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takis
06-18-2006, 11:10 AM
hi!i ll speak about my "problem" with my rivera.ok its not so big but i want to improve him!

the basic problem that i have is at the drive channel and not at the clean.(the clean is super,with crystal cleans and big bold notes.like a blackface but maybe with more modern voicing.more...hi-fi)!
when i m on drive channel and i have the preamp volume at 2 (the maximum is at 10),its ok!
but when i ll put the preamp volume at 4 or more its too ..buzzy,fuzzy etc..and i hate it!i hope you understood what i m saying!i must put down the preamp volume at 2!

one guy that he had the same excactly problems he told me that everything solved when he changed ALL the preamp tubes.he told me that the worst sound that he had with this amp was when all the preamp tubes were sovtek,and these are the tubes that i have now!!
he recommented me to put differend tube to its socket at the preamp and not the same mark if i understood correctly!
he told me also that at first he thought that the problem was the 2 v30 speakers but he understood that was the 5 sovtek preamp tubes!i read this also at the rivera site.(about the problem with the 5 preamp sovtek tubes)

i m playing this amp mostly at drive chanell and as a boost i m using one maxon od9 and one maxon sd9 distortion!i don t like the ninja boost of the amp at all!i prefer to boost the amp with my pedals that they sound better at the drive channel and not at the clean where they sound thin!
just to know,usually i dont play with much gain!
maybe one solution with big difference at the tone would be to change the one speaker.but i want first to .."play" with some tubes for ..experiment!i ve heard that this amp is very sensitive to tube changes . (i think like all the amps..).

very general the tone i m looking after for is:
with my strat suhr:
>srv
>gilmour
>scott henderson (dog party,tore down house)
with my les paul and tele:
>robben ford
>peter green
>albert collins
================================================== ====================================
from rivera quiana manual i did copy paste this:
Location Type
V1 12AX7A
V2 12AX7A
V3 12AX7A
V4 12AX7A
V5 12AX7A
V6 6L6GC
V7 6L6GC
Here's a brief description of what each tube does:
V1 Input buffer and tone control driver for Channel 2, and also the first Preamp stage of Channel 1.
V2 Tone control follower for Channel 2 and an additional gain stage for Channel 1.
V3 Third gain stage for Channel 2 and for Channel 1
V4 Reverb follower gain stage, and mixer for both channels
V5 Phase inverter driver tube for the power amp section
V6-V7 Power amp tubes

RCA built great ones as well as the best coming from Sylvania.
There are only four factories in the world building this tube; Svetlana in St. Petersburg, Russia, Reflector (Sovtek) in Russia, JJ/Tesla in Slovenia, and a factory in China. NOS (New old stock) supplies from various other factories are still available, albeit in short supply.

we have had the best success with the Svetlana, and some of the recent Chinese that are a copy of the Sylvania, sold by Ruby Tubes.

In terms of 12AX7A types, there are only 3 factories that we know of building this tube type; JJ/Tesla, Sovtek, and Ruby Tubes in China. Again, NOS stocks still exist of RCA, G.E., Mullard, Telefunken, Sylvania, Mazda, and Philips.

>Usually the Chinese sound the brightest and have the most gain.
>Recently the Sovtek 12AX7LP has been made available and it is improved from it's predecessors, yet has less gain and less high end than the Chinese.
>RCA, G.E. Philips, Mullard (NOS) are great tubes, but may need to be selected for microphonics. We are using mostly Chinese for the 12AX7A's, but we may use a Sovtek in position V1 only. If you use Sovtek, or JJ/Tesla in all of the positions (V1-V5), the amp will sound way too dark, and will lose gain and headroom. It will sound like a blanket was placed over the amp.

so 5 preamp tubes that you recommend me?
what tube to its socket?
i dont care about the money.

thanks for your time and sorry for the..big thread,but i want to find a solution!

porterburst
09-27-2006, 02:36 AM
What tubes did you ened up going with?

go7
09-27-2006, 04:04 AM
Dump the Sovteks. email Mike at KCA tubes for some nos or anos reccommendations and ideas. Playing around a bit with nos tubes can really pay dividends.

Blue Strat
09-27-2006, 07:15 AM
Try a variety of 12AX7s. You'll only find out what works best for YOU by experimenting...no one else can tell you what you'll like.

Ones to try are:
RCA 12AX7A
JAN GE 12AX7WA
Brimar CV4004
Tungsram 12AX7

In new production, try the Tung Sol Reissue

Timbre Wolf
09-27-2006, 11:25 AM
Try a variety of 12AX7s. You'll only find out what works best for YOU by experimenting... Agreed!! :AOK

- T

porterburst
09-27-2006, 08:33 PM
Just received my Quiana today, and it sounds pretty good. It came with Winged C's 6L6's and Sovteks pre-amp 12AX7's. The C's are good for now but will be replaced with nos RCA or GE 6L6GC's and nos Tungs Sol, RCA, and Mullard pre-amp tubes. The stock Vinatge 30 speaker will be replace with an original cone JBL D120F.

scottl
09-27-2006, 09:08 PM
Takis,

Now you know why I don't use my Quiana!! Btw, the V30 is harsh IMO , with this amp.

Don't waste your money on NOS for the Quiana. The new reissue Tung Sols are fine.

porterburst
09-28-2006, 01:01 PM
The only new production pre-amp tubes I use from time to time are the new Tung Sols, EH’s, and though they’re pretty good, still don’t compare to nos stuff available.

lanesmat
09-28-2006, 07:23 PM
I've refined my tube configuration on my Jake Combo to my satisfaction, but a speaker change really squared the deal for me. I agree with scottl on the V30; it made the gain buzzy anything above 5 on the pre-volume. I also tried a Weber 10F150 ceramic and Blue Pup alnico 30 watt combination (mine is a 2x10 combo) which improved tone at gig volume, but still had buzziness at lower volumes and higher gain levels. If I played loud all the time, I would have stuck to this combination. I eventually put low efficiency alnicos (CTS alnicos) and it completely went away and sounds stunning at all volumes and gain IMO. It not only evened out the frequencies on channel 1, it added more "Fender" to channel 2.

Good luck,
Scott L.

dosmun
09-29-2006, 07:43 AM
A lot of great nfo here

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=218298&ck=

porterburst
09-29-2006, 01:20 PM
I've seen this page, and there's a lot of cool info.

JimmyD
10-07-2006, 05:08 PM
I eventually put low efficiency alnicos (CTS alnicos) and it completely went away and sounds stunning at all volumes and gain IMO.

Very interesting. What are some examples of low efficiency alnico 12" speakers that can handle at least 55 watts? What does CTS stand for?

thx,
Jim

Rod
10-09-2006, 11:26 AM
From the sound you want, I would sell the amp..

porterburst
10-15-2006, 02:53 AM
I have an original cone JBL D120F with nos tubes, and my Quiana sounds amazing. It's all about the right speaker and tubes with this amp.

pep
10-19-2006, 11:54 AM
For how much the damn things cost they ought to be shipped with good tubes and speakers from the factory. I was looking at this amp but not anymore. THanks for the heads up guys.

porterburst
10-27-2006, 02:57 AM
I got my Quiana like new with a padded cover for much much less than retail, so I was very happy with the purchasing price. I always install better tubes and speakers in my amps, so that's never an issue for me.