Sometimes, patience pays off.... Here's some GOOD news on the use of the 6N7G double triodes and 6C5G single triode variant thereof in one of the latest released Elises (no 45).
I've got my Elise since 3 weeks now. Like Lord raven, aqsw and probably others, I did not have any luck with the 6N7G 'joybringers'. Heavy distortion at normal listening volumes. It occured with the Visseaux and the Fivre. I tried all kinds of combo's with different powers. Original 6N13S, Chatham 6AS7G, 6520, 5998, all no luck. With EL3N as powers, it DOES work but at low volume. I decided to give the single triode variants 6C5G a go. Found some Visseaux 6C5G and boy, they play beautifully with normal powers (6AS7G etc...). I read that decentlevi was surprised that his Visseaux 6J5G 'end game tubes' for the Project Amber did not do as well in the Elise. The 6C5G is the precursor thereof and I feel it's a really beautiful sounding tube. The sound is quite similar to the EL3N in my opinion. Ample bass, beautiful midrange, a little shy treble. With HD650 phones that is. I need more time to compare, but the EL3N may sound more realistic, whereas the 6C5G has a 'wetter' sound. I can image that these tubes combine very well with relatively brighter phones like HD800 or T1. I anticipated a low volume with these 6C5G single triodes but there is ample volume. Normal listening levels require a setting around 10-11h.
Frustrated with the many unused 6N7G's in my drawer (but happy with the C65G!), I was about ready to sell them. But, I tried again today - I never give up easily. First with stock Russian powers. Heavy distortion from the first notes. Then a miracle with 5998: NO distortion!
I expected it would come back during warmup. This happened before: only 5998 gave me some listening time with this tube family so far, but the joy ended in a few minutes after warmup. Not today. It's playing for 2 hours now, no distortion whatsoever. And boy does it play well...
For classical and jazz, it extracts more detail in the higher frequencies then the EL3N does. I'm sure the EL3N is a fabulous tube, the detail in the midrange is obvious, but I miss some energy with the HD650. The Visseaux 6N7G does exactly that: infuse some high frequencey energy in the HD650. Just like the C3G does. All in my ears and with my setup of course.
I have no idea what is going on here. Burn in of Elise? Burn in of the 5998? I started to wander if there was some change in Elise's components at some point in time, the old ones being compatible with 6N7G, the new ones no longer. It may also be that the people with the earlier Elises started experimenting with 6N7G's AFTER burn in. Whatever - I'm happy with the latest results and hope it stays this way (not so sure yet!). To Lord raven and aqsw: I hope I don't disturb you with this.
