[swmtnbiker]

I've been enjoying my Crack + Speedball immensely over the past weeks and have been playing around with tube rolling to some degree. I found a NOS Tung-Sol 6080 that I really love, and I've tried two different 12AU7s in addition to the stock tube. One of them is my favorite as it noticeably adds some air and high frequency extension. Today, however, I finally received my 12AU7/6SN7 adapter from China and was able to try out a vintage Tung-Sol 6SN7 that I picked up from a local tube seller.
 
Oh. My. God.
 
I think I'm in audio nirvana! My rig has NEVER sounded this dynamic or detailed. Soundstage seems to have almost doubled. Air and separation around instruments is much, much better, and there is some serious PRAT happening as well. The Crack sounded fantastic before, but adding this 6SN7 to the signal path has just opened it up and elevated the listening experience to a whole new level. This is probably the most blatantly apparent improvement I've ever heard from a tube roll. I think that little $14 adapter just saved me a whole lot of money, because I can't imagine this particular audio chain getting much better than this. It looks a bit ghetto compared to having a 12AU7 alone in the socket, but I think I can live with that.
 
Sorry for gushing, but I'm sitting here almost stupefied after listening to some of my most familiar test tracks for a half hour. So much for the list of chores I was going to get done today!!

 

[TheKillerPiglet]

Agree, I have tried about 10 different old USA 6sn7's, all work very well. Tung sol long plates are top three. Try a Sylvania chrome top and GE 5 Star 6080 if you can.
 
KP

 

[lextek]

Quote:

I've been enjoying my Crack + Speedball immensely over the past weeks and have been playing around with tube rolling to some degree. I found a NOS Tung-Sol 6080 that I really love, and I've tried two different 12AU7s in addition to the stock tube. One of them is my favorite as it noticeably adds some air and high frequency extension. Today, however, I finally received my 12AU7/6SN7 adapter from China and was able to try out a vintage Tung-Sol 6SN7 that I picked up from a local tube seller.
 
Oh. My. God.
 
I think I'm in audio nirvana! My rig has NEVER sounded this dynamic or detailed. Soundstage seems to have almost doubled. Air and separation around instruments is much, much better, and there is some serious PRAT happening as well. The Crack sounded fantastic before, but adding this 6SN7 to the signal path has just opened it up and elevated the listening experience to a whole new level. This is probably the most blatantly apparent improvement I've ever heard from a tube roll. I think that little $14 adapter just saved me a whole lot of money, because I can't imagine this particular audio chain getting much better than this. It looks a bit ghetto compared to have a 12AU7 alone in the socket, but I think I can live with that.
 
Sorry for gushing, but I'm sitting here almost stupefied after listening to some of my most familiar test tracks for a half hour. So much for the list of chores I was going to get done today!!

Yeah the 6SN7 does add something.....

 

[swmtnbiker]

Indeed it does, and thanks for the recommendations KP.

 

[Jmstrmbn]

Quote:

I've been enjoying my Crack + Speedball immensely over the past weeks and have been playing around with tube rolling to some degree. I found a NOS Tung-Sol 6080 that I really love, and I've tried two different 12AU7s in addition to the stock tube. One of them is my favorite as it noticeably adds some air and high frequency extension. Today, however, I finally received my 12AU7/6SN7 adapter from China and was able to try out a vintage Tung-Sol 6SN7 that I picked up from a local tube seller.
 
Oh. My. God.
 
I think I'm in audio nirvana! My rig has NEVER sounded this dynamic or detailed. Soundstage seems to have almost doubled. Air and separation around instruments is much, much better, and there is some serious PRAT happening as well. The Crack sounded fantastic before, but adding this 6SN7 to the signal path has just opened it up and elevated the listening experience to a whole new level. This is probably the most blatantly apparent improvement I've ever heard from a tube roll. I think that little $14 adapter just saved me a whole lot of money, because I can't imagine this particular audio chain getting much better than this. It looks a bit ghetto compared to having a 12AU7 alone in the socket, but I think I can live with that.
 
Sorry for gushing, but I'm sitting here almost stupefied after listening to some of my most familiar test tracks for a half hour. So much for the list of chores I was going to get done today!!

 
I'm curious, what headphones are you using with this combo?

 

[swmtnbiker]

Sennheiser HD 650.

 

[j123my]

I think I'll dig up my adapter, buy a nos tube, and try 6sn7 once more. I swear I wasn't impressed with the 6sn7 tubes I tried sometime ago (and decided to stick with 12au7). But since people keep saying so, well.. I do hope I am missing something. 

 

[swmtnbiker]

Obviously, you are...

 

[silverhead]

I bought five 6AS7G tubes off of ebay and the seller sent them to me in a generic Cap'n Crunch cereal box!  5 tubes bouncing around in a cereal box.   This is a seller on ebay who is selling a lot of tubes. 
 
 

 
 
Anyway, they all ended up sounding great.  No microphonics, no 60hz hum.  All five of them work and do their thing.  
 
I'm digging this Raytheon tube.  The others were unmarked or RCA.
 

 

[liamstrain]

Glad it proved to be a bad tube (and that the new ones were not damaged... were they wrapped up in that box at all?). That Raytheon looks great too.

 

[silverhead]

Yep.  The tube sold on ebay, tested NOS with "no microphonics" from a major tube seller ended up being messed up and the bargain bin ones are all fine, haha.
 
They were all wrapped in one roll of bubble wrap and just dropped loosely into the cereal box.  I'm amazed that they survived.  Also, they would have fit into a USPS flat rate box which is more sturdy, costs less to ship, and is -free- at the post office, ha!

 

[darrellpratt]

Seems the packing worked. Since they went the extra mile over a flat rate box I hope you gave them 5 stars on shipping.

Yep.  The tube sold on ebay, tested NOS with "no microphonics" from a major tube seller ended up being messed up and the bargain bin ones are all fine, haha.

They were all wrapped in one roll of bubble wrap and just dropped loosely into the cereal box.  I'm amazed that they survived.  Also, they would have fit into a USPS flat rate box which is more sturdy, costs less to ship, and is -free- at the post office, ha!

 

[silverhead]

Quote:

Seems the packing worked. Since they went the extra mile over a flat rate box I hope you gave them 5 stars on shipping.

 
It worked out, but I just just put off a bit when the mail lady showed up Friday afternoon with a box of cereal, haha.  Here's an unpacking video I made with my phone.
 

 
But, the end result is what matters, and they all test as quiet and working.   For whatever reason, the 6AS7G play louder than the two 6080 tubes I have.   The 6080 tubes get way hotter.  

 

[Armaegis]

Oh that's a lot better than I thought from your initial description which made me think all of them were wrapped up in one piece of bubble wrap and dropped in a box. They're all individually wrapped, there's foam peanuts, and extra cardboard in there. S'all good. 

 

[silverhead]

I was mostly disappointed it wasn't Capn Crunch.