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Anyway, regarding the fact that combination of tubes were frequently used - you are correct. However, I did take that into account when compiling this thread, which is why the various comments are colour-coded based on their original 'source' thread.
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Curator of The Reference 6SN7 Thread : GO HERE!!
Author of The New & Improved™ Tube FAQ for Newbies! : GO HERE!!
>>NEW!! JUST IN!!<< Author of the The 6SN7 Identification Guide : NOW HERE!!
"Life without music is an error - Nietzsche"
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Headphoneus Supremus: Founder of the Head-Fi Pay-to-Post Program.
adhoc,
I saw that the quotes referred to individual threads, which was IMHO a really nice touch.
To ANYONE reading this thread: MAKE SURE TO CHECK INTO HAVING YOUR AMP SWITCHED OVER TO ACCEPT 12SN7 TUBES!!!!!
At about 1/10th to as high as 1/4 for the same exact sound it is simply a steal. Tung-Sol roundplates, although impossible to find, only run about $50 a tube.
__________________
"...If anyone thinks he knows something, he has not yet learned it as he ought to know it."
I saw that the quotes referred to individual threads, which was IMHO a really nice touch.
To ANYONE reading this thread: MAKE SURE TO CHECK INTO HAVING YOUR AMP SWITCHED OVER TO ACCEPT 12SN7 TUBES!!!!!
At about 1/10th to as high as 1/4 for the same exact sound it is simply a steal. Tung-Sol roundplates, although impossible to find, only run about $50 a tube.
I have six or seven Tung Sol round plate 12sn7's. I didnt pay more than $7 for any of them. I paid the same price for NU black glass and Ken Rad 12sngt's. The most I paid for any 12sn7 was $15 for some RCA dark gray glass 12sn7's I especially wanted. I found five or six later on for $6.50 each. There is a good supply of RCA, Sylvania and Tung Sol clear glass 12sn7's if you look around. The only tough to find 12sn7's for me were the Ken Rad's and the Raytheon's. I am still passively looking for the Raytheons. Passively because I discovered the loctal 7n7/14n7 which is the best sounding tube I have had in my Singlepower amp setups period. Loctal 7n7's cost $6-7 most places and 14n7's run from $2.25- $3.50. All you need is an octal to loctal tube socket adapter and your set..... no amp mods needed.
The 7N7 is a great substitute. Tube rolling opportunity greatly diminishes compared to 6SN7 (not necessarily a bad thing), but it's a terrific sounding tube. The big plus-side is any 6SN7 can be refitted to use 7N7 with relative ease. I'm actually surprised no one is offering a commercial adapter for it yet (AFAIK). 7N7s are cheap (likely will remain cheap for a long time) and relatively easy to find.
12SN7 are harder to find (except for people named Earl! ), and, unlike the 7N7, converting 6SN7 to 12SN7 has inherent design problems unless you purposely design the application for this purpose. But 12SN7 has more variety then 7N7 and can provide you equivalent 6SN7 sound (for about 75% of the 6SN7 variety). The main concern is - due to its limitd production runs - any small surge in interest for 12SN7s will raise its price quickly, as evinced by this past year. If you're planning on using 12SN7s, I'd buy them now.
A big shame is I think a lot of 7N7 and 12SN7s got thrown out with the trash over the decades. They saw little practical use before the tube renaissance of the early 90s (or even during tube's glory days), and guitar amps favored the 6SN7 by a stark margin. So chances are, a lot of 7N7 and 12SN7, and less popular tubes found a permenant home at the dump yard This compounds availability problems of tubes which were originally far less prolific. In years past, I've picked up dozens of 7N7s for free from folks who were going to simply trash them.
It's easy to see why the 6SN7 was a favored tube. It sounds terrific, rivals any other tube in terms of sonic variety, was manufactured in incredible quantities (much more then 7N7 or 12SN7), and uses the very popular octal base. Problem is, it became a victim of its greatness, and prices (and lately, availability) reflects this. It's getting costly to operate, but from an investment viewpoint, the yield is better then the stock market
Headphoneus Supremus: Founder of the Head-Fi Pay-to-Post Program.
Originally Posted by sacd lover
I have six or seven Tung Sol round plate 12sn7's. I didnt pay more than $7 for any of them.
The only problem is that now it's impossible to find any. I've been looking for six months now, and haven't found any since I got lucky with the huge batch of tubes I got off of eBay. Nobody seems to have the Tung-Sol RP tubes now, which is quite sad as I'd like to buy a few more for myself.
__________________
"...If anyone thinks he knows something, he has not yet learned it as he ought to know it."
The only problem is that now it's impossible to find any. I've been looking for six months now, and haven't found any since I got lucky with the huge batch of tubes I got off of eBay. Nobody seems to have the Tung-Sol RP tubes now, which is quite sad as I'd like to buy a few more for myself.
Hmmm. I am going to have to look around some more. I like the loctals so well I havent been on the lookout for any 12sn7's lately. Plus I have 175 12sn7's anyway.
Being the original adopter has its perks.... seems I got all my primo 12sn7's and 5687's before they disappeared and lots cheaper too. The landscape changes quickly with tubes these days.
I think you did gobble up all the good 12SN7s But there's still a lot of 5687 out there. The SLAMs are actually quite late in the game when it comes to this tube. Audio Note owners, for example, have you guys beat by a decade+.
I think you did gobble up all the good 12SN7s But there's still a lot of 5687 out there. The SLAMs are actually quite late in the game when it comes to this tube. Audio Note owners, for example, have you guys beat by a decade+.
Yes your right about the 5687's. I found a good number of tung sol 5687's recently and I told another head-fier about them so he could get them. I have over 100 and probably 50 or more are the tung sol D getters.... I dont need ANY tubes. But I always look for them anyway. I think I just like the challenge of finding the tubes I use in general. The loctals are my babies. I hate to pass up any loctals even though I have about 200 between the 7n7 and 14n7's.
i would agree with the comments so far regarding higher voltage 'replacements' for the 6SN7s. i would like to add 2 more advantages of using higher filament voltages:
- less hum; a higher voltage means less current. current generates magnetic fields. magnetic coupling means hum. hence less current = less hum.
- you can get cheaper filament trannies for 12V.
fwiw, iirc there are also 25n7s and 40n7s out there.
__________________
Curator of The Reference 6SN7 Thread : GO HERE!!
Author of The New & Improved™ Tube FAQ for Newbies! : GO HERE!!
>>NEW!! JUST IN!!<< Author of the The 6SN7 Identification Guide : NOW HERE!!
"Life without music is an error - Nietzsche"
I keep my PROFILE updated religiously - YOU should too!
i would agree with the comments so far regarding higher voltage 'replacements' for the 6SN7s. i would like to add 2 more advantages of using higher filament voltages:
- less hum; a higher voltage means less current. current generates magnetic fields. magnetic coupling means hum. hence less current = less hum.
- you can get cheaper filament trannies for 12V.
fwiw, iirc there are also 25n7s and 40n7s out there.
With the Singlepower amps all you need to do is switch the 12 volt supply for a 25 or 40 volt supply and your in business. I have been looking for some 25sn7's....or 1633's. These tubes seem to mostly be RCA gray glass but there doesnt appear to be much of a supply; atleast from all my usual sources. For myself I dont know if the search is worth the effort. Some high voltage loctals would be nice though.
), and, unlike the 7N7, converting 6SN7 to 12SN7 has inherent design problems unless you purposely design the application for this purpose. But 12SN7 has more variety then 7N7 and can provide you equivalent 6SN7 sound (for about 75% of the 6SN7 variety). The main concern is - due to its limitd production runs - any small surge in interest for 12SN7s will raise its price quickly, as evinced by this past year. If you're planning on using 12SN7s, I'd buy them now.
This compounds availability problems of tubes which were originally far less prolific. In years past, I've picked up dozens of 7N7s for free from folks who were going to simply trash them.
I am going to have to look around some more. I like the loctals so well I havent been on the lookout for any 12sn7's lately. Plus I have 175 12sn7's anyway. 
Linear Mode
