually do.

Cost? A cheap meal for two!

Pics to follow.

 

[Darren]

Which one did you get?

 

[SteveG]

I've never had a valve buffer stage although an odd phase where each of my systems had to have a valve component in it somewhere e.g. one system had a valve amp, another had a CD player with a valve output stage and the final one had a valve phono stage. I seem to have grown out of it though - although it wasn't deliberate.

 

[Hempknight]

You can get the Musical Fidelity X-10D pretty cheaply too, I use one between my DAC and preamp.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

Adds weight, scale, sweetness (smoothness?) to any system.

Any system?

 

[Taff63]

Why don't you just buy an amp that suits rather than one that needs a buffer stage?

 

[Fatmarley]

Any system?

I tried a little bear buffer with upgraded valve and it didn't do anything, so I'm back to passive.

Anyone want to buy a Little Bear valve buffer with upgraded valve for £18 posted?

 

[drummerman]

Which one did you get?

DollaTek FX-Audio TUBE-03 HIFI... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JM8QNCZ/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

 

[drummerman]

Why don't you just buy an amp that suits rather than one that needs a buffer stage?

I did.

Now it suits some more

You know the old saying ... you don't miss something you have'nt had or ... you only know you miss something when it's ... what the f*** am I dabbling on about, back to my Saturday cappuccino.

 

[Dougie2404]

You can get the Musical Fidelity X-10D pretty cheaply too, I use one between my DAC and preamp.

I got one when they first came out. HiFi News had an offer on them, Chops re-capped it for me a while ago. I did think it was a bit noisy but it has settled down again. I use it after the DAC so everything digital gets the benefit, still happy with it.

 

[tuga]

Adds weight, scale, sweetness (smoothness?) to any system.

Personally I would rather address whatever is causing the lightness, lack of scale and hardness or any other flaw rather than cover it up it foundation as you'll inevitably be affecting other areas of performance.
Two wrongs don't make a right.

 

[SteveG]

While it may either just be making up for some flaws elsewhere in the system, and/or colouring the system in a way the OP likes - I don't see that it really matters if the OP prefers the sound with it in.

Thinking it'd improve every system is a stretch though.

 

[drummerman]

While it may either just be making up for some flaws elsewhere in the system, and/or colouring the system in a way the OP likes - I don't see that it really matters if the OP prefers the sound with it in.

Thinking it'd improve every system is a stretch though.

I did'nt say it would improve every system but it's likely to add its character to most (tone controls engaged)

I wouldn't put this in an overly smooth or warm sounding system. For the rest, well, beauty is in the ears of the beholder.

As to the comment that a system should sound correct out of the box, I kind of agree with that but it's nice to have tone controls, this gives that option.

Aaaanyway, most die hard audiophiles would never buy anything like this.

Me on the other hand, I have pretty much moved away from that tag, for the moment at least.

Still enjoying playing music every day and the less I have to pay for it the better and ... conversely, it is much more fun.

When low expectation turns into delight you know you're on to a winner. Pay s*** loads and quite often the result is the polar opposite. Buyers remorse n'all that.

Still, I appreciate nice things and don't advocate everyone should follow my example.

Anyway, at 25 quid a pop anybody curious can try this thing. At worst you'll get a tenner back when flogging it.

Coming back from my bi-monthly ban I renew my offer to put a Topping crappy amp with the above heap of rubbish against someone's high end system as long as you're not too far away.

Let's play and see how close it would come.

Ps. Tried to post some picks but Flickr has other ideas.

 

[Darren]

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Yea but.... isn't that what system matching is all about?

 

[tuga]

Yea but.... isn't that what system matching is all about?

System matching is different from improving on system or equipment shortcomings.

But the same logic applies: if you match a toppy speaker to an amplifier or source with rolled-off treble this won't necessarily make sound better, only more balanced from a tonal perspective. Again, two wrongs don't (necessarily) make a right.

That is why it's so important to learn how to recognise shortcomings and attempt to identify the most probable causes.
If you don't, system upgrading is but a random activity of box-swapping, with only a slim chance of addressing the existing problems.

 

[Hempknight]

I got one when they first came out. HiFi News had an offer on them, Chops re-capped it for me a while ago. I did think it was a bit noisy but it has settled down again. I use it after the DAC so everything digital gets the benefit, still happy with it.

I did the full Rock Grotto set of mods to mine, and managed to pick up an x-psu cheaply, even tried changing the tubes, eventually settled on some cheap Toshiba ones.

 

[drummerman]

System matching is different from improving on system or equipment shortcomings.

But the same logic applies: if you match a toppy speaker to an amplifier or source with rolled-off treble this won't necessarily make sound better, only more balanced from a tonal perspective. Again, two wrongs don't (necessarily) make a right.

That is why it's so important to learn how to recognise shortcomings and attempt to identify the most probable causes.
If you don't, system upgrading is but a random activity of box-swapping, with only a slim chance of addressing the existing problems.

I think some audiophiles sometimes just punish/deny themselves too much when, on occasions, the solution is very simple (and not even new) ... tone controls in this instance.

In this case it wasn't even a solution to a problem more of a welcome surprise.

On the other hand you could say it was a solution to a problem I didn't know I actually had.

This goes back to what I said earlier, you dont miss what you didn't have.

 

[tuga]

I think some audiophiles sometimes just punish/deny themselves too much when, on occasions, the solution is very simple (and not even new) ... tone controls in this instance.

In this case it wasn't even a solution to a problem more of a welcome surprise.

On the other hand you could say it was a solution to a problem I didn't know I actually had.

This goes back to what I said earlier, you dont miss what you didn't have.

To be fair, you did say it was a controversial post.

Tone controls only have an effect on the frequency reponse, and even they have drawbacks (phase shift, non-linearities?) which affect transparency (as anything you put in the signal path does).
A higher-fidelity system will not require tone controls as much as your run of the mill one, problems with recordings will be a lot less disturbing and even old mono recordings will sound nice.

 

[GT]

A valve buffer stage almost certainly means a cathode follower circuit (approximately zero gain) in a box, but this is a feedback device so audio performance will not be as good as it could be. It would be better to feed your sources into a properly designed preamp rather than just adding another compromising stage in between...

 

[Arkless Electronics]

A valve buffer stage almost certainly means a cathode follower circuit (approximately zero gain) in a box, but this is a feedback device so audio performance will not be as good as it could be. It would be better to feed your sources into a properly designed preamp rather than just adding another compromising stage in between...

....Of course quite a few valve pre amps ARE a cathode follower with a vol control before it... such as many of the Croft ones. Whether of not a cathode follower has a detrimental effect is a more controversial subject! There are cathode followers.. and there are cathode followers
Feedback, although 100%, is local degenerative feedback and many don't even count this as feedback. Many "zero feedback" amps have loads of feedback if we class this as feedback, even if they have no overall feedback.