Darkvoice 336 + 336i Tuberolling [ tubes ]

[pataburd]

Toanaldino,

With patience and perseverance on ebay, you can find the RCA 6AS7G grey plate. NOS usually go for about $15-$20USD apiece +shipping.

PatABurd

[pataburd]

There is a pair of NOS, 6AS7G grey plates for $29.50 USD shipped, as we speak!

[Ooztuncer]

My 336i is on its way from France and i have couple of questions.

I pm'ed pataburd couple of times but also wanted to write here for some additional questions.

I will use 336i for my HD650's and looking for tubes to increase the treble energy and detail, but at the same time open the soundstage.

After my research, I am thinking to use Sylvania 6ASN7GT as the front tube. However, I have several options for rear:

1) 6AS7G gray plate (from RCA or Sylvania)
2) 5998 Tungsol gray plate (or rebranded tungsol)
3) 6080WB Bendix or Tungsol or Sylvania
4) 7236 Cetron
5) 421A Western Electronics

Any experience with above combo's? Which one is most suitable for my target? Any other combo offerings

Thanks...

[Superpredator]

Originally Posted by Ooztuncer

My 336i is on its way from France and i have couple of questions.

I pm'ed pataburd couple of times but also wanted to write here for some additional questions.

I will use 336i for my HD650's and looking for tubes to increase the treble energy and detail, but at the same time opens the soundstage.

After my research, I am thinking to use Sylvania 6ASN7GT as the front tube. However, I have several options for rear:

1) 6AS7G gray plate (from RCA or Sylvania)
2) 5998 Tungsol gray plate (or rebranded tungsol)
3) 6080WB Bendix or Tungsol or Sylvania
4) 7236 Cetron
5) 421A Western Electronics

Any experience with above combo's? Which one is most suitable for my target? Any other combo offerings

Thanks...

I don't have any experience with the Sylvania and HD650, but I have used the Sylvania with other cans and I think this would make a decent pairing. I used a Tung-Sol 6SN7 round plate/black glass with the HD650 and it sounded pretty incredible. The 650 doesn't necessarily need the bass this tube provides (actually it really doesn't), but it might go some ways towards fleshing it out. Combined with the RCA 6AS7G gray I managed to score the best sound stage the Darkvoice has showed me yet.

I think you are in for a treat no matter what tubes you use. So far my favorite two cans with the Darkvoice have been the HD650 and HF-1. For reference, I tried the HD580, DT880, DT250-80, W5000, W2002, modded K340 and probably some others. The Darkvoice drives the K340 very well, but I think it goes several steps further by fully commanding and synergizing with the HD650 and HF-1. Best of luck!

[Ooztuncer]

thanks predator for the response.

I went ahead and bought a RCA NOS 6AS7G gray plate from tube world. I might have paid some extra $$ ($26 including shipping for one tube) but wanted to get it as soon as possible (there were none on ebay).

I will be eagerly waiting to hear the sylvania 6SN7GT (or GE 6SN7GT) + rca 6AS7G gray plate combo on my HD650's!

[Mrvile]

Hey fellow Darkvoicers,

I got a Sylvania 6SN7GTB in the mail today (thanks Steve!) and finally tried a little tube rolling for myself. I didn't really know what to expect and to be honest, I didn't really expect that big a difference. But as soon as I turned on my favorite song I was blown away. The first thing I noticed was that the bass sounded great, tightened up, losing a lot of the unwanted midbass boominess and gaining some deeper bass impact and extension. This adds a lot of texture to the bass, which used to sound a little muddy but now I can almost taste it. The mids gained some more texture and don't sound as smooth anymore, but it still sounds fine. The highs are given a slight bit more detail but don't stand out like I expected (which is a good thing). The next thing I noticed was the soundstage - everything is a bit wider and more pronounced, sound placement is more pinpoint and isn't as congested anymore.

Overall it's a great tube for opening up the sound of the amp (and my HD580) and I think I'm falling in love with the Sylvania house sound.

Oh but one thing I forgot to mention - the tube actually has a very audible hum when the volume is turned all the way down, and I can still hear the hum with some of my quieter songs. Yes, this can be a problem, so if anyone has any ideas please let me know.

[Superpredator]

Originally Posted by Mrvile

Oh but one thing I forgot to mention - the tube actually has a very audible hum when the volume is turned all the way down, and I can still hear the hum with some of my quieter songs. Yes, this can be a problem, so if anyone has any ideas please let me know.

I get some very noticeable hum with certain (especially rear) tubes, but only with lower impedance headphones (HF-1, W5000, W2002). With other headphones (HD650 included) I really didn't get any hum at all. I won't say they were dead silent, because honestly I am not sure, but there was no loud hum and no low level hum apparent with quieter passages. Even the W100 seems to do pretty well as far as hum with the Darkvoice (better than the other ATs I've tried with hummier tubes).

I do have a Sylvania GT (A? B I think), and as far as I can tell it's very quiet. I'll fire it up this weekend and see what I hear.

[swt61]

Originally Posted by Mrvile

Hey fellow Darkvoicers,

I got a Sylvania 3SN7GTB in the mail today (thanks Steve!) and finally tried a little tube rolling for myself. I didn't really know what to expect and to be honest, I didn't really expect that big a difference. But as soon as I turned on my favorite song I was blown away. The first thing I noticed was that the bass sounded great, tightened up, losing a lot of the unwanted midbass boominess and gaining some deeper bass impact and extension. This adds a lot of texture to the bass, which used to sound a little muddy but now I can almost taste it. The mids gained some more texture and don't sound as smooth anymore, but it still sounds fine. The highs are given a slight bit more detail but don't stand out like I expected (which is a good thing). The next thing I noticed was the soundstage - everything is a bit wider and more pronounced, sound placement is more pinpoint and isn't as congested anymore.

Overall it's a great tube for opening up the sound of the amp (and my HD580) and I think I'm falling in love with the Sylvania house sound.

Oh but one thing I forgot to mention - the tube actually has a very audible hum when the volume is turned all the way down, and I can still hear the hum with some of my quieter songs. Yes, this can be a problem, so if anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Just so nobody wonders where I found an unheard of 3SN7GTB, let me state what most of you no doubt figured out, that it's a 6SN7GTB.

MrVile give that tube a little time to settle in before you set out to solve the hum, it may disapear on it's own. My amps now have Fitz' "tube hum be gone mod", but I have no idea how it works. Ask Fitz about any options that may work for you. Also you may want to PM warrior05, as I sent him the other matching Sylvania. See if he has the same problem.

[Mrvile]

Originally Posted by swt61

Just so nobody wonders where I found an unheard of 3SN7GTB, let me state what most of you no doubt figured out, that it's a 6SN7GTB.

MrVile give that tube a little time to settle in before you set out to solve the hum, it may disapear on it's own. My amps now have Fitz' "tube hum be gone mod", but I have no idea how it works. Ask Fitz about any options that may work for you. Also you may want to PM warrior05, as I sent him the other matching Sylvania. See if he has the same problem.

Ahh...fixed.

Thus far I've just been ignoring the hum, I'll let it run for a couple days and see what happens.

[swt61]

Originally Posted by Mrvile

Ahh...fixed.

Thus far I've just been ignoring the hum, I'll let it run for a couple days and see what happens.

It will usually disapear within hours if it's going to disapear at all.

[Mrvile]

I seemed to have fixed most of the humming. First, I wiggled the tube around to try to get a better fit (bad tube fit=humming has been a problem for me in the past). Then I hooked up the EQ, since I was running without the EQ before so I could get accurate impressions. Now the humming has died down a LOT, although I can still hear it with nothing playing, I have to listen very hard for it. Once there's music though, I can't hear it one bit.

I was going to buy the Sylvania 6AS7G I saw on ebay yesterday but it seems to have been sold. Now the only 6AS7's that I can see is one RCA and a bunch of Svetlana's...I was thinking about the RCA but now I have a feeling I might like the Svetlana a bit better. Any suggestions? Pataburd, you seem to like the Sylvania/Svetlana combo quite a bit, do you have any comments?

I'd like to make a purchase by tonight, in case all of it is sold by tomorrow

[Mrvile]

Ahh screw you guys I went ahead and bought the Svetlanas...I'll let you guys know how they sound when I get them.

[Mrvile]

Ok got the Svetlanas today.

First let's get the bad news out of the way. One of the tubes was broken. There was a little piece of I don't know what rattling around inside, and when I tested it it popped and sparked and scared the hell out of me. I contacted the seller about this, we'll see how he follows through.

Fortunately, the second tube works, so I do have some impressions. The Svetlana is actually a good bit warmer than the stock tube, which balances nicely with the Sylvania up front. The big thing I noticed was, again, the bass. The Svetlana goes very, very deep, stays tight, and has a lot of impact - which is a good thing. The soundstage continues to grow as I add more aftermarket tubes which also brings about a perceived clarity that doesn't involve an alteration in the tonality, for example it's not brighter or faster. The tube has a bit more emphasis in the lower midrange, though the highs still stand out without being shrill or harsh.

Overall a good tube. I really want to try more tubes but my Paypal account is running low...hmm, I know there's something around the house I can sell... (curse you Head-Fi!!)

[Fitz]

^ See, I was not crazy when I used to say the inexpensive Svetlana is a good tube.

[swt61]

Originally Posted by Fitz

^ See, I was not crazy when I used to say the inexpensive Svetlana is a good tube.

That particular statement may have been validated, but your sanity is still very much in question.

Glad to see you're enjoying the amp more now that you've got some good tubes MrVile. Now you see what I meant about the stock tubes.