[Oskari]

I'm still not sure if I trust the tube, my concern is. If it's plastic it'll melt and there's no issue, if it's glass it'll possible explode and that'll be a schiit storm 

As nwavesailor says, mica and glass are not big issues. Plastic would be a major outgassing concern. Guess why there's no plastic inside tubes.

 

[Makiah S]

As nwavesailor says, mica and glass are not big issues. Plastic would be a major outgassing concern. Guess why there's no plastic inside tubes.

some said it was plastic, other says it's glass <.< I dunno I guess screw it. I'll hope for the best 

 

[joespride]

I am going to offer up some tubes I wont be using, 4 pair of the single triodes. Mention it here as they are for the 6j5 adapter
 
1 Pair NOS Hytron 6c5gt (straight glass)
1 pair sylvania close match 6c5g (st shape)
2 pair National Union (76) 6l5g (st shape)
 
All 4 pair are in great shape 3 pair have boxes, 2 of which are original boxes, the Sylvania st shape have the plain white boxes
 
This is a great cheap way to roll some tubes and see if you like the flavor, I will sell all 4 pair for 50.00 plus shipping and fees shoot me a PM if your interested 

 

[sneaky415]

  well I thank nWave for his encouragement, I've got a pair an the Adapter inBound to me, sadly the Tubes are US Based and the Adapter is out of china
 
but it came to 89, with the adapter and all the shipping
 
let's hope these reach me in good condition 
 
I have a ecc31 Adapter in Bound, I guess if the Mazda's sound terrible... I might give it a try... I'm still not sure if I trust the tube, my concern is. If it's plastic it'll melt and there's no issue, if it's glass it'll possible explode and that'll be a schiit storm 
 
but Rare tubes ftw I guess! Why not start amassing a nice collection of the really rare and obscure stuff! Any on try the 76's yet? 

 
The 76 have 0.3 A heater current so they should work fine in the Starligt. I couldn't restrain myself and also bought a pair, I live in Europe so it will probably take 2-3 weeks. I hope we will be pleasantly surprised with the sound 

 

[Oskari]

some said it was plastic, other says it's glass <.< I dunno I guess screw it. I'll hope for the best 

Don't stress it! There's no plastic in there. Mica will be inert. Glass will be inert.

 

[Demo3]

  Do any of you guys have any experience pairing the Ember with its different forms with the Ether C?

OK... because none you guys would answer my question a few weeks ago, I had to go out and buy my own Ether C to see what it sounds like with the Ember.  My wife is so mad at you guys for not letting me live vicariously through you posts.  Now I am forced to listen for 200 hours or more just to break them in before I decide If I like them.  I know, someone had to do it.  I should stop complaining and start listening.

 

[joespride]

  I am going to offer up some tubes I wont be using, 4 pair of the single triodes. Mention it here as they are for the 6j5 adapter
 
1 Pair NOS Hytron 6c5gt (straight glass)
1 pair sylvania close match 6c5g (st shape)
2 pair National Union (76) 6l5g (st shape)
 
All 4 pair are in great shape 3 pair have boxes, 2 of which are original boxes, the Sylvania st shape have the plain white boxes
 
This is a great cheap way to roll some tubes and see if you like the flavor, I will sell all 4 pair for 50.00 plus shipping and fees shoot me a PM if your interested 

SOLD PENDING PMT. 

  I will let the buyer tell yall if he has a mind to 

 

[Makiah S]

Don't stress it! There's no plastic in there. Mica will be inert. Glass will be inert.

let's hope so. It'll b March before I can listen to it either way 
 

   
The 76 have 0.3 A heater current so they should work fine in the Starligt. I couldn't restrain myself and also bought a pair, I live in Europe so it will probably take 2-3 weeks. I hope we will be pleasantly surprised with the sound 

 
Mhmm, I did some digging too, an they are possibly French. They appear to be a European Tube brand either way it seems. In terms of sound, there is not a lot. Also the Ecc 31 Adapter is set to arrive as easrly as March 9th :/ with the Mazda Adapter, set to arrive around the 24'th of Febuary so we shall see! Here's to hoping these tubes sound good, an reach me in good condition 

 

[nwavesailor]

  let's hope so. It'll b March before I can listen to it either way 
 
 
Mhmm, I did some digging too, an they are possibly French. They appear to be a European Tube brand either way it seems. In terms of sound, there is not a lot. Also the Ecc 31 Adapter is set to arrive as easrly as March 9th :/ with the Mazda Adapter, set to arrive around the 24'th of Febuary so we shall see! Here's to hoping these tubes sound good, an reach me in good condition 

Your ECC31 tube will be A-OK with a small piece of mica (it is NOT plastic!) floating around inside. If the seller refunded w/o you returning, you essentially now have a free tube to try.
 
Some of the guys at the Woo HeadFi forum think the ECC31 sound really nice!!!

 

[Makiah S]

 
Your ECC31 tube will be A-OK with a small piece of mica (it is NOT plastic!) floating around inside. If the seller refunded w/o you returning, you essentially now have a free tube to try.
 
Some of the guys at the Woo HeadFi forum think the ECC31 sound really nice!!!

He did refund me, again he was a fantastic fellow to buy from. Though given the well trip I may refrain from making any purchases from that far away. As he... well he SERIOSULY packed that tube REALLY freaking well, it was in a bag which had the Plastic Air Stuff, then in a box with Peanuts, then wrapped in like 1 inch of small bubble, bubble wrap. An despite all of freaking that... the damn thing came to be busted as you saw [and I have no idea where the adapter went to] so I suppose for my self, I might just avoid buying and selling with that much distance 
 
Either way, it'll b march before I can try the Ecc 31. An hopefully, you guys in Europe will have a better chance buying tubes from the Western Hemipshere. It seems the long journey was to much for the Mullard ECC31 I got :/ 
 
still I need to grab a 6j5 adapter when I get my paycheck and pick up a cheap set of those. Cuz why not, my Starlight get's 90% of my head time these days 

 

[HOWIE13]

Thanks to DecentLevi for pointing out the 6A6 and 6N7 tubes which I've had a chance to test out. Mercifully all tubes arrived intact and had good parameters.
 
Both tube types are similar with the same characteristics and also share a similar sound.  The 6A6 predated the 6N7. They are characterised by a warm, euphonic, capacious, solid, easy flowing sound, reminiscent of floor speakers. The immediate most obvious difference from other octal dual triodes I've heard is that they are louder, amplification factor 35. This shows as a general increase in all frequencies, with no tendency to differential upper- mid brightness. The bass is very well presented, with the different layers easily differentiated from each other. Listening to Schubert's String Quintet it was easier than I have ever experienced to differentiate the two cellos, and viola, even though they are sitting very close together, not just by the position and imaging, but also by the different timbre of the instruments. The same applied to the same composer's Trout Quintet, where the double bass, which usually just sounds mixed in with the cellos had very clear individuality. The mids are quite forward, but not claustrophobically, the highs were slightly attenuated on all tubes except a 6N7 RCA and  6A6 Ken-Rad. The Ken-Rad was actually surprisingly bright but it settled down playing overnight, so it maybe an unused tube. In general I would say the treble on these tubes is realistic, without being emphasised.
The 6A6's had a bigger sound-stage than the 6N7's, I hesitate to suggest that's due to their large coke bottle shape-but it's interesting all the same. Their sound-stage is the largest I've experienced with Ember, the 6N7's are normal bottle shaped and share a similar sound-stage to FrankenEmber, with a smoother, warmer sound, no treble brightness, no muddy lower mids which some people (including myself) have occasionally observed  with the otherwise excellent FrankenEmber.
Visseaux and some other 6J5 owners don't need to worry though-these tubes don't quite have their energy or fine detail, but with a brighter can they sound very impressive to me. As an example they suit the HD600 very well, more so than the HD650. They are quiet, just a mild hum with my X2. There was noise turning the volpot unless I invoked the input capacitors. 
The adapters, (the two tube types require different adapters) work fine though the 6A6 to 6SN7 is a behemoth monster. Ever helpful Mrs Xu Ling has now specially produced a 6N7 to ECC88 adapter  to avoid using an additional 6SN7 to ECC88 adapter.
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201525061048?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
Tubes:    6A6- Sylvania and Ken Rad.
             6N7- Brimar, RCA, both glass bottle, Ken-Rad, metal.
Sources: X5 (FLAC),CD6004, PDR-609, M-DAC, Bushmaster 2, NOS DAC's, Muse and Mini TDA1543
Amp:      Ember 2.
Music:    Various Classical and Jazz.
Disclaimer: Just all my personal initial impressions of a tiny selection of these tubes., 
 
Here's a couple of articles with some info. Apologies if they have been posted before.
 
http://vinylsavor.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/tube-of-month-6a6.html
 
http://vinylsavor.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/tube-of-month-6n7.html
 
Hope to hear more people's experience with these tubes soon.

 

[nwavesailor]

  Thanks to DecentLevi for pointing out the 6A6 and 6N7 tubes which I've had a chance to test out. Mercifully all tubes arrived intact and had good parameters.
 
Both tube types are similar with the same characteristics and also share a similar sound.  The 6A6 predated the 6N7. They are characterised by a warm, euphonic, capacious, solid, easy flowing sound, reminiscent of floor speakers. The immediate most obvious difference from other octal dual triodes I've heard is that they are louder, amplification factor 35. This shows as a general increase in all frequencies, with no tendency to differential upper- mid brightness. The bass is very well presented, with the different layers easily differentiated from each other. Listening to Schubert's String Quintet it was easier than I have ever experienced to differentiate the two cellos, and viola, even though they are sitting very close together, not just by the position and imaging, but also by the different timbre of the instruments. The same applied to the same composer's Trout Quintet, where the double bass, which usually just sounds mixed in with the cellos had very clear individuality. The mids are quite forward, but not claustrophobically, the highs were slightly attenuated on all tubes except a 6N7 RCA and  6A6 Ken-Rad. The Ken-Rad was actually surprisingly bright but it settled down playing overnight, so it maybe an unused tube. In general I would say the treble on these tubes is realistic, without being emphasised.
The 6A6's had a bigger sound-stage than the 6N7's, I hesitate to suggest that's due to their large coke bottle shape-but it's interesting all the same. Their sound-stage is the largest I've experienced with Ember, the 6N7's are normal bottle shaped and share a similar sound-stage to FrankenEmber, with a smoother, warmer sound, no treble brightness, no muddy lower mids which some people (including myself) have occasionally observed  with the otherwise excellent FrankenEmber.
Visseaux and some other 6J5 owners don't need to worry though-these tubes don't quite have their energy or fine detail, but with a brighter can they sound very impressive to me. As an example they suit the HD600 very well, more so than the HD650. They are quiet, just a mild hum with my X2. There was noise turning the volpot unless I invoked the input capacitors. 
The adapters work fine though the 6A6 to 6SN7 is a behemoth monster. Ever helpful Mrs Xu Ling has now specially produced an ECC31 to ECC88 adapter  to avoid using an additional 6SN7 to ECC88 adapter.
 
Tubes:    6A6- Sylvania and Ken Rad.
             6N7- Brimar, RCA, both glass bottle, Ken-Rad, metal.
Sources: X5 (FLAC),CD6004, PDR-609, M-DAC, Bushmaster 2, NOS DAC's, Muse and Mini TDA1543
Music:    Various Classical and Jazz.
Disclaimer: Just all my personal initial impressions of a tiny selection of these tubes., 
 
Here's a couple of articles with some info. Apologies if they have been posted before.
 
http://vinylsavor.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/tube-of-month-6a6.html
 
http://vinylsavor.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/tube-of-month-6n7.html
 
Hope to hear more people's experience with these tubes soon.
 
 
 
Thanks for taking the time to post this. It is a very nice review of these tube options, Howie13!

 

[DecentLevi]

Excellent 'work' Howie! 

 
 
Wow, so you are the first person to try both the 6A6 and 6N7... not only to discover that they both work with the Ember (each with their own adapter), but that they both have great sound! Especially interesting is that you said your 6A6 has an even larger soundstage than the Visseaux 6J5's.... and even though you say they're brighter and with less energy and detail, I say these could pair quite well depending on the headphone used, and this could be a cheaper path instead of the Visseaux (and it's close-sibling Zenith 6J5).
 
Of course these are only a few of many different types of 6A6 and 6N7 tubes out there, so many other possible sound flavors are still waiting to be had. But this particular tube journey is gonna have to be all up to you guys, because I for one am transitioning to a new tube amp - unless I get word of one of these tubes that further refine on the dynamics of the Visseaux - then we're talkin'! It's worth mentioning too that there are many untried 6A6 out there that are cheaper than the shipping.
 
And finally I guess it's worth repeating...

 
PS - Howie would you mind sharing photos of your new tubes in the amp?

 

[HOWIE13]

  Excellent 'work' Howie! 

 
 
Wow, so you are the first person to try both the 6A6 and 6N7... not only to discover that they both work with the Ember (each with their own adapter), but that they both have great sound! Especially interesting is that you said your 6A6 has an even larger soundstage than the Visseaux 6J5's.... and even though you say they're brighter and with less energy and detail, I say these could pair quite well depending on the headphone used, and this could be a cheaper path instead of the Visseaux (and it's close-sibling Zenith 6J5).
 
Of course these are only a few of many different types of 6A6 and 6N7 tubes out there, so many other possible sound flavors are still waiting to be had. But this particular tube journey is gonna have to be all up to you guys, because I for one am transitioning to a new tube amp - unless I get word of one of these tubes that further refine on the dynamics of the Visseaux - then we're talkin'! It's worth mentioning too that there are many untried 6A6 out there that are cheaper than the shipping.
 
And finally I guess it's worth repeating...

 
PS - Howie would you mind sharing photos of your new tubes in the amp?

Thanks-it's fun and enjoyable when it works out- frustrating when it doesn't!
I wouldn't say they are brighter than the Visseaux, just the Ken-Rad 6A6, though it's mellowing as I play it so it may be new tube syndrome.
I'll happily post some pictures later this morning , unfortunately I have to go to the dentist to have a tooth pulled first 

.
Meantime if you go to the first link about the 6A6 tubes you can see a picture of the Ken-Rad- a pretty cool looking tube.

 

[HOWIE13]

Here's a couple of photos;
 
The first is the Ken-Rad 6A6 and below it an RCA 6N7.