To anyone, what's your favorite tube to pair with HD650?

  I was about to suggest the dual 6C5G tube in 6J5 adapter if possible. Bass and mids are strong on the 6C5G, but has bit rolled off treble compared to the V's 6J5. The K-R VT231 sounded more like a mild V-shape to me, but for bass, 6C5G wins over K-R (at least on ember).

  I have the NU 6L5G, Fivre 6C5G, and Viss 6J5G, all in dual tube setup. For me, the Viss 6J5 is the most natural and balance sounding jack of all trades out of the 3, it sounds like this tube is doing everything right no matter what the genre is (at least to my ear). The 6C5G is a predecessor...

  You can't go wrong with the Visseaux 6J5 but they're expensive nowadays. A cheaper alternative would be Zenith or Brimar 6j5, or if you can still find a national 6j5, these 6j5s are pretty much close sounding tubes. Here's the link to the...

  The gain setting for ember is on the input, low and high input attenuation. The modi 2u has a weak lineout, so make sure your ember is set to low input attenuation, otherwise you'll lose some volume there. 400i is only 35ohm ( i have same HP, and I also have the ken rad 6sn7gt glass). I...

  Have you tried changing the pads to focuspad? I have 400S with focuspad and grill modded, wife likes how it sounds so I gave it to her, in exchange she gave me reason to buy the 400i during the hifiman sale

  I actually heard that little bit of distortion when I set my mojo lineout to 2v using the 400i. I'll see what it can do when mojo is set to 3V, and report back here. It seems weird that I'm not hearing that with the TH-X00.

  I got it from the italian seller. He used to sell a a couple of matched pair but looks like both are sold now. He got 4 matched pairs though, might need someone willing to share the cost/pair with you.     85 bucks shipped per pair...

  They're cheaper than the Vs too

While I consider my Visseaux 6J5G a pretty balance tube and jack of all trades, these fivre 6C5G takes the 6J5G house sound into fun side. The best 400i planar bass I've heard out of these tubes. Bass is bigger and visceral (than the Vs), mids is lush warm and lovely sounding, details and...

I'm glad you guys are having fun adding your personal touches modification to the ember so I ordered another mesh as I have another cage design in mind.   @joespride I'm still pretty much interested with the Brimar 6J5Gs? Is that from the 1950s? Did you get a chance to listen to NU 6L5G too...

Yup that's mstage HPA-3B. I used to have the mstage v1.2 (sold it), but always curious about balance setup. The ember on dual tube easily rival the mstage soundstage though

I just ordered the fivre 6C5G, and if lucky I will be able to try the mullard ecc31 too. Right now, the NU 6L5G is getting the stage spotlight. Oh man! these tubes are really close sounding to the Visseaux 6J5. I could not even tell the difference during my first few hours of listening. After...

  Thanks HOWIE13! They're plug and play into the 6J5 adapter correct? If yes, I might get the fivre 6c5g with the brown base.

Anyone tried a 6C5G tube with ember? I read somewhere that it is a predecessor of 6J5 tubes, they're quite nice looking tube, I just couldn't find a review or impression about 6C5G, maybe they're not really popular but it may sound nice with the ember too

^ I'm not really sure but I think as long as the mesh is conductive it will be fine

    Is that tube still breathing? It might die from heat and suffocation

  To tell the whole story about my experience is, I went as far as turning off the circuit breaker so that only 1 AC line is active in my house. I also turned off all the appliances and electronic devices (including the wifi/router and my cellphone), I also bought a second adapter thinking it...

  I for one would like to hear the Visseaux 6J5G hum free. This tube is too good to pass on that I felt the need to do something about the hum, and so I'm glad I've found a solution. Consider the cage as tube protector too  

  Thanks @joespride Looks like I'm going to stick with Visseaus 6J5G then :)   I might get a backup pair soon. By the way, is there any difference between a Visseaux labeled as 6J5G/VT-94A vs. 6J5G/6J5GT?

  Can't wait for your impression, as I'm interested in that Brimar 6J5G as well     Where are you guys getting a matched pair of Visseaux? I can't seem to find an affordable one

  If you're only experiencing hum, I think you can create a Faraday cage that only covers the tubes. With the ember being an open design, I prefer jailing the whole amp to completely shield t from EMI, as mine is on the bedroom side table sitting next to a wifi/router :)

    Glad that it worked for you too

  To get the same benefit from jail solution, you will need to wrap the tube all the way down to the base of the adapter to completely shield it from EMI. Just make sure that the foil should not touch any of the solder points in the adapter as this could introduce a short. If you want a...

^ Hahah A friend said the same thing to me lol