Bit of a delay, but coming back to this, I had some time and proper mindset and all to sit down and swap tubes for a bit out of curiosity. However, I have forgotten virtually everything I learned about how to properly analyze the sound, lol. What I can tell you in particular is the Golden Lion...

The Tung-Sol was probably my favorite of all I tried back then other than a very tiny bit of noise it would pick up on one side (which I could only hear in absolute silence anyway.) I, much later on, decided to try the Genalaex Gold Lion E88CC though and something about it seemed to suit me...

I've put a new Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB in this Vali 2 and it just seems to be exactly the precise sound signature I apparently wanted. As in I don't even feel any desire whatsoever to roll any more tubes. I did try a vintage one and it was good, but, unlike it, this one just fits me exactly somehow...

Holy necropost Batman! This was all taken care of ages ago btw in case anyone sees this person's random bump of a four year old thread and thinks of answering. I eventually went with a Modi 2U + Magni 2U and have since swapped the Magni 2U for a Vali 2 (it suits me well.) I'm very happy with...

You do understand it was a serious question about something with potential for serious ramifications? I don't really get why you're turning it into an insult. Ah, thanks for the info. Honestly I would say "burn out" isn't necessarily the same thing as "not being present at all." Usually it's...

Well that makes sense, lol. I'll do that if no one speaks up from personal experience on the matter. I honestly don't think it would ever happen like that, but it's enough to make me worry.

So I have a bit of a crazy question, but a bit of a paranoia point for me: what happens if you run the Vali 2 without a tube? It wouldn't damage it or anything would it? It's a bit of a paranoia point for me because the vintage tube I ordered had a crack in the base. Upon closer examination...

A fair point. We'll see. They'll probably reject since that will be less than $20 counting the shipping, but an offer has been submitted. EDIT: So as an update they did accept it and I did try that one. It is good. Definitely better than the stock NOS 6BZ7 and the ElectroHarmonix 6CG7 --...

Ah. That one does seem good. I can't do the $30 right now (shipping is about $5) though ($24.00 in my paypal right now.) I'd have to wait for my next paycheck. Any other promising options or should I just wait?

Oh, I misunderstood something. The "mouse ears" refers to those plastic looking things at the top on one like this doesn't it? https://www.ebay.com/itm/293034297347 I had assumed it referred to the actual shape of the cathodes. Do you have any particular suggestions from what's on eBay right...

Any thoughts on the pair I linked to? I can swing the $20 right now I think. Alternately, any suggestions?

Hmm. Partially I didn't see the picture right on the one I posted and some others are downright blurred. I guess the one I linked to actually is "mouse ears"? What's your opinion of the $19.99 pair I just linked to then? I don't know a lot about tubes, but many of the Tung-Sols I found in...

Well, I did glance over eBay. The biggest problem I saw was that the "mouse ears" version of the Tung-Sol seems to not really run in the $20 area as far as I can tell -- even used (in fact, I didn't see any NOS. My bet is NOS versions would be super expensive.) They seemed to tend more to the...

Hmm. TubeDepot has a Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB that seems to be a newly made product instead of NOS or even used but people seem to be super happy with them, so maybe it has about the same sound? (I even see someone specifically mentioning the Vali 2.) I feel a bit more confident buying something...

So I'm pretty new to tube amps. I've researched what I could and right now the one that suited my needs best (including not costing an arm and a leg) was the Schiit Vali 2. So far I am liking it, though the sound isn't as different from the Magni 2U as I thought it would be. To be fair, I...