wise comments.
I, along with Paul Knutson, was one of the first to find the Tungsol black glass round plate tube, over 10 years ago. We collaborated to bring in a large stash of these, in still shrink wrapped cases, from a dealer in India at dirt cheap prices.
The comments we both made about them many years ago still stand. A decent enough tube, if a bit tizzy on top. Tilted to the open, but somewhat tizzy top. A bit light bass wise, and not nearly up to the really great 6SN7's like the 1940's KenRad, the black glass National Union, the 1940's RCA grey glass, and the 1940's Raytheon military VT-231 variants.
Now - about those 1950's Tungsols. Not seen very often, and not much talked about. I rate them as one of the very best. There is the "mouse ears" which is outstanding, and a few years earlier, without those round side micas, Tungsol made a killer grey plate in a clear bottle. I have about 12 pairs in my stash, and they are very good. There is another version with square side micas, and a square top mica - pretty much the same as the mouse ears sound. These are great tubes, and my sense over the years is that round plate Tungsol has been driven up in price purely by audiophile myth and foolishness. Then again, thanks to those folks, I sold all my stash long ago at crazy prices - my last pair went for $1,000 on Ebay a few years ago.
However, the round plate Tungsol does have it's place. In amps that are sludgey and over-ripe, it might just be a great choice. And I note that Far East audiophiles go nuts over this tube, and I always felt that Far East tastes ran on the bright and clinical side of things, so that may explain a lot.
Those tall bottle Tungsol WGT's are very good, and in fact, those labelled GTB with the same construction are actually the exact same tube as the WGT - I have had both come from the exact same bulk pack, with same batch and date codes.
I've never heard a Sylvania GTB that I could live with, not an RCA (although they are better) or GE. Sylvania 1950's GTA's are another matter - they are not bad at all, although still not up to the best.
Unfortunately, I have never heard a Russian or Chinese 6SN7 that is anywhere in the league of the best American 6SN7's, and I doubt I ever will - not that I have any desire to find out anyways. Good NOS is still around, so why bother with the current stuff? It seems to me that the most critical element of any tube amp is the tubes themselves. That's the last place anyone wants to scrimp.
Edits: 08/19/09
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