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Yes, I have done exactly that experiment....

Posted by Winston Smith (A) on October 13, 2015 at 16:56:15

In Reply to: Cryo Treated posted by waterfall on October 11, 2015 at 21:51:17:

.... a long while ago with a closely matched pair of 1961 Sylvania-branded Mullard Blackburn 5AR4/GZ34's from Andy at VTS (they were also date matched, as I recall: f32 B1E4. Beautiful tubes). Both Sylvania/Mullard rectifier tubes were absolutely identical sounding to my ears beforehand, being employed in a ModWright PS 9.0 psu for my ModWright Sony XA5400ES, a very nice sounding player.

I also did the same comparison with some matched and newly issued steel pin Electro-Harmonix 6922s, one pair cryo'ed, one not, in my GlassWare Unbalancer output stage I had installed in the Sony XA5400ES player as the DAC's output stage.

Super short version:

Yes, the cryo treatment made, to my ears at least, a very nice, solid improvement in both the Sylvania/Mullard and the Electro Harmonix tubes' performance versus the non-cryoed controls. Definitely worth it to me. But maybe not to others; YMMV; and all that subjective qualifier stuff, of course.

Long version:

A pair of the EH 6922s and one of the closely matched Sylvania/Mullard rectifier tubes were both cryo-treated using a 72 hour cryogenic protocol consisting of 24 hours down to -300F, then a 24 hour hold at -300F, then another 24 hours up to ambient. The cryo treatment was through Ron Sheldon at Cryoset in Milpitas, California. I was VERY skeptical. And scared of messing up a superb tube like the Mullard 5AR4/GZ34, to be honest. But I went ahead and did it. What the hell, life is short, right? This was a while back, by the way.

I have to admit, I was very impressed by the result. The cryo treated Mullard rectifier tube was simply better sounding to my ears and in my system, than its non-cryo'ed closely matched mate: more open, natural, extended and definitely more detail, simply a nicer sounding tube, once all was said and done. As for longer-lived, no opinion there. Only time will tell. So far, so good.

As for the EH 6922s, the same result was had: the cryo treated 6922s were much more natural sounding, with more extension, better detail, much more openness and air, once again, just a better sounding tube all the way around.

I was convinced: cryo treatment made all the tubes, the pair of EH 6922s and the Sylvania re-branded Mullard 5AR4, sound better than their stock, non-cryo'ed equivalents. Easy to hear in my system. YMMV, though.

I have since bought many cryo treated tube sets from Ron at Cryoset. None were 'cheap', but all sounded quite superb, such as 6N1P-EV Voskhod Rockets; a Genalex GZ34 (that surprised the living crap out of me with its near-Mullard performance!); some matched pairs of Electro-Harmonix 6922s (gold and steel pins) and 12BH7s ; some matched Golden Lion 6922s (pricey, but VERY nice!); some matched Anod 6N1P-EVs; some matched Electro Harmonix 6SN7s (gold and steel pins), and some others from JJ that escape me currently. None have failed so far, despite a lot of usage, as I leave my system usually on 24/7/365.

Btw: ALL tubes from Cryoset cost me full pop, except when I could use a Cryoset 10% off coupon (which he should really send out more often, IMHO, as saving some pennies here and there really matters to a lot of folks, including me.)

Lastly, I will NEVER argue with anyone about what they subjectively perceive, BUT if you have never even tried this comparison, do not be an armchair quarterback and open your yap based on 'theory' or 'belief'. Flaming/criticizing from complete experiential ignorance shows utter egotism and arrogance, as you have NO experimental data to speak from. I do have that data, and my post hits EXACTLY what the original post asked, information-wise.

Any criticism from ignorance shows contempt for the very basis that this forum rests on: openly sharing our experiences and knowledge. But if you HAVE done the same type of comparisons, I would really like to hear what you thought, and would welcome such, even if in direct contradiction of my own experience. You hear what you hear, and you won't find me being critical of any contrary opinions in that regard. It's called respect, and civilized people show it to one another.

Happy listening to all!

WS

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