[atarione]

   
Dude, I've already filled one of my drawers with tubes lol, think I counted 13 tubes already, some pairs. It's annoyingly addictive, and now I'm looking at the 6922s and 6CG7s that I just want to see hooked up on the DV. 
 
What combo are you running right now? 

 
 
I have only got the 5x tubes so far  
6SN7's   :  RCA 6SN7GT , RCA 6SN7GTB and the GE 6SN7GTB (running now)
 
6AS7's :  RCA 6AS7G (running now) and GE 6AS7GA

 

[UntilThen]

  Searching the internet for some nice powertube I've found. I think the first one is one you suggested UntilThen? Indeed a not really expensive tube. Great! The Bendix is indeed $80 like you said in an earlier post. But is it correct that your favorite tube (besides the 5998) is the Tung Sol of $ 50?
6AS7G  Chatham $20
6080  Tungsol Chatham $15
6080  Bendix $ 80
7236 Tung-Sol $ 50
 
And in my opinion too expensive tubes, but what does top getter and bottom getter mean? And are the 5998 the price difference worth?
5998 Tung-Sol and Chatham tubes, top getter $ 100
5998 Tung-Sol and Chatham tubes, bottom getter $ 150
 
Enough choice. The difficulty is making the right choice. Music I'm listening is very broad, from classical top rock. But most of the time Classic Jazz (1960-1970) Jazz Rock (Weather Report etc) and Rock Classics.

Wow that's cheap for a Chatham 6as7g. Get it quick. 

 
My fav power tubes are 5998, 7236 and Chatham 6as7g. 
 
Mullard 6080 is quite good too. However by all means do try out the others too.

 

[UntilThen]

I'm listening to my Darkvoice on HD650 now. Tubes are RCA 6sn7gtb coin base and Tung Sol 5998. Great sound. DV has more bass weight than Elise but Elise is more refined and has a fast transient response. Wider soundstage as well. Elise is a classier sound but DV sounds good too for such an affordable price. I'm keeping mine. They co-exist. 

 

 
Tubes on Elise are Sylvania 6sn7wgt and Bendix 6080wb slotted graphite plates.

 

[41Venom14]

 
And in my opinion too expensive tubes, but what does top getter and bottom getter mean? And are the 5998 the price difference worth?
5998 Tung-Sol and Chatham tubes, top getter $ 100
5998 Tung-Sol and Chatham tubes, bottom getter $ 150
 

 
"We want a good, hard vacuum inside a tube, or it will not work properly. And we want that vacuum to last as long as possible. Sometimes, very small leaks can appear in a tube envelope (often around the electrical connections in the bottom). Or, the tube may not have been fully "degassed" on the vacuum pump at the factory, so there may be some stray air inside.
 
The "getter" is designed to remove some stray gas.
 
The getter in most glass tubes is a small cup or holder, containing a bit of a metal that reacts with oxygen strongly and absorbs it. (In most modern glass tubes, the getter metal is barium, which oxidizes VERY easily when it is pure.) When the tube is pumped out and sealed, the last step in processing is to "fire" the getter, producing a "getter flash" inside the tube envelope. That is the silvery patch you see on the inside of a glass tube. It is a guarantee that the tube has good vacuum. If the seal on the tube fails, the getter flash will turn white (because it turns into barium oxide).
 
There have been rumors that dark spots on getters indicate a tube which is used. This is NOT TRUE. Sometimes, the getter flash is not perfectly uniform, and a discolored or clear spot can occur. The tube is still good and will give full lifetime. THE ONLY RELIABLE WAY TO DETERMINE THE HEALTH OF A TUBE IS TO TEST IT ELECTRICALLY.
 
Glass power tubes often do not have flashed getters. Instead, they use a metal getter device, usually coated with zirconium or titanium which has been purified to allow oxidation. These getters work best when the tube is very hot, which is how such tubes are designed to be used. The Svetlana 812A and SV811 use such getters.
 
The most powerful glass tubes have graphite plates. Graphite is heat-resistant (in fact, it can operate with a dull red glow for a long time without failing). Graphite is not prone to secondary emission, as noted above. And, the hot graphite plate will tend to react with, and absorb, any free oxygen in the tube. The Svetlana SV572 series and 572B use graphite plates coated with purified titanium, a combination which gives excellent gettering action. A graphite plate is much more expensive to make than a metal plate of the same size, so it is only used when maximum power capability is needed. Large ceramic tubes use zirconium getters. Since you can't see a "flash" with such tubes, the state of the tube's vacuum has to be determined by electrical means (sometimes by metering the grid current)."
http://www.vacuumtubes.net/How_Vacuum_Tubes_Work.htm
 
Dropping some knowledge, I love learning about hobbies I get into, that website breaks down all the components in a vacuum tube, very cool stuff, definitely suggest taking the time to read all about vacuum tubes.

 

[41Venom14]

@UntilThen - I picked up the Bendix 6080 for $72 woot.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/361866694377?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
Not sure if that link will work, but it says it is slotted graphite plates.
 
I also snagged a 6CG7 to 6SN7 adapter for the Sylvania 6CG7 Long Plate Copper Post 1958 D-Getter.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291887901858?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
Okay, think I definitely need to cool my roll with tubes lol.
 
In my possession:
 
Preamp:
TungSol 6SN7GT Grey Plates
Kenrad VT-231
Sylvania VT-231
TungSol 6SN7GTB
RCA 6SN7GTB Coin Base
Kenrad 6SN7GT Black Plates
Sylvania 6SN7GTB Coin Base
TungSol 6SN7GT Mouse Ears
Sylvania 6CG7
 
Power Tubes:
Bendix 6080
Sylvania 6080WC
RCA 6AS7G
TungSol 6080
RCA 6080
 
I've been tube rolling for 2 weeks, already have more than I can listen too. 

 

[UntilThen]

 
And in my opinion too expensive tubes, but what does top getter and bottom getter mean? And are the 5998 the price difference worth?
5998 Tung-Sol and Chatham tubes, top getter $ 100
5998 Tung-Sol and Chatham tubes, bottom getter $ 150
 

I've 2 types of 5998. One has green lettering (1960s) on the base. These have one top round getter and one bottom round getter. I also have a 5998 in white lettering (1950s). This have 2 round getters at the top.
 
The 2 variety sounds the same to me.
 
5998 sounds good but it's very expensive these days. Price depends on the condition of the tube. A new or nearly new tube will fetch a premium price.

 

[UntilThen]

@41Venom14  impressive collection after 2 weeks ! 

 
That's a lot of variations of tones with those tubes. Good selection too.
 
That Bendix 6080wb is a great find at that price. Looks new - well it's advertised as NIB / NOS. Congrats.
 
Wow that Sylvania 6CG7 is expensive.

 

[41Venom14]

  @41Venom14  impressive collection after 2 weeks ! 

 
That's a lot of variations of tones with those tubes. Good selection too.
 
That Bendix 6080wb is a great find at that price. Looks new - well it's advertised as NIB / NOS. Congrats.

 
Thanks UT, without the help of this thread I would have been so lost haha. Thank you for all the help and I'll definitely be sticking by this thread and trying to pass the knowledge I have learned.
 
Once I've recuperated some of my spending on tubes, I will be purchasing a soldering kit and resistors for the Fitz mod, which I will document as well as I can, for others if they so choose to attempt the mod as well. 
 
Also looking to possibly swap out the potentiometer, any mods that I do that are successful will be posted. 

 

[atarione]

So I'm sorry I can't remember right off.. Have I read that the Fitz mod while helping tame hum issues kinda reduces the benefits of/ differences in tubes with tube rolling??
 
trying to remember...  I don't know if I have terrible ears or luck of the Irish.. but w/ my DV with the tubes I have acquired and the stock tubes I could here no hum in any of the combos I have tried.

 

[41Venom14]

  So I'm sorry I can't remember right off.. Have I read that the Fitz mod while helping tame hum issues kinda reduces the benefits of/ differences in tubes with tube rolling??
 
trying to remember...  I don't know if I have terrible ears or luck of the Irish.. but w/ my DV with the tubes I have acquired and the stock tubes I could here no hum in any of the combos I have tried.

 
Don't apologize, the only effect the Fitz mod has is to reduce the hum of certain tubes, and slightly increases the gain of the knob, so if your volume knob was originally set at 9 o'clock, it may have to be turned down to 8 o'clock.
 
It does not effect the tube sound in anyway as far as I know of, just reduces the hum from tubes that have it.
 
For example, one of my Sylvania VT-231 hums quite loudly, and the Fitz mod would reduce or eliminate this hum entirely. It's true, some tubes just need to be burned in and the hum will go away. I have not burned in enough tubes to make that judgement call, but the Fitz mod has no effect on the sound that I am aware of. 
 
Maybe UT knows some people who have done this mod and can verify my claim because I remember UT stated his DV is unmodded.

 

[PurpleAngel]

I've had my 336SE for a few months now, so far I'm enjoying it drivng my T90 headphones.
What are some lower costing tubes to start out for tube rolling?
Guess one of the reasons for buying extra tubes is to have something handy in case one of the stock tubes fails.

 

[atarione]

  I've had my 336SE for a few months now, so far I'm enjoying it drivng my T90 headphones.
What are some lower costing tubes to start out for tube rolling?
Guess one of the reasons for buying extra tubes is to have something handy in case one of the stock tubes fails.

I have bought 5x tubes on ebay .. 4 of them came from 2x tube deals
 
GE 6AS7GA (which I personally quite like vs the stock tube) and a RCA 6AS7G (also very decent) got the pair of them for $18~ shipped
 
RCA 6SN7GT and 6SN7GTB 2x tube deal also near about $18 shipped.. both a upgrade from the stock tube
 
then I was browsing and saw a GE 6SN7GTB for $4.99 w/ free shipping so I bought that also..
 
see the 6SN7 reference guide here.. there are a lot of fairly inexpensive tubes on ebay (but .. watch for the sellers feedback and whatever)  .. the tubes listed above are the collective whole of my experience.. but I'm relatively happy with all of them
 
running the RCA 6AS7G and GE 6SN7GTB currently...   working quite well w/ my DT880's

 

[UntilThen]

I bought my DV from another person and he told me it's unmodded. Most of my 6sn7 doesn't hum in DV. As I recall, the new Sylvania 6sn7gtb chrome top hums when new but now after many months of burn in on Elise, it's hum free on the DV.
 
I don't know of anyone who have mod their DV.
 
@PurpleAngel if you're enjoying your DV with stock tubes, trying some other tubes will bring even more satisfaction. For some of the lower cost 6sn7, see some of the recent posts on the tubes mentioned. 

 

[Verhulk]

In my possession:  
Preamp:
TungSol 6SN7GT Grey Plates
Kenrad VT-231
Sylvania VT-231
TungSol 6SN7GTB
RCA 6SN7GTB Coin Base
Kenrad 6SN7GT Black Plates
Sylvania 6SN7GTB Coin Base
TungSol 6SN7GT Mouse Ears
Sylvania 6CG7
 
Power Tubes:
Bendix 6080
Sylvania 6080WC
RCA 6AS7G
TungSol 6080
RCA 6080
 
I've been tube rolling for 2 weeks, already have more than I can listen too. 

Wow, that's very impressive 41Venom14! Only 2 weeks of tube rollling. Your range of tubes but your knowledge of tubes is already great!

 

[Verhulk]

  Wow that's cheap for a Chatham 6as7g. Get it quick. 

 
My fav power tubes are 5998, 7236 and Chatham 6as7g. 
 
Mullard 6080 is quite good too. However by all means do try out the others too.

Thanks for all your advice UntilThen!
 
I've just ordered:
6AS7G  Chatham
6080  Tungsol Chatham
7236 Tung-Sol
 
Yesterday the 6SN7GTB
 
Now just wait and hopefully i'll can start tuberolling next week.