Darkvoice 336 + 336i Tuberolling [ tubes ]

[jigster]

Originally Posted by echo1

Well I'me getting a Paradisea Dac and Fitz dont have one.
NA NA Na.Stick that in your Darkvoice FM and smoke it.

Hey echo1, how is the Paradisea DAC with the DV? Thinking of getting one myself. Is the improvement significant enough to justify its price (being more expensive than the DV itself)? My DV is default version - no mods. Thanks.

[SonicDawg]

Going back to the original topic, personally I really dig the sound of Sylvania Chrome Dome-- not too expensive, very smooth and great speed. The bass is very tight and high end extension is excellent as well. I have tried the Grey Glass RCA. It is very very sweet and smooth, tonally very musical, yet the lower end seems too boomy on my system, not to mention the rolled off top end that doesn't pair too well with my K340s.

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by SonicDawg

Going back to the original topic, personally I really dig the sound of Sylvania Chrome Dome-- not too expensive, very smooth and great speed. The bass is very tight and high end extension is excellent as well. I have tried the Grey Glass RCA. It is very very sweet and smooth, tonally very musical, yet the lower end seems too boomy on my system, not to mention the rolled off top end that doesn't pair too well with my K340s.

I had a few used chrome domes, but sadly they were too heavily used to get good sound quality out of them. From the times I've heard it, the K340 has its own peculiar frequency response that can be a bit tricky to get the right with the rest of the system, just like the W5000. Most tubes sounded "good" with the W5000s, but so far only the grey glass RCA 6SN7GT has sounded "great". I'm still loving it, even with my W5000s now heavily modded.


And hey, Rod-maestro, you still haven't let me know what all wire you want.

[pataburd]

Originally Posted by symbiosis10

Does anyone happen to have a good combo of tubes for the 336i that they would be willing to sell? PM me if you do. I'm looking for a good upgrade set from the included tubes to get me going.

I've tried 4 different, "common man's" 6SN7's in the front, together with the RCA 6080w in the back. My findings so far (ranked from most- to least- favored):

(1) Sylvania 6SN7GTB chrome top/black, triangular plates, orange print on base. Nice, open, clean, detailed and balanced. Ry Cooder's "Bop Till You Drop" never sounded better. I'm getting just a tad bit of high frequency noise with it.

(2) RCA 6SN7GT clear glass/copper support rods. Smooth, warm, flowing,though sacrificing just a bit of detail. Nearly dead quiet in the 336i.

(3) Raytheon 6SN7GTB shortbase. More upfront and slappy (but in a good way). Good high frequency resolution and extension, nice bass, too. Low level hum (more than (1) or (2) above).

(4) GE 6SN7GTA. Balanced, nice overall performer. Very audible hum, though, the last time I tried it (could be the tube).

I have a GE 6080 on tap, as well as JAN RCA 6AS7G. Have extras of the NOS RCA 6080, used Sylvania 6SN7GTB and used RCA GT, if you are interested.

BTW, I listen with the UE Super.fi 5 Pro. They are sounding great on the 336i with the Sylvania GTB! After about 50 hours, the 336i is really opening up, too. What used to sound congested and glary is starting to separate, open up, smooth out and resolve. The NOS RCA 6080 took about 10-15 hours to really start showing its stuff, too. The Sylvania/RCA pairing is complimentary, I think, giving the listener a nice blend of their repsective strengths.

Have a host of extra 6SN7 pairs: Westinghouse, Russian Analogue, RCA GTB, GE GTB, etc., that can be broken up into singles for interested 336i owners. My major regret is having sold my Mullard CV-181 (when I sold my MPX3), along with Sylvania 6SN7WGT (metal base), RCA Greyglass, Sylvania Bad Boy and Ken-Rad VT-231. : ) Oh, well . . . I am groovin' with the common man's 6SN7's for the time being.

[pentagonwizard]

I am new to the darkvoice club. It will arrive shortly and I will use it with k501s. I'm wondering about tubes. I'm planning on buying some rca grey glass 6sn7gt tubes on ebay. What is your current combo? What are some of your favorites that you've tried and that would work with my combo? And finally, what are your sources for buying them?

[pataburd]

Dear Mr. Wizard,

Like so much else in the world of audiophilia, it's subjective and a matter of individual taste. From what I've read on the Darkvoice threads, talked about with other Darkvoice 336i users, and learned experimentally, the RCA 6SN7GT grey glass (with a common street price of $40-$50 NOS) seem to consistently garner top-rankings. Aside from, or rather alongside, the quest for optimal synergy, there's a lot of trial-and-error, getting to know how certain tube "families" (e.g. RCA, Sylvania, Tung-Sol) sound, getting to know what your gear delivers and, finally, getting to know the kind of sound you like best. For me, it's always more fun "along the way" rather than arriving at, as are all too often, our fickle endpoints.

For me, the RCA "house sound" is rich and tonal, but can be a little tubby in the bass. Sylvanias tend to be clear, neutral, airy and extended, with a controlled bottom end. GEs are nicely balanced and even through the sound spectrum, solid performers, but with nothing jaw dropping along the way. When you get the top-ranked NOS (and appreciably more expensive) RCAs, Sylvanias, Tung-Sols, etc., you get the best, respective house sound. I usually split my rear and front tubes between a rich, warm RCA and a clean, detailed Sylvania. That way you exploit the best of both worlds and enjoy the additive strengths of the tubes.

I have a decided preference for the openness and detail of Sylvanias, but like the lush midrange of RCAs, too. Put the two together and you get a nice, hybridized dose of both.

So far, using "common man" tubes (read: can be gotten for less than $20 apiece), I've really liked the following:

Front, Rear
Sylvania 6SN7GTB, RCA 6080
Sylvania 6SN7WGT, JAN RCA black plate 6AS7G
GE 6SN7GTA, RCA grey plate 6AS7G
RCA 6SN7GT, GE 6080 or Sylvania 6AS7G

With four optional fronts and 4 optional rears, you get 4x4=16 unique combinations. While you may not like every one of them, you'll have a lot of fun and gain a lot of knowledge en route to chosing the best one or two.

I love getting budget tubes to sound great in a budget amp.

Meanwhile, I have a Sylvania (true) chrome dome on order, and am scouring the countryside for the mythical Bendix 6080.

Look online: e-Bay, Audiogon, tube dealers. Be patient--especially on e-Bay, and you can often land a good deal.

[pataburd]

With the DT880s there is zero hum. Ditto for the HD580s. The Super.fi 5 Pros are very low impedance and sensitive, not a good match for the Darkvoice. (Although, once you get past the slight hum/whine, they still sound good--just not well impedance-matched with the 336i.)

Postscript: I've taken the HeadFive/UE Super.fi 5 Pros home, and set up a system with them, the Panasonic S47 DVD player, Bizzy Bee Fro-Zen ICs, and Virtual Mode Clear Power AC conditioners. Am hunting down some Asylum power cords, or considering building some cords from NeoTech OCC copper. Fantastic for late night music listening and/or movie viewing!

[pataburd]

(1) Try an RCA black plate 6AS7G in the back, and National Union 6SN7GT in the front: smooth, nimble, nice sense of space and decent bass.

(2) Also, try the RCA gray plate 6AS7G in the back and the GE 6SN7GTA in the front. Wow! Talk about smoothness, air! Highs simply shimmer, and the midrange is warm and moist. Bass suffers a bit (it's loose and diffuse), but who cares?

(3) Try the Sylvania 6AS7G in the back. This tube has paired well with just about every 6SN7 I've had an hand: RCA GT/GTB, Sylvania GTB/WGT, GE GTA/GTB, Westinghouse GTB, National Union GT, etc.: a clean, detailed presentation with pinpoint imaging, just what I like about the Sylvania "house sound"!

(4) En route: Tung-Sol 6AS7G and Sylvania 6SN7 (true) "chrome dome." Also, reportedly a Fitz favorite, the Svetlana ECC-230 (rear) is on its way from Lithuania.

[ysl]

got my RCA 6sn7gtb & RCA 6as7g from Fitz this week. I noticed the bass is smoother. Thanks Fitz.

[arielext]

I got some new tubes last week
- GE 6sn7: nice overall performer, nothing too fancy though.
- EH 6sn7EH: cheap new Russian tube, with a good overall sound. Ordered two of them and one has a slight hum, the other is dead silent.
So far my favorite combination is
- sylvania jan 6sn7gt with a philips jan 6080wc

[pataburd]

Got a pair of Svetlana 6H13C from Lithuania the other day. Put the 6H13C in the rear, with the Ken-Rad VT-231 in the front: clean, expansive, extended, w/deep, foundational, tight bass, delicate highs, "easy" mids and shimmering transients--the most detailed and "musically balanced" presentation I've heard from the Darkvoice 336i so far.

Of course the DT880s very faithfully passed on the pleasing sound, and deserve special mention. Plus, this is the first time I've listened to the Darkvoice in a few weeks; just swapped out the G&W T2.6F. The 336i is definitely a "very sparkly," musical amp, but with a welcome, neutral balance. Darkvoice, I missed you! Svetlana, you're very welcome to stay!

[swt61]

The Kenrad Black glass vt231 helped turn my K340's into great classic rock headphones. With the deep, controlled bass I get from it and my Zapfiltered Zhaolu I'm wearing the K340's almost all the time. Great with blues too, but when I listen to jazz or great female vocals the Tung-Sol 6SN7GT That I got from Fitz is incredible! Diana Krall and K.D. Lang should hear themselves with this tube.

[pataburd]

Originally Posted by swt61

The Kenrad Black glass vt231 helped turn my K340's into great classic rock headphones. With the deep, controlled bass I get from it and my Zapfiltered Zhaolu I'm wearing the K340's almost all the time. Great with blues too, but when I listen to jazz or great female vocals the Tung-Sol 6SN7GT That I got from Fitz is incredible! Diana Krall and K.D. Lang should hear themselves with this tube.

swt61,

May I respectfully ask what you use for a rear tube w/the Ken-Rad VT231 black glass? What rear tubes have you tried? SuperPredator has reported using the Tung-Sol 6SN7GT and RCA 6AS7G gray plate to marvelous effect!

Alas, I've never heard the famed Tung-Sol "round plate," and seem to surrender any ready cash for good Sylvanias instead.

PatABurd

[swt61]

I go back and forth between a Raytheon 6080 and a Sovtek 6AS7G. Not a really big difference between those 2 power tubes to my ears. I haven't tried any others yet. The Tung-Sol round plate is a bit pricey, but it's just incredibly lush sounding. I was lucky to get mine from Fitz at an extremely good price. You gotta love that guy!

[TheMarchingMule]

Hey guys, this amp sounds interesting.

Is there a website of theirs that i can check out?

TIA.