[winders]

I got a pair 396A and I agree they are great. But you are misleading when you claim GE5670 is not very good. 5670s are only $4 on ebay, and 396As usually is more than 10 times price than 5670! Don't we expect 396A to be better? Actually compared to 5670, their price cannot justify their sound quality.

I guess you and I place different values on sound quality. I don't care if the GE5670 cost 50 cents a pair. They just don't sound good enough to use compared to the other options out there.

 

[yangian]

I guess you and I place different values on sound quality. I don't care if the GE5670 cost 50 cents a pair. They just don't sound good enough to use compared to the other options out there.

Yes. Cost-effective is the first consideration for me to buy sth. I'm not a "tuhao."

 

[winders]

Yes. Cost-effective is the first consideration for me to buy sth. I'm not a "tuhao."

Cheap does not necessarily equal cost effective. You don't have to be wealthy to buy decent tubes. I am not talking about spending $200 for a pair of tubes. You can get the GE tubes I mentioned for $30 a pair. The iFi GE5670 tubes are $100 per pair. Heck, you can get the awesome Western Electric 396A tubes for less than $99.

 

[yangian]

Cheap does not necessarily equal cost effective. You don't have to be wealthy to buy decent tubes. I am not talking about spending $200 for a pair of tubes. You can get the GE tubes I mentioned for $30 a pair. The iFi GE5670 tubes are $100 per pair. Heck, you can get the awesome Western Electric 396A tubes for less than $99.

But ebay has $4 5670 and have sold several thousands! Why buy those expensive items.
BTW, my pair of 396A was bid with very low price since only one person to bid with me. 396A is great indeed.

 

[AuditoryCanvas]

Can anyone help identify these 6n3p tubes? The brand is apparently ELECTRONORGTECNIKA, for which I can only find one reference to in a 1973 Computerworld magazine, who were a "Soviet foreign trade organization that handles electronic equipment."

I got them for $5 a pair. They look totally brand new, so new, they look possibly fake, but the boxes and paper specs inside look pretty old, and I can't imagine anyone bothering to produce fakes and hten sell them so cheaply, although my knowledge is limited, I've only been into this tube world for a few months.

They sound pretty incredible, better than my favorite pair of Voskhod 76 6n23p rockets. Wide soundstage, great top and a really great bottom end, clean mids, quite holographic, and great detail. For the price, I'm totally stunned. I'm using them in a Mjolnir 2, with 5670 to 6992 adapters.

I've been on a spree of around 30 plus russian tube pairs at varying prices, and these just really standout over just about all of them.

Does anyone know anything about these or the brand?

 

[kolkoo]

They look like ordinary 6N3Ps except made for export as you can tell by the nickel pins. Should try the 6N3P-E s and compare them with these. The consensus on the other threads is that the 6N3P-Es are the best of the "6N3P" variations but not much collective research has gone into this. Mostly we trust @rnros ' opinion

 

[AuditoryCanvas]

They look like ordinary 6N3Ps except made for export as you can tell by the nickel pins. Should try the 6N3P-E s and compare them with these. The consensus on the other threads is that the 6N3P-Es are the best of the "6N3P" variations but not much collective research has gone into this. Mostly we trust @rnros ' opinion

Thanks very much for the info, interesting about the pins. I'm curious if they're branded from a different manufacturer? They look almost identical to some 6n3p reflectors I have, but sound much better.

I have some 6n3p-e and -ev on the way, so I'm keen to hear them if you suggest they may sound better than the 6n3p.

I have 12 pairs of 6n23p from various manufacturers and years, but these outshine all of them so far.

 

[kolkoo]

Do you have to so called HGs (1975 Reflektor SWGPs) ? I have a few pairs of HGs with nickel pins made for export and also some with steel pins. For similar testing HGs - steel and nickel pins both sound the same to me.

For the 6N3Ps they should be made by the same people, maybe they test better, it's hard to tell why they sound better.The ones you linked look to be Voskhod made. Maybe your other pairs are Reflektors? Post a picture here.


I have a pack of 25 Reflektor 6N3P-Es and they are great, I've also tried every russian tube there is from the 6N23P and the HGs are the best. The 6N3P-E is really close however and at 2$ a pop it's an insane deal.

Edit 5: On the other hand I can barely find any 6N3PXXX tubes that were not made by Reflektor, Saratov. But these don't seem to have the little Reflektor logo on top... Maybe the ones for export were made in the Voskhod factory.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6N3P-E-6N3P...316805?hash=item33d7784a05:g:obAAAOSwX61ZB65z
This polish auction for 6N3P-E claims they are from Voskhod and they also have nickel pins and look like they are made for export.

 

[AuditoryCanvas]

Well, it turns out the reflector 6n3p I said looks identical, are actually 6n23p-e....they're from 87, I definitely think these 6n3p with the nickel pins sound much better, perhaps because of the older year? I'm curious to hear a few more pairs, perhaps older ones. I have found a good bit of difference from the various rockets I have, even some from the same year sounding way better over others. Perhaps some of them were better matched than others.

I don't have the Reflector 75's, I have a few slightly older ones, some silver shield, some single wire, but I prefer the 76 Voskhod Rockets I have to all the reflectors to be honest. Not that the Reflectors sound bad, the rockets just seem to have a more magical sparkle to them.

What I find almost amusing is that I prefer almost all of the russian tubes I have over a platinum pair of '64 Amperex Jan 7308s from Upscale.

This tube addiction is getting really expensive, haha, but so much fun.

 

[kolkoo]

Haaa! Really expensive you say If most of your tubes are Russians you have barely scraped the surface, don't get too addicted though or you will end up like me or like @TK16 who is lurking this thread right now!
I suggest you check out the Lyr 2 tube rollers thread https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers.673709 if you want more ideas - the current trend is 2C51 tubes such as the 6N3Ps you enjoy.

 

[AuditoryCanvas]

Haaa! Really expensive you say If most of your tubes are Russians you have barely scraped the surface, don't get too addicted though or you will end up like me or like @TK16 who is lurking this thread right now!
I suggest you check out the Lyr 2 tube rollers thread https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers.673709 if you want more ideas - the current trend is 2C51 tubes such as the 6N3Ps you enjoy.

Yeah, I recently grabbed some GE 5670, and some '62 Raytheon CK5670s when i got the adapters. I quite like the Raytheons, the GEs were nothing to write home about. I've been trying to find a good pair of Western Electrics that don't cost a testicle. Also have some Philips 6992s, and the Schiit LISSTs. I overpaid for some of the older Rockets I have, but they were kind of worth it.

 

[AuditoryCanvas]

Edit 5: On the other hand I can barely find any 6N3PXXX tubes that were not made by Reflektor, Saratov. But these don't seem to have the little Reflektor logo on top... Maybe the ones for export were made in the Voskhod factory.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6N3P-E-6N3P...316805?hash=item33d7784a05:g:obAAAOSwX61ZB65z
This polish auction for 6N3P-E claims they are from Voskhod and they also have nickel pins and look like they are made for export.

I just found these, which are totally identical, exact same markings, ink, placement etc, only difference is the October logo is missing, which makes sense if they were for export?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-x-6N3P-Do...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648

 

[kolkoo]

I just found these, which are totally identical, exact same markings, ink, placement etc, only difference is the October logo is missing, which makes sense if they were for export?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-x-6N3P-Double-triode-tubes-6CC42-ECC42-SELECTED-BY-DATE-AUG-1975-y-p/252575332505?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648

I guess they were made in the October factory. So if your other 6N3Ps were Reflektors maybe that could lead to the sonic difference. I bought 2*8 of these so I can test and match them and see if I like their sound.

 

[AuditoryCanvas]

I guess they were made in the October factory. So if your other 6N3Ps were Reflektors maybe that could lead to the sonic difference. I bought 2*8 of these so I can test and match them and see if I like their sound.

oh, cool. I have 8 of those on the way as well. I have 4 more pairs of the ones I originally posted about heading my way in the mail, if you want me to send you a pair when they arrive?

 

[TK16]

Haaa! Really expensive you say If most of your tubes are Russians you have barely scraped the surface, don't get too addicted though or you will end up like me or like @TK16 who is lurking this thread right now!
I suggest you check out the Lyr 2 tube rollers thread https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers.673709 if you want more ideas - the current trend is 2C51 tubes such as the 6N3Ps you enjoy.

Found out the hard way some of the very best tubes I like cost a fraction of the 6922 variants and most sound better imo. My Bendix 2C51 pair is harsh on the highs, do not care much for the GE 5670 square getters. Everything else has been home run after home run. WE JW 396A square getter, CBS 5670 square getter, Tung Sol 2C51 square getter. Quite impressed with the Reflektor 6N3P-E. Better than my Reflektor 74 and 75 pairs. 6N23P swgp silver shield and a mere fraction what these expensive 6N23P. Dirt cheap.