Tubes, Tubes, Tubes -- Resources for Rollers!

Original post by Ringingears

Has anyone tried the NOS GE 6BZ7's from Schiit that they sell for the Lyr amp in a ..........Valhalla 2 ? Better than the stock Russians? No difference or worse? Just wondering if the price was worth any improvements over stock. Saw a reference to Marv liking these tubes. Marv, could you clarify?

Jason: could you tell us the reason you use the NOS GE in the Lyr and the Russian type in Valhalla 2? Thanks.

 

Original post by Puma Cat

I just rolled some vintage Amperex 6922s (Orange PQ label) into my Valhalla 2 and they essentially transformed the already excellent performance of this headphone amplifier for the better. See my post in the Valhalla 2 review thread for more information, but man, was this an improvement! I was thinking of rolling Ediswans into the Valhalla 2, but I just may stick with this tube; it takes the Val 2 to a completely different level.

 

Original post by bmichels

hello here tube lovers

On my Eddie Curent 445 tube Amp, I would like to try to replace the 6C45 driver tubes by some WE417A. this should mahe the sound signature more tubey, more warm. the 6C45 is too analytical and too SS for my taste.


I have been able to find the WE417-to-6C45 adaptors

--> So now I need to find a pair of NEW and matched WE417A driver tubes. ... and a new DAC ( TotalDAC D1 or Analog DAC...)

can someone help ? that are quite hard to find (in NEW and matched)

thanks in advance

 

Original post by BleaK

Pretty good 6922 tube review:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/761078/692...23p-e88cc-cca-7308-e188cc-tubes#post_11464856

 

Original post by me

I have been using the V2 since it first came out and been using mostly the stock tubes. I bought a pair of cheap NOS GE 6BZ7's but didn't notice much of a difference in sound (using Bifrost Uber as DAC and HD650's for Headphones). A good friend of mine (thegunner) also has/is using Amperex 6922's tubes in his Valhalla 2 (Not sure if they are Orange PQ Label or not) and he seems to like them.

You stated in your post that the Amperex 6922s (Orange PQ label) really improves the Valhalla 2 and "...takes it to a completely different level". Can you explain in a little more detail in what you mean by that? I have never really done tube rolling before so I know virtually nothing about it, or what is good and what isn't. The only tubes other than stock that I have tried in my V2 are the NOS GE 6BZ7's, but as stated above, I really could not tell any difference in sound (at least to my ears).

What quality or improvement do the Amperex 6922s (Orange PQ label) do for the V2? Does it add warmth for example? If you could explain in a little more detail to a newbie like me I'd really appreciate it. Great post!

 

Original post by Sorrodje

Does someone can help for 2A3 tubes and 5U4G ?

Juste grabbed a pair of very rare Miniwatt 2A3.. probably sylvania replica with specific french parts , made by Visseaux in 1948 But I would like to know if any other NOS options worth anything. For New tubes, I've read a lot of impressions of review and asked Donald North.. so I know what could be interesting for me but in NOS options, I struggle more so any good advice would be appreiciated

the amp will be the Stratus for a HD800.



For 5U4G , I bought a NOS RCA black plate , some french Neotron (RCA built in France . I will try JAN 5931 and maybe NOS Svetlana Black plate... I'm open to new ideas... not to 400 bucks ideas though.

 

Original post by Sorrodje

For 5U4G, it seems the NOS Svetlana 5U4G are amongst the best . they're cheap and I'll oder a pair soon. Jan-CHS 5931 sylvania as well. cheap too . 6BQ7A are cheap and easy to find so when the Status will arrive I'll have the oppotunity to test a bunch and choose the one I prefer. I Struggle a bit more to find for 2A3. I maybe found a NOS pair of RCA here in France but I don't know if they really worth something against new production. I haven't the price yet.

 

Original post by jsgraha

I have 6bq7 from RCA and Westinghouse. I prefer RCA (slightly warmer) to Westinghouse. For some reason, Westinghouse offer wider stage, but not much depth. I prefer 6n1p variant to both 6bq7. I used to have pearl cryo 6n1p Reflektor from partconnexion. However, it develop noise after 2 years of use. So I order another one from partconnexion, and received one 6n1p-EV, but different brand from Voskhod. However, this tube was bright, so I decide to find one from ebay (not cryoed). I found the one that I like (similar to Cryo Reflektor) which was Gold 6N1P-VI. I remember paying around $18 for 4pcs.

For 5u4g, I only have experience from RCA 5u4g and GEC/Osram U52. U52 just much better that RCA 5u4g. I was lucky to have 2 u52 locally at my local forum in aus for quite cheap. U52 offer expansive stage and better bass texture to 5u4g RCA.

For 2a3, I would be interested to learn NOS tube. My experience so far only with new tubes from shuguang, sophia and full music. So far, I prefer mesh sophia (nice tone, big stage, great bass ext). 2A3-Z from shuguang is nice, but low bass extension is lacking (I read on hf, the 2a3-t one not much better than 2a3-z, but please correct me if I'm wrong). Full Music SE is nice as well, particularly in decay and texture, but losing to mesh sophia in staging. Stock 2a3 from Donald actually is really nice. I prefer it to 2a3-z with hd800. It's fun and raw presentation, kinda remind me of vali with better staging and bass

 

Original post by bixby

Just a quick note on 6sn7 tubes. I spent a number of years acquiring used classic 6sn7 tubes for an entry level headphone amp and for my deHavilland preamp. A new TJ Full Music 6sn7 put a stop to all the comparisons and searching for reasonably priced old stock.

Really well balanced tube in my pre.

EDIT:

Well that was brief, less than 6 months and the tube is showing audible degradation. hahaha, so much for new Chinese stuff keeping up with old used stuff. I am now trying some nice brown bass military Tungs and Syls, nice and strong!

 

I found the NOS GE 6BZ7 decent after quite a few hours on them. I still prefer my 6N23P Voshod Rockets though. They just seem livelier.

This is in my LYR btw.

 

I just got a Mjolnir 2 and am new to tubes. I've started reading through tube rolling threads on CS and HF, but the main problem I'm having is whenever I see something that sounds good I can't find anywhere to buy it from a reputable vendor (would rather not buy from some random ebay seller). Or at least I can't find the exact one mentioned, there are so many variations and I'm not sure how much stuff like the exact year, label color, etc matters.

It would be great if we could start a collection of recommended 6922-family tubes that can generally be found for purchase.

 

More importantly, we need a discussion about 6dj8s that's not being provided by a tube vendor, like on HF. That dude was pushing the exotic Russian tubes that he's monopolised.

 

This guy sells the tubes that he is talking about in his review. I would take with a grain of salt.

 

Here is something interesting for you 6922 users.

iFI has a GE 5670 and some fancy tricks to turn it into a 6922.

http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/accessory-nos-6922-2/

 

Does anyone have any experience with the 6H30-DR "supertube"? They're quite pricey. I wouldn't mind investing in them if there is a noticeable improvement over stock 6H30-pi, etc. tubes.

 

I installed AMPEREX ORANGE GLOBE 6DJ8 ECC88 VACUUM TUBE 1969 MATCH PAIR tubes in the Valhalla 2. The seller recommended I scrape the pins of the tubes. He suggested in a different email to use an exact-o knife to scrape the pins. Is that the best way to scrape the pins of the tubes or is there a better way, say like a coarse sandpaper? Can anyone show me perhaps a picture of how to do it properly as I have never done this before?

Thanks!

 

You shouldn't need to do anything to the pins unless they're really dirty. If they need cleaned, scraping might help, but that would take a very long time.

 

Anyone have a good source of 6C45Pi tubes that's outside of eastern europe? I really hate having to wait 2 weeks for them to arrive from Ukraine every time I need a new matched pair...

 

Thank you velvetx and smitty for your advice and help. I have some Micro-Mesh Finishing Abrasives with different strengths of abrasions, do you think those word work?

I have a variety pack with different strengths of abrasions - Here is the link:
http://micro-surface.com/micro-mesh-types

Another Link:
http://www.lmii.com/products/finishing/abrasives/micro-mesh

I have the complete set which includes:
A high density foam backing block and 18 - 3" x 6" sanding cloths (2 pieces each of 9 different grits ranging from 1500 to 12,000 grit).

Pics: