[bumblebeezack]

You're very welcome. The forum is at its best when folks are sharing and helping each other out :wink_face:  

Yes very helpful and I feel very welcomed so far in this thread. Yeah, I've read some stuff where things get pretty intense. Passionate people eh? But, I'm just glad that we have all this glorious stuff to listen to music on!

P.S. Yes. I believe 10 posts or 15 days a member + 5 posts is the magic formula to having the member features unlocked..

 

[bumblebeezack]

One of the most practical ways we can help you is for you to go for common inexpensive tubes like the Brimars and Sylvannia/RCA 6SN7's as they are a known quantity to most of us. Accordingly  we get to understand your sonic tastes and be of better help to you.

Hey-o! I keep hearing Brimars being mentioned so I'll definitely look into that and it's definitely priced well within my budget.

I'll be absolutely frank here. I mentioned the Sophia Electric Princess merely because it looks pretty glowing. I have no idea how it sounds on the WA6. I'm a photographer by trade so looks kinda have a resonance for me as well. I know sound is important so I'm open to suggestions of course, after all I bought the amp for sound first and foremost.

I am fortunate enough to live in a part of the world where the good hifi shops are all close to each other so most of the time I do get to audition stuff before I buy. However, tube rolling seems a dark art and I have to rely on the opinion of others and am relegated to buy online only. Hence Head-fi!

My taste is basically I listen to all kind of songs that suits the mood. So that can be rock, jazz, pop, dubstep, world music, some classical and anything in between. Like right now, I'm listening to some Iron and Wine. I currently have a Beyer DTX501, DT 1350, Beyer COP, T70, the WA6, Bravo Audio V3, Fiio E12a, Soundmagic A10 all sourced from an ibasso DX50 with a mix of 24/16 bit flac, 320 kbps Mp3 and some other poorer recordings, which do sound bad but will have to do until I get better ones. I know. Too many Beyers.

I am currently looking at a Schiit Modi Uber for the laptop, a Dunu DN2000J for an iem and I do like the HD800 for some of my music. And I want to try some tubes for the fun of it. PHEW, sorry for being long. Yup. That's where I stand soundwise now. Thanks all!

 

[TonyNewman]

Yes very helpful and I feel very welcomed so far in this thread. Yeah, I've read some stuff where things get pretty intense. Passionate people eh? But, I'm just glad that we have all this glorious stuff to listen to music on!

P.S. Yes. I believe 10 posts or 15 days a member + 5 posts is the magic formula to having the member features unlocked..

 
Lots of different points of view to take in. Some folks get very passionate very quickly, others not.
 
For a different take on the driver tubes I will throw my 2 cents out there. I spent a lot of time and money chasing drivers before finding the TS RPs and NUs. I have tried most of the NOS types out there, and just about all the new production drivers (6SN7/6F8G compatible). That took a lot of time and quite a bit of coin. It was quite a journey - if that is a journey that appeals to you I say go for it and enjoy - but I would have preferred to have saved my time and money and gone straight for the TS RPs and NUs. Nothing else that I have heard - NOS or new production - comes close to these.
 
I have not heard the Brimar 6SN7 - this is a rare and very expensive tube - apart from that I think I have covered most others at some point.
 
So I suggest you ignore the Sylvanias (a wretched tube to my ears - bright and nasty) and the RCA 6SN7 (warm, but muddy compared to the TS RP or NU). Personally, I binned my Sylvanias. I have kept my RCA 6SN7s as these are the tubes I give to my repair guy when my WA5 is getting fixed for him to test with - I never - repeat never - listen to them after having found the TS RP and NUs.
 
All the new productions drivers I have bought - Psvane T2, Sophia Electric, Shuguang BT, TJ Full Music, Electro-Harmonix and a bunch of others - all binned.
 
Lots of folks are going to disagree with me on the above - that's fine - this forum is all about folks sharing different points of view and experiences. My thoughts on drivers are above. Hope it helps

 

[bumblebeezack]

Lots of different points of view to take in. Some folks get very passionate very quickly, others not.

For a different take on the driver tubes I will throw my 2 cents out there. I spent a lot of time and money chasing drivers before finding the TS RPs and NUs. I have tried most of the NOS types out there, and just about all the new production drivers (6SN7/6F8G compatible). That took a lot of time and quite a bit of coin. It was quite a journey - if that is a journey that appeals to you I say go for it and enjoy - but I would have preferred to have saved my time and money and gone straight for the TS RPs and NUs. Nothing else that I have heard - NOS or new production - comes close to these.

I have not heard the Brimar 6SN7 - this is a rare and very expensive tube - apart from that I think I have covered most others at some point.

So I suggest you ignore the Sylvanias (a wretched tube to my ears - bright and nasty) and the RCA 6SN7 (warm, but muddy compared to the TS RP or NU). Personally, I binned my Sylvanias. I have kept my RCA 6SN7s as these are the tubes I give to my repair guy when my WA5 is getting fixed for him to test with - I never - repeat never - listen to them after having found the TS RP and NUs.

All the new productions drivers I have bought - Psvane T2, Sophia Electric, Shuguang BT, TJ Full Music, Electro-Harmonix and a bunch of others - all binned.

Lots of folks are going to disagree with me on the above - that's fine - this forum is all about folks sharing different points of view and experiences. My thoughts on drivers are above. Hope it helps

I am a little lost. What's a TS RP? That's a rectifier I presume?

 

[TonyNewman]

I am a little lost. What's a TS RP? That's a rectifier I presume?

 
Nope - driver tube.
 
TS RP = Tung-Sol Round Plate. About the best 6SN7 type driver there is, according to many folks, and the pricing reflects this.
 
NU = National Union (6F8G), also a driver tube. I think it is close to the TS RP in terms of technical qualities, and also has a lovely warm and sweet tonality. Can be had considerably cheaper than the TS RP.

 

[bumblebeezack]

Nope - driver tube.

TS RP = Tung-Sol Round Plate. About the best 6SN7 type driver there is, according to many folks, and the pricing reflects this.

NU = National Union (6F8G), also a driver tube. I think it is close to the TS RP in terms of technical qualities, and also has a lovely warm and sweet tonality. Can be had considerably cheaper than the TS RP.

I looked up the Tung Sol and apparently there are some with gt or gtb after 6SN7. Any difference? And I see anything from say 40 usd a matched pair to 600 USD. What...?

 

[devilboy]

@bumblebeezack: you should speak with Andy from Vintage Tube Services. He's extremely knowledgeable (he actually prefers speaking on the phone vs emailing). I've been dealing with him for years with great results.

 

[isquirrel]

@bumblebeezack: you should speak with Andy from Vintage Tube Services. He's extremely knowledgeable (he actually prefers speaking on the phone vs emailing). I've been dealing with him for years with great results.

+1 on that, Andy's a good friend, although he knows his stuff like no-one else on tubes he can be a little ambivalent about the best sounding tube for a given application unless he has had experience 1st hand of the equipment. I too have used him for years but recently have been picking up some gems elsewhere. Try and download a copy of the RCA tube guide 1957. Huge amount of good info in there. 

 

[isquirrel]

   
Lots of different points of view to take in. Some folks get very passionate very quickly, others not.
 
For a different take on the driver tubes I will throw my 2 cents out there. I spent a lot of time and money chasing drivers before finding the TS RPs and NUs. I have tried most of the NOS types out there, and just about all the new production drivers (6SN7/6F8G compatible). That took a lot of time and quite a bit of coin. It was quite a journey - if that is a journey that appeals to you I say go for it and enjoy - but I would have preferred to have saved my time and money and gone straight for the TS RPs and NUs. Nothing else that I have heard - NOS or new production - comes close to these.
 
I have not heard the Brimar 6SN7 - this is a rare and very expensive tube - apart from that I think I have covered most others at some point.
 
So I suggest you ignore the Sylvanias (a wretched tube to my ears - bright and nasty) and the RCA 6SN7 (warm, but muddy compared to the TS RP or NU). Personally, I binned my Sylvanias. I have kept my RCA 6SN7s as these are the tubes I give to my repair guy when my WA5 is getting fixed for him to test with - I never - repeat never - listen to them after having found the TS RP and NUs.
 
All the new productions drivers I have bought - Psvane T2, Sophia Electric, Shuguang BT, TJ Full Music, Electro-Harmonix and a bunch of others - all binned.
 
Lots of folks are going to disagree with me on the above - that's fine - this forum is all about folks sharing different points of view and experiences. My thoughts on drivers are above. Hope it helps

Tony, I agree on the Sylvania's although some people love them. Can't agree on the RCA this latest batch I have is in a different league compared to the other varieties, in fact they are as good as if not better than the TS RP's much to my amazement.

 

[bumblebeezack]

@bumblebeezack: you should speak with Andy from Vintage Tube Services. He's extremely knowledgeable (he actually prefers speaking on the phone vs emailing). I've been dealing with him for years with great results.

I've visited Andy's site and has perused his catalog of tubes. Lots to take in of course. Unfortunately calling him isn't really an option as I'll be making my telco even richer. But thanks for the heads up.

 

[3083joe]

   
Nope - driver tube.
 
TS RP = Tung-Sol Round Plate. About the best 6SN7 type driver there is, according to many folks, and the pricing reflects this.
 
NU = National Union (6F8G), also a driver tube. I think it is close to the TS RP in terms of technical qualities, and also has a lovely warm and sweet tonality. Can be had considerably cheaper than the TS RP.

Are these the NU's?

 
And are these the TS Round

 

[3083joe]

and is this the 6f8g adapters?

 

[MIKELAP]

  and is this the 6f8g adapters?

Yes they are but those are cheap dont buy those 2359Glenn makes good ones and he is in U.S. you can send him a pm            http://www.head-fi.org/u/158007/2359glenn

 

[Khragon]

Glenn adapter > all.

 

[Porteroso]

To be fair to the ebay adapters, I have some, and they worked just fine. I also ended up getting Glenn adapters for 6DE7-->6F8G with Joseph, and they are impeccable. They look pretty good too. Of course, for the price difference, they should.
 
About the Sophia Princess, I agree with the statement that it looks amazing. And it's not as bad as we sometimes make it out to be, it's just that other things are better.
 
I would always start with the National Union 6F8G, well, at least on the WA6. There is very little difference in detail, accuracy of tonality, and dynamics between them and the TS rp. I have a few pairs of both, and the TS rp are not really noticeably better. If you a/b them, you can detect differences, but I don't think I could pass a blind test comparison. I doubt that most people could, really. Not on the WA6. As Tony unfortunately found out, the NUs do not hold up well when asked to drive bigger rectifiers. Good for the WA6 owners really, we have a great sounding tube that the big amps cannot use.
 
By the way, the "round plate" specification refers to the top plate. If it is round, it is round. TS also comes in flat plates. You never see people's impressions of those, I would love to hear them. I have 1, but, well, I would need 2 to hear them.
 
edit: It is also interesting to see that isquirrel found some RCAs that don't sound muddy. When I originally read about them, I did read that the earliest ones were "where the true magic is" or something like that. Mine are a bit muddy in the mid bass and lower. I would love to hear some that are really good and find out when they were made. Of course maybe you just got a lucky 1 in a million pair, I'm sure that happens too.