Retrovalves Review

[djd100]

Re: Retrovalves Review Part II

Re: Retrovalves Review Part II

Hi USAPatriot, I was wondering what the gain difference was between Amber and Red in V1 (which in effect is a buffer stage in in my MTS style amp)?

I currently have an Amber RV in my custom Egnater/Randall MTS style amp, and it stiffened the feel a bit, and made the amp 4db quieter in the hiss department, so I'm liking it there personally.

I am however considering getting a Red RV to perhaps hit my MTS modules a little harder (vintage Marshall, Fender, Matchless, Vox, and Orange style preamps), looking for that sweet singing tone etc.

Thanks for doing all this, much appreciated!

Here's the RV's in V2 and V3. with the gainy one in V2, and the Tungsol 12AX7 placed back into V1.

This was a very cool configuration to play with. In the previous configuration, the volume was enhanced as was the distortion to some extent, but when I turned the crunch channel up, it didn't seem to have more crunch than before, though definitely more punch and a definite boost in the body of the music.

Today's experiment was a whole different animal Not only did I get an additional volume boost but also got a huge boost in the low end. Think of a low E played on a trombone, if you will. Then think of that same note played on a tuba. THAT is pretty much what I got today. The guitar sounded absolutely ponderous. Prehistoric dinosaur, ponderous. Ozzy would LOVE this sound ad it became really ominous sounding when the crunch was turned up to about 7 or 8. Lots of crunch in there, too much for my taste, really, but if I wanted to raise the hairs on people's necks with deep, OMINOUS tones, this is what I'd use to do it and with TONS of sustain as well. And this doesn't sound like digital nonsense either. It's clear as glass, so to speak, pun intended and the sound is THICK. There was a hitch though. When I stepped on the footswitch to go into overdrive, I got nothing in return. Stepping back to the crunch channel, all was well, back to OD, nothing. The OD channel was working previously...though the amp did just get back from Robert Perales about 10 days ago, having had a dead bias pot replaced. So in a few minutes when the tubes have cooled I'll put the glass back in and make sure all is still okay with the OD channel. It may be that putting that underpowered RV in V3 was something the amp didn't like, or...I don't know. There will definitely be an update in just a few minutes. Honestly, so far, I'm liking these. They have brought out tones and volume that the stock 22H simply doesn't have, especially the prehistoric stuff tonight. I could get wood from this! -Rod-

 

[hermetico]

Re: Retrovalves Review

Thanks a lot for the post. Very interesting, indeed.
These devices took my attention the very first time I saw them.
Can they sound as goog as a good tube?
If they do, that should be DA BOMB!. Good bye to tube issues. A tube for the rest of amp's life.

I never tried them (I guess, someday I have to) but, I didn't hear a video where they sounded me like the real deal.
There is some magic in the nuances of a tube that no solid state device seems to be able to reproduce. Is the kind of distortions and the lack of a perfectly linear behavior what makes the tube so musical for the human ear.

There are so many "dimensions" to describe a tube and, the most are subjective and depend on the rest of gear and player's goals...

But, can you try to describe how those devices work related to?:

* output
* dynamics
* inmediatness
* break-up spot (clean headroom, also)
* grain and type of distortion (crunchy, creamy, mushy, ...), when cranked
* dimensionality (jump notes out the speaker in a wide or narrow angle?)
* definition
* frequential content (EQ)
* harmonical richness

You know, all that things that make us to choose one or other tube and that we smartly short saying: it sounds damn good!.

I am wondering what Myles Rose thinks about these, if he even tried them.

 

[Rick330man]

Re: Retrovalves Review

I have both the blue and the amber Retrovalves. I've experimented with them in the following amps: (1) B-52AT100 head; (2) Pignose G40; (3) Epiphone Galaxie 25; (4) Fender Hot Rod Deluxe; and (5) Sunn T50C.

As a V1 primary tone generator, it does not do what tubes do. Even as a phase inverter, it isn't as impressive as a good GE or JAN Philips 5751 or 12AT7. I wound up using it in V3 and/or V4 of the amps with multiple pre-amp gain stages. It works well in that application where it is not called upon to color the tone much. It also is a great spare to take along as a replacement or trouble shooter.

It is an interesting concept that has been tried in various forms since at least the 1970s. Still, nothing can compete with the dynamic, full bodied tones we get from out Sylvanias, GEs, RCAs, Philips, etc. from the golden age of tube production.