[Khragon]

   
What is the application?

 
Headphone amp of course
They're my tubes, I plan to sell them on ebay and wonder if I should pair them up and split them out.
Using them in my WA5 I don't hear any imbalance...

 

[Mechans1]

I will prolly get flamed for saying it but the tests simply show that the tubes are functioning and precious little else.  I have used pairs, that I have assembled from slightly mismatched singles and never heard a difference in volume, or tone in some nor frequency band.
As for yours,   I would put them up as a pair just  be up front and honest about the testing you have on them.
Out of curiosity did you say you used them in a pair application? Did you hear any significant differences in the two channels?  If you can say you didn't then just tell the truth.  If you did you can also be honest and say in very sensitive applications you heard a slight or-moderate or-all hell broke lose and you ran screaming from the room muttering solid state solid state !
Call me an idiot but I would have bought them as an slightly imperfect but  likely functional pair.
How did they sound BTW, magical or ordinary?   I know you really  can't say if they weren't exceptional. I own 4 blah sounding TS RPs myself..

 

[TonyNewman]

  I will prolly get flamed for saying it but the tests simply show that the tubes are functioning and precious little else.  I have used pairs, that I have assembled from slightly mismatched singles and never heard a difference in volume, or tone in some nor frequency band.
As for yours,   I would put them up as a pair just  be up front and honest about the testing you have on them.
Out of curiosity did you say you used them in a pair application? Did you hear any significant differences in the two channels?  If you can say you didn't then just tell the truth.  If you did you can also be honest and say in very sensitive applications you heard a slight or-moderate or-all hell broke lose and you ran screaming from the room muttering solid state solid state !
Call me an idiot but I would have bought them as an slightly imperfect but  likely functional pair.
How did they sound BTW, magical or ordinary?   I know you really  can't say if they weren't exceptional. I own 4 blah sounding TS RPs myself..

 
No flames from me. I match type of tube and the internals - and nothing else.
 
For example, I have several 6F8Gs with matching internals that are labelled 4 different ways - RCA, GE ...etc. I swap between them with no problems that I can detect. Bollix to tube matching.

 

[Badas]

   
No flames from me. I match type of tube and the internals - and nothing else.
 
For example, I have several 6F8Gs with matching internals that are labelled 4 different ways - RCA, GE ...etc. I swap between them with no problems that I can detect. Bollix to tube matching.

Same here. As long as they are close. I don't worry about them. As long as they are the same internals.

 

[MIKELAP]

 

  I will prolly get flamed for saying it but the tests simply show that the tubes are functioning and precious little else.  I have used pairs, that I have assembled from slightly mismatched singles and never heard a difference in volume, or tone in some nor frequency band.
As for yours,   I would put them up as a pair just  be up front and honest about the testing you have on them.
Out of curiosity did you say you used them in a pair application? Did you hear any significant differences in the two channels?  If you can say you didn't then just tell the truth.  If you did you can also be honest and say in very sensitive applications you heard a slight or-moderate or-all hell broke lose and you ran screaming from the room muttering solid state solid state !
Call me an idiot but I would have bought them as an slightly imperfect but  likely functional pair.
How did they sound BTW, magical or ordinary?   I know you really  can't say if they weren't exceptional. I own 4 blah sounding TS RPs myself..

 
No flames from me. I match type of tube and the internals - and nothing else.
 
For example, I have several 6F8Gs with matching internals that are labelled 4 different ways - RCA, GE ...etc. I swap between them with no problems that I can detect. Bollix to tube matching.

That's what i do also with my 6F8G i match the internals and they sound good to me .Actually i dont buy matched pairs for any of my amps waste of money imo and if there is a difference i dont hear it .

 

[jibzilla]

So I guess I'm a little late to the b65 party but here's mine
 
 
I'm going to throw a word of caution out there though. These tubes are not $1k. The euro and gbp tanked and I got mine for under $300 shipped so if you live in the States I would not pay over $300. Also these are not always the best match for your amp and headphone. With my peak/volcano and lcd-3f's it is awfully mid-centric and while I enjoy the sound this was not very well received at a stl. headphone meet...err my much less expensive stax setup was much better received. At least to me a 5692 redbase is much closer to neutral and just as good in it's own way and was only $120 shipped. Does anyone have a closest to neutral 6sn7 that they recommend?

 

[Mechans1]

Neutral is in the ear  of the listener .
RCA red base 5962s are not, IMHO a neutral tube.  To me they have a soft edged warm tone.  If that is what you like I recommend the NU  grey glass, not the black glass which sounds more clean and more neutral to me.  NU BTW = National Union, they aren't nearly as expensive as the RCA 5962s .  If I were you, I would try both NUs.  My choice for a really good U.S. 6SN7 is no surprise the Sylvania W.  Metal base is highly sought after,  and the taller bottle also desirable, but you will get a good idea of what they sound like with the regular black base short bottle, which are abundant and reasonably priced.  If you want to stay with European tubes I prefer the Brimar CV 1988 6SN7GTY usually black glass brown miconal base. That's a couple to try. 

 

[buldogge]

^^^I agree...The NU black glass are quite neutral...very clear/concise.  I also like the Tung Sol Mouse Ears, although they are a little "softer".
 
Waiting on a couple Ken Rad GT staggered plates...What should I expect of these???
 
-Mark in St. Louis

 

[Mechans1]

I don't know where it became needed that Ken Rad had to have the staggered plates,  I don't think they sound all that much different, but they are certainly more sought after.  You should expect them to have very good deep and notable bass.  That is what they are known for, their bottom end, and they are good at it.   If you are a basshead you'll probably love them.  I don't want to poison your thoughts on them any further critique.  I hope you know that the clear and the black glass KR tubes sound alike, but the black look better.

 

[No_One411]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that for amps that auto-bias, and even those that you can manually bias, tube matching is generally irrelevant, since you can tune for the correct amount of current draw. 
 
It also depends on which tubes you are using. Preamp versus output. 

 

[Xcalibur255]

National Union tubes are chameleons.  They change pretty radically depending upon how they are biased and how many volts are on the plates.  This is true of all tubes of course but in my experience the variation is usually not so pronounced. 
 
With fewer volts they are the softest and most colored sounding 6SN7 I know, and not always in a good way.  Run them harder and they come alive with strong dyamics and unusually aggressive attack for a 6SN7.

 

[buldogge]

 
I don't know where it became needed that Ken Rad had to have the staggered plates,  I don't think they sound all that much different, but they are certainly more sought after.  You should expect them to have very good deep and notable bass.  That is what they are known for, their bottom end, and they are good at it.   If you are a basshead you'll probably love them.  I don't want to poison your thoughts on them any further critique.  I hope you know that the clear and the black glass KR tubes sound alike, but the black look better.

I have no idea about the staggering, other than what I've read here...I just found a couple oddballs for a "reasonable price" and they were both staggered.  Also, both are clear glass...FWIW.
 
-Mark

 

[buldogge]

  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that for amps that auto-bias, and even those that you can manually bias, tube matching is generally irrelevant, since you can tune for the correct amount of current draw. 
 
It also depends on which tubes you are using. Preamp versus output. 

My only experience with tube rolling is on my (2) Little Dot amps (MK II and MK III), and I never buy matched pairs...My 2c.
 
-Mark in St. Louis

 

[Mechans1]

You want matched tubes, usually only the  output tubes if the amp is auto bias.  If the amp has  manual bias then you can "dial in" the bias current for each output tube and matching not that important.  Perversely, I believe the name for the manual bias type amp is "fixed" bias, as strange as that sounds.  

 

[JamieMcC]

  So I guess I'm a little late to the b65 party but here's mine
 
 
I'm going to throw a word of caution out there though. These tubes are not $1k. The euro and gbp tanked and I got mine for under $300 shipped so if you live in the States I would not pay over $300. Also these are not always the best match for your amp and headphone. With my peak/volcano and lcd-3f's it is awfully mid-centric and while I enjoy the sound this was not very well received at a stl. headphone meet...err my much less expensive stax setup was much better received. At least to me a 5692 redbase is much closer to neutral and just as good in it's own way and was only $120 shipped. Does anyone have a closest to neutral 6sn7 that they recommend?

 
I have always thought the Russian Melz 6N8S/6SN7 with the holes in the side to be a very detailed and neutral/natural sounding tube. Its a favourite of mine they are around the $75 mark. My NU black glass in which is another favourite is a few steps to the warmer side I would say in comparison and I like the density of tone and more intimate nature of the NU with softer female vocal jazz, folk etc.  
 
I would be interested to hear out the Russian Melz compares to some of the more expensive 6sn7 super tubes like the B65.