Cryo valve treatment

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:33 pm

I see our valve supply companies are still promoting cryo treated valves. To the best of my knowledge, cryo treatment has not been discussed for some time and when it originally was, there was a considerable level of scepticism over whether the treatment offered anything to the valve performance. As some time has passed, has anyone got any updated views on this treatment? Is it a benefit? Is it worth the cost? Are there better alternatives?

Toppsy · Post by **Toppsy** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 9:48 am

Greg,

why don't you splash out on a set of tubes for your amp and then you can give us a personal opinion whether it was money well spent.

Just a thought.

Mike H · Post by **Mike H** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:25 pm

That's the problem I've got, can't afford to experiment

Also, the types of valves chosen are not necessarily what I want.

There is a possible alternative, heating in an oven, which you can do at home, there is/was a web page about it somewhere. The limiting factor is melting the plastic base of octals IIRC.

Neal · Post by **Neal** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 12:36 am

I struggle to see what benefit cryo treatment would bring, if there was a perceived improvement to the sound then I can only think the operational parameters of the valve would have been changed...in other words you could achive the same by just choosing an alternative brand of valve....who's to say cryo treating a JJ who'd be any better than using an EH or some other alternative....

Mike H · Post by **Mike H** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 12:10 pm

Yes you need a before and after comparison with exactly the same valve(s), buy a new cryo treated one, it still might have been better than what you're replacing it with before it was frozen.

The way I understand it, freezing is to do with altering the metal where it's been spot welded, as of course your signal currents go through these spot welds.

jack · Post by **jack** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:34 pm

Did anyone ever try to listen to any "cryo" tubes vs "ports" (plain old room temperature specimens)?

Was there any difference over & above just being two different valves?

I'm sure that if a bunch of burned-in valves were carefully recorded, then the valves carefully put in a polystyrene box (off the floor) containing a temp probe, into which liquid nitrogen was slowly introduced (not touching the valves), then left for 24 hours at -196C or whatever, then slowly warmed up, we could do a test - this seems to be what the "cryo" vendors are doing (see eBay 380383572400 etc.).

Might have to be one of our members in a university environment to have access to liquid N.

ed · Post by ed » Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:39 pm

ars longa vita brevis

jack · Post by **jack** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:46 pm

ed wrote:ars longa vita brevis

Sane, paululum linguae latinae dico. Quidem, vita nimis brevis - non teneas aurum totum quod splendet ut aurum. Electron fistulae sunt mirabilia et magicis quae sunt plena mysterium.

Mike H · Post by **Mike H** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:49 pm

Who's got a long arse?

Mike H · Post by **Mike H** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:53 pm

Nah very poetic though.

shane · Post by **shane** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 8:34 pm

Can't help feeling that there should be a suitable translation for electron, but since I haven't looked at Latin since 1966, it eludes me. What was the Latin word for amber, I wonder?

pre65 · Post by **pre65** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 8:36 pm

But apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, viniculture, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

shane · Post by **shane** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 8:42 pm

Knocked us out of Euro 2012 for a kick-off...

jack · Post by **jack** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:41 pm

shane wrote:Knocked us out of Euro 2012 for a kick-off...

Thank Jove for that! Wrong-shaped ball for a starter...

Overpaid soft gits. Wouldn't last 10 seconds in a game of rugby...

Dave the bass · Post by **Dave the bass** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:22 pm

Sport = Rubbish.

End of!

DTB

audio-talk

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