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In Reply to: RE: My Favorite 6SN7s. posted by Michael Samra on September 28, 2016 at 01:10:16
Those do it for me in every application.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken
Follow Ups:
..but I can understand those whose preferences align with TS :)My tastes run more with National Union Grey glass 6SN7 type of sound, which of course will not work in "all" applications or systems, but once it goes into a sympathetic system, man it's sweet!
Edits: 10/02/16
for the benefit of those who are not that familiar with 6SN7s or are looking to pick up some good ones. First the Sylvanias, despite Jeffery,s comments I love Sylvania 6SN7s and think they are all at least good.
From left to right (best to good)
Sylvania 6SN7W made for the navy, 1952 three hole plate "badboys" 6sn7GT, Sylvania VT-231, early bottom getter 2hole plate 6SN7GT, brown base 6sn7WGT, and early heavy top getter 6sn7GTA.
Some more of the best 6SN7s:
National Union black glass (never had the pleasure of collecting the grey glass), Raytheon 6SN7WGT, RCA 5692, Russian hole plate 1578, Tung Sol "mouse ears", and RCA VT-231.
A few from my collection.
Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
in your photo, as well as some others like the metal base versions.
Years ago, when TS roundplates weren't as expensive, I once traded some of my TS roundplates for more Sylvania VT231's, purely on sonic preference alone, so you know I like my Sylvania sound :)
Unfortunately, the few I had were microphonic.
8^(
Ever since I started searching for the best-sounding 6SN7GTs, when I owned Antique Sound Lab Hurricanes, I quit looking when I found the TSRPs*. Indeed some are highly microfonic, but enough that I've bought are not, and I've kept most of them.
I currently use six in my Atma-Sphere M60 Mk.3.3s...
(but I now use a A-S plug and not a tube in the center-rear socket)
...and, lucky me, I have an even dozen in reserve.
Actually, I'm not lucky, I'm simply willing to pay the c. $100-each prices on eBay to get the good ones. Here's the most-recent quad I bought...
They didn't look nearly this good when they arrived, and they averaged about $70 each IIRC.
* FWIW, my 2nd-favorite 'N7 is the Ken-Rad VT-231.
----------
Tin-eared audiofool, large-scale-Classical music lover, and damned-amateur fotografer.
William Bruce Cameron: "...not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
you don't really notice it so much in an amp as you would a preamp with the higher amplification factor.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken
.
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Tin-eared audiofool, large-scale-Classical music lover, and damned-amateur fotografer.
William Bruce Cameron: "...not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
Jeff
The Atmasphere amps are really a testament to how superb the tubes are because those amps are extremely revealing.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken
Guys,How would you rank these tubes:?
Sylvania 6SN7W
Sylvania VT 231
Sylvania WGTA
Sylvania GTB
Ked Rad
RCA 5692Thanks,
Wig
Edits: 09/30/16
...and my memory isn't very long, but:
1. I never found any of the about-million variations of the Sylvanias to sound particular good to me, but maybe I just never had any of the really good ones; same goes for the few Raytheons and RCAs I heard;
2. Didn't try any 5692s; and
3. The Ken-Rad VT-231 was my 2nd-favorite of any. It's close to the TSRP, overall, but lacked a touch of the richness of the TSRP that I think helps make them sound more like music than other tubes do.
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Tin-eared audiofool, large-scale-Classical music lover, and damned-amateur fotografer.
William Bruce Cameron: "...not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
And how does it compare to the TS Black Glass, Round Plate?
I own and love vintage dark glass TS round plate and the outstanding Sylvania metal base 6SN7.
Vintage preamp grade matched tubes are expensive and hard to find.
Last year I bought a pair of Psvane CV181 Tll. Wonderful sounding tube. After replacing ether of my vintage pairs with the Psvane I am happy to leave them in. Grant Fidelity provides high quality matched quiet pairs.
The Shuguang and Psvane CV-181's better many old production 6SN7's.
TS round plate is like rare wine...not worth it unless you have a cellar full to enjoy.
At least with the lid on which is a requirement for noise.
I'll likely see Rachel at RMAF this weekend anyway and will say hi!!
in my Audio Note Kageki amps. They deliver a rich tonal palette without sounding mushy and slow. I also found French Neotron round plates that look a lot like the Tungsol (don't know if they are re-branded tubes) and sound very good as well.
:^)
early 2000's, and though I had no gear that actually USED 6SN7's, I managed to find a half dozen or so NOS-NIB TungSol Black Glass Round Plate 6SN7's at a local Salt Lake City electronic supply house.For cheap ($5-10 each IIRC).
Now I have a tube line stage that uses one 6SN7 per channel so I am likely set for life (what's left of it).
Edits: 09/28/16
I've only heard the RP TS 6SN7 through one unit. A Moore designed Luminescence pre-amp. The unit sounded very good --- so hard to tell if the 6SN7 made much of a difference.
Steve
They make a difference.They undeniably make a difference.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken
I can't think of a Tungsol or Raytheon tube that I've not liked. Only the ones that test poorly or are noisy.
For those that haven't seen one live:
Edits: 09/29/16 09/29/16
Why is it in this hobby that the parts that are hard to get/rarely seen/extremely expensive/few ever made/difficult to use nearly always sound best? Anyone ever notice this? It's almost never the parts that were made in huge quantities or are being reissued - even by highly competent and qualified manufacturers - that will get you to sonic nirvana. :)
--------------------------
Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
It's pure B.S. and often perpetrated by those with stock to sell. A lot of that went on here in the past.
~!
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
Rare is often equated with good, but not necessarily in tubes.
My favoured Sylvania 6SN7Ws were made in vast quantities, for example, but are hoarded because they sound so good. Ditto for Mullard, Amperex and Telefunkin 12ax7s that were produced in mass quantities and are not rare even today, but command high prices due to their high quality. I have never delt with any tube reseller who did not have several of these tubes. and they were always at a premium to other (U.S. Made) 12ax7s.
A couple of the best 6SN7s not yet mentioned are the Russian hole plate 1578 IF you can get a quiet matched pair and that takes some some effort, and the Raytheon 6SN7WGT brown base which I prefer to either types of the earlier Raytheon VT-231.
Below the tubes mentioned so far in this thread, my favourites are the Tung Sol GTB tallboys, Sylvania bottom getter two hole plate GTs and early chrome top WGTs and GTAs, the early Hytron tall bottles and early GE GTAs. Good tubes and still available for similar money as reissues.
Enjoy the Roll!
I like these. They last forever, ever in harsh environments. Like inside Ampeg amps.I like the RCA red base 5692 for same reason.
8^)
Edits: 09/29/16
I think there is some magic in the round plate designs.Never had any 6SN7 round plates, but my SET amp uses 6J5 for front-end tubes, basically 1/2 of a 6SN7.
I've tried many types, and keep going back to the ST version (6J5G)with round plates.
Later 6J5GT had flat plates like some 6SN7's. They sound OK, too, but the round plates won the audition. Fortunately for me, they're not that rare.
Edits: 09/29/16
The more obscure, the higher the desire. Human nature.
I remember that fine blonde in HS... But, I digress.
8^)
nt
Where do you find good round plate TS, these days? Most online are half-way used up. Or noisy as Hades.Thanks!
Edits: 09/28/16
TSRP 6F8Gs are another option. Either with an adapter or rewired socket for grid cap. The 6F8G, at least in the recent past, seemed to come up for sale more often than their cap-less brothers. I have not looked for some time, so the may all be bought up too, but worth consideration if you cannot find TSRP 6SN7s.
Good question Stevie. The only way I know of is on Ebay.Even the ones that check less than stellar,perform exceptionally well in amplifiers.Preamps are another story.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken
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