[Katholm]

Yup. I like them (with the right partner for a power tube).

These look great, but they arent russian 6s2s, am i right?
With which power tube do you like to listen to them?
Thanks for the answer

 

[SHIMACM]

That appears to be a collectors tube there, very nice.. dual getters and all the micas are matching..and wow..just the saw the GEC comparison...the plot thickens!! Is that tube you have a Gec or is that pictured GEC a Mullard !? o.O #firstworldproblems You might have to send that to me for further evaluation.

Ah if we lived at least in the same country. LOL. I wish I had another Mullard to compare.

 

[bcowen]

These look great, but they arent russian 6s2s, am i right?
With which power tube do you like to listen to them?
Thanks for the answer

The Pinnacles are definitely Russian as evidenced by the UFO getter, and as far as I know they are 6S2S's. They sound quite nice with a warmer-balanced power tube like a Mullard 6080 or an RCA 6AS7GA. A bit too aggressive with something like a Cetron 7236 for my tastes though.

Here's a pair of 6S2S on Ebay right now that look pretty much the same internally (from what I can see):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-X-Matche...078698?hash=item2af3cf592a:g:jecAAOSwM0dffgR9

 

[bcowen]

I have had my blue LED covered with black wire tape since about the first week I owned the Darkvoice. My amp is positioned on top of a studio monitor due to lack of space and the blue LED would shine right at my eyes.

Here I swapped it out with a spare dim red LED I had from doing the LED biasing mod..

After removal of PCB board:


Original LED:



After swap:

You are slowly but surely creating the Darkenstein. I love it!!

 

[Slade01]

The Pinnacles are definitely Russian as evidenced by the UFO getter, and as far as I know they are 6S2S's. They sound quite nice with a warmer-balanced power tube like a Mullard 6080 or an RCA 6AS7GA. A bit too aggressive with something like a Cetron 7236 for my tastes though.



Here's a pair of 6S2S on Ebay right now that look pretty much the same internally (from what I can see):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-X-Matche...078698?hash=item2af3cf592a:g:jecAAOSwM0dffgR9

Are the MELZ1578 aggressive in sound as well? I've rolled quite a few Russian drivers in other amps and always found them to have that edgy aggressive crunch in sound.

 

[bcowen]

Are the MELZ1578 aggressive in sound as well? I've rolled quite a few Russian drivers in other amps and always found them to have that edgy aggressive crunch in sound.

Not to my ears...at least after they've broken-in some. If they are truly new and previously unused, they can be a bit grating for the first 10-15 hours, but once they get upwards of 20 hours or so that edge goes away and they smooth out quite a bit. Same with the Fotons. Once the Fotons get some hours on them, they are probably one of the least fatiguing and/or edgy tubes in my stash...even played at stupid loud volumes they never bother my ears.

 

[JKDJedi]

Not to my ears...at least after they've broken-in some. If they are truly new and previously unused, they can be a bit grating for the first 10-15 hours, but once they get upwards of 20 hours or so that edge goes away and they smooth out quite a bit. Same with the Fotons. Once the Fotons get some hours on them, they are probably one of the least fatiguing and/or edgy tubes in my stash...even played at stupid loud volumes they never bother my ears.

I cuncor, the shock and awe goes and your left with a smooth delivery. Glad I gave that last one a 25th chance.. 56' Foton.

 

[Slade01]

Not to my ears...at least after they've broken-in some. If they are truly new and previously unused, they can be a bit grating for the first 10-15 hours, but once they get upwards of 20 hours or so that edge goes away and they smooth out quite a bit. Same with the Fotons. Once the Fotons get some hours on them, they are probably one of the least fatiguing and/or edgy tubes in my stash...even played at stupid loud volumes they never bother my ears.

I cuncor, the shock and awe goes and your left with a smooth delivery. Glad I gave that last one a 25th chance.. 56' Foton.

Thanks for bringing me back down to earth with those impressions. My only experience with russian drivers are with the Voskhod Rockets and Reflektors and yeah, some of them were very edgy, very detailed, punchy sometimes pushing the envelope to fatigue...but loved them in rock/metal settings. Good to know that Fotons and Melz are laid back.

 

[bcowen]

Thanks for bringing me back down to earth with those impressions. My only experience with russian drivers are with the Voskhod Rockets and Reflektors and yeah, some of them were very edgy, very detailed, punchy sometimes pushing the envelope to fatigue...but loved them in rock/metal settings. Good to know that Fotons and Melz are laid back.

The '50's Fotons, anyway. I'm not a fan of the 60's forward with those. There are good sounding 60's - 80's Melz, but I'm not experienced enough with them to know (beyond a few) which are the best picks.

 

[JKDJedi]

Sylvania Gold Brand 6080..

 

[Slade01]

Sylvania Gold Brand 6080..

I didn't realize this had double getters...nice.

 

[bcowen]

I didn't realize this had double getters...nice.

I prefer double D's. Double O's may be more than I could handle at my age.

 

[sennfan83261]

I prefer double D's. Double O's may be more than I could handle at my age.

I thought double halo getters meant that they were double the chastity.

 

[bcowen]

I thought double halo getters meant that they were double the chastity.

LOL! Perhaps double halos are applicable to more saintly people -- around me they're strictly double O's (which I guess is better than double zeros).

 

[Deceneu808]

Burning in the Psvane UK-6SN7 this weekend