[DenverW]

They're all the same tube, you only need one for the Darkvoice. If you could find the Sylvania tall tube 7N7 they're just as good, to my ears anyway. I ve been toying with the idea of grabbing a new set of high ohm headphones that would match well with the Darkone, something different from the Sennheiser sound, what you guys think of the Beyerdynamic sound? They have so many headphones kinda lost on the 800, 900, T1... Lot to choose from.

I have a dt990 and I like it, using it mostly with pc gaming. I’ve also tried the T1 and found it too bright. My personal strong favorite of Beyerdynamics line up is the amiron. Comfort is top notch, and I found the sound exceptional for a headphone you can find for just above or below 300 with some searching. Great soundstage too.

That being said, I’m using the hd800 now, and prefer them. They just do everything any of the beyers do, but just that bit better. Ymmv of course!

And hey, if I decided to grab those tubes, anyone want to go in with me? I only need one, so we could split things 4 ways. Perhaps we get a solid deal. If people want to do that lemme know what your upper limit of the 1/4 is.

 

[Gallic Dweller]

Paladin 79,
your pic shows a genuine 1578, - different sonic signature to the Tung Sol RP but on the same level. Top and bottom are superb BUT there's something not quite right with the mids. Try a Tung Sol 6F8G before or afterwards and you will hear what I mean. As I have said before I use a TS as driver and 2 x 1578 as output tubes in the preamp section of a hybrid amp and the combo is unbeatable. The TS mids are sublime and the 1578 takes care of the rest. I have yet to try the 1578 in the DV.

 

[Paladin79]

Paladin 79,
your pic shows a genuine 1578, - different sonic signature to the Tung Sol RP but on the same level. Top and bottom are superb BUT there's something not quite right with the mids. Try a Tung Sol 6F8G before or afterwards and you will hear what I mean. As I have said before I use a TS as driver and 2 x 1578 as output tubes in the preamp section of a hybrid amp and the combo is unbeatable. The TS mids are sublime and the 1578 takes care of the rest. I have yet to try the 1578 in the DV.

That is a 1963 Melz, I would agree with you with some of the 80's versions. I use a lot of different tubes in a Freya + and might use the other 1578's there. The mids are very forward on the 80's Melz and those are what a lot of people get when they buy them from Ebay. As far as Tung Sol 6F8G tubes, I have tried those and others made by other manufacturers but my preference is probably the Chatham or Bendix 6080. YMMV (I do like the Tung Sol 5998's)

I am setting up a comparison between 6sn7 equivalents with a local audiophile group and in there we will compare most any tube or combination thereof known to man. Including single triode versions 6J5's and 7A4's, Loktals, whatever. For that event I am designing and building four identical class A OTL amps and will be using matched quads for both driver and power tubes. I plan on also building a fifth amp and sending it to Mr Cowen so he can play around with 6080, 6AS7G type power tubes and maybe start collecting them. (I have a considerable amount of them myself.) For this comparison I can most easily lay my hands on four matched RCA 6as7g's so that is what I will be using.

I have already done a lot of other comparisons including against most any Tung Sol made, right now I happen to be buying a bunch of 63 Melz and will use that as a baseline in some of my work.

Please note that I also replace the solder in the Melz and Foton pins, so that helps overall performance, I have worked with @bcowen on some of this. I do not re-flow solder, I get the crappy Russian solder the heck out of there and replace it all together. I have done that on at least 40 of the 1578's for others and always test and listen to them so I have had a bit of experience with that tube. The same holds true for 50's Fotons.

 

[bcowen]

Holy Price Drops!! https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/372882185638

With the new price working out to less than $20 a tube, that's a pretty nice deal. The Lansdale tested versions of that tube are the best I've heard so far, and sale ads on Ebay are becoming a rare sighting any more. If I didn't already have a dozen of 'em I'd be buying those, but I'm a nice guy most of the time some of the time every now and then and won't hoard them away from someone else that might enjoy them.

 

[bcowen]

Please note that I also replace the solder in the Melz and Foton pins, so that helps overall performance, I have worked with @bcowen on some of this. I do not re-flow solder, I get the crappy Russian solder the heck out of there and replace it all together. I have done that on at least 40 of the 1578's for others and always test and listen to them so I have had a bit of experience with that tube. The same holds true for 50's Fotons.

Replacing the solder (best) or at minimum reflowing it and adding a bit of new solder is almost a requirement with these tubes as you brought to light many months ago. I don't have a lot of experience with the Melz, but have quite a lot of experience with the '50's Fotons (which with the Lyr 3 / Aeon combo remains one of my favorite tubes). My soldering still isn't quite to the level of yours, but good enough as long as nobody looks at it.

 

[Paladin79]

Replacing the solder (best) or at minimum reflowing it and adding a bit of new solder is almost a requirement with these tubes as you brought to light many months ago. I don't have a lot of experience with the Melz, but have quite a lot of experience with the '50's Fotons (which with the Lyr 3 / Aeon combo remains one of my favorite tubes). My soldering still isn't quite to the level of yours, but good enough as long as nobody looks at it.

For the price the Fotons are very good IMHO, with proper solder the 1958's sound pretty good and they can still be had, last time I looked for them. Other tubes from the 50's most likely reside with Mr. Cowen.

 

[DenverW]

With the new price working out to less than $20 a tube, that's a pretty nice deal. The Lansdale tested versions of that tube are the best I've heard so far, and sale ads on Ebay are becoming a rare sighting any more. If I didn't already have a dozen of 'em I'd be buying those, but I'm a nice guy most of the time some of the time every now and then and won't hoard them away from someone else that might enjoy them.

Christmas time is for giving! Or for selling to the less fortunate, like me.

 

[BoomShroom]

Is 2900/3200 on the Hickok Tester a substantial difference compared to NOS? As in, would I be able to hear the difference? Or should I just cough up couple more dollars for a NOS one.

 

[DenverW]

There are different testers that have different minimum values that determine "good" tubes. However, depending on the tube you're probably fine. Honestly, you really wont hear a difference until the tube starts deteriorating, which can often be 100's or 1000's of hours. If you asked me if I can hear the difference between a tube that tested 3200 or one that tested 2600, I can't.

 

[bcowen]

Is 2900/3200 on the Hickok Tester a substantial difference compared to NOS? As in, would I be able to hear the difference? Or should I just cough up couple more dollars for a NOS one.

As @DenverW noted, the readings are tester dependent. Some Hickoks provided minimum good test values, others provided average NOS values. Without knowing the specific Hickok model or the tube type you're looking at (and even more importantly, when the tester used was last calibrated), it's not possible to provide any meaningful information. That said, the difference between the triode readings in the tube you're looking at should not result in any audible issues. The readings are within 10% of each other which most would consider to be nicely matched.

 

[BoomShroom]

That makes a lot of sense,

There are different testers that have different minimum values that determine "good" tubes. However, depending on the tube you're probably fine. Honestly, you really wont hear a difference until the tube starts deteriorating, which can often be 100's or 1000's of hours. If you asked me if I can hear the difference between a tube that tested 3200 or one that tested 2600, I can't.

As @DenverW noted, the readings are tester dependent. Some Hickoks provided minimum good test values, others provided average NOS values. Without knowing the specific Hickok model or the tube type you're looking at (and even more importantly, when the tester used was last calibrated), it's not possible to provide any meaningful information. That said, the difference between the triode readings in the tube you're looking at should not result in any audible issues. The readings are within 10% of each other which most would consider to be nicely matched.

That seems very reasonable, it seems much more complex than simply saying a certain tube is at x/10 amount of juice left. Thanks for the info, I always learn something from you guys. The tube in question was a Hewlett-Packard/RCA 8080 vacumn tube. I just ordered a NOS JAN-RCA AS7G too, though I hear they're very similar, maybe almost identical? I guess I'll find out.

 

[bcowen]

That makes a lot of sense,



That seems very reasonable, it seems much more complex than simply saying a certain tube is at x/10 amount of juice left. Thanks for the info, I always learn something from you guys. The tube in question was a Hewlett-Packard/RCA 8080 vacumn tube. I just ordered a NOS JAN-RCA AS7G too though I hear they're very similar, maybe almost identical? I guess I'll find out.

If you're referring to a 6080 and 6AS7G, then yes they are nearly identical electrically. But they could sound quite different depending not only on the manufacturer but the manufacturing date.

I have no personal experience with this tube type just yet, but that will change here shortly I think.

 

[DenverW]

Anybody want to help me identify these tubes? They LOOK like 6AS7G, but there are tiny differences that make me not sure when I compare them to mine.

Also, if anyone wants to try out some adapters and tube rolling variants PM me, I'm going to be moving quite a few of mine now that I've had fun with them (7193, 6F8G/6C8G, E80CC/12BH7A, 6J5) and thought I'd let people here have first dibs before I sell stuff.

 

[Paladin79]

Anybody want to help me identify these tubes? They LOOK like 6AS7G, but there are tiny differences that make me not sure when I compare them to mine.



Also, if anyone wants to try out some adapters and tube rolling variants PM me, I'm going to be moving quite a few of mine now that I've had fun with them (7193, 6F8G/6C8G, E80CC/12BH7A, 6J5) and thought I'd let people here have first dibs before I sell stuff.

I will have to check the photo against some I have at home but those might be 5998's, a highly sought after Tung Sol medium gain tube. They work well in place of 6as7g or 6080's if they are what I think they are.

 

[DenverW]

I checked them against my 5998 and they're missing the infamous domino plates that the 5998 have. Here is a second picture to show the plate structure a bit better.