[willisv]

I agree with Bob that the Valvo and Brimar are two of the best. On my system they both have very nice highs and excellent soundstage, I prefer the Valvo slightly because I find the Brimar to be a little bass heavy for some material.

My impressions of the Mullard are almost exactly as Bob Major also, limited soundstage and warm sounding but very nice extended highs and the bass seems to have more range then most of my other tubes. I also like the Tung-sol 6SULGTY black glass and the National Union 6SL7GT VT-229, both very nice sounding. I'm using the 6C33C flying C logo for the output tubes.

 

[willisv]

A picture of my tubes...

 

[dallan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nor_spoon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi robinje, you are in for a treat! It will probably come with the new production Russian-made Tung-Sol. I thought it was harsh, but as always, subtle differences. Craig recommended me 40 hours burn-in time for the Zana. I would say the Valvo 6SL7GT is absolute one of the most balanced and musical tube. No emphazis anywhere, and natural sounding. Most of the NOS tubes I have tried sounded less etchy than the stock though. I am now using the Swedish Standard 33S29B, which I think is the clearest window into the music of them all. The Valvo is a close second, or I might say a sidestep. Maybe a tad bit more drive in the bass, beautiful so, but also a tad bit smaller stage than the 33S29B. Brimars are excellent too.

I saw the big change at 200 hours and normally i am not a strong advocate of burn in, it happened there though.

As for the Valvo tube listed above, I could only find a matching pair of new in box and unused when i got my Zana four of five months ago. I used one of them the other is here unused in the box so if you are interested in that I will sell it for what i bought it for(i'll have to go check what i paid-pm me if you want). Otherwise i am fine keeping as a backup but i have enough tubes that i don't really think i will get around to needing any backups.

 

[dallan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by willisv /img/forum/go_quote.gif I bought my Zana Deux a few months ago from Varma and have wanted to post my tube rolling impressions but haven't had the time to do so yet. I will do that soon enough but for now i will say definitely buy the Valvo 6SL7GT. I have tried 13 different brands so far and each has their strengths and weaknesses but the Valvo was the best of the bunch by a long shot. My favorite phones with the ZD are my HD 650's (Cardas recable) and I am using a Cambridge Audio azur 840C as my source. Another good synergy combo is the K701's and the Mullard ECC35 brown base. The Mullard is the king of bass.

I just switched this tube out for the first time since getting the HD800s. I have been using a Brimar, I think i like the Mullard better with these phones, they bring up the bass a bit and warm them up.

 

[dallan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinR70 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've got the Valvo and Brimar tubes, but never tried the Mullard ECC35. Can anyone who has tried all three compare them for me? The comment above about the Mullard being the king of bass has me thinking that I may enjoy it with my HD800's.

See above that Mullard ECC35 is sounding very nice to me with the 800s.
Haven't been following this thread for a couple of weeks so finally got caught up with it with several posts

 

[willisv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just switched this tube out for the first time since getting the HD800s. I have been using a Brimar, I think i like the Mullard better with these phones, they bring up the bass a bit and warm them up.

There sure is a lot of interest in these new Senn phones. I am very curious how they sound with the ZD. Maybe it's time to start selling some unused gear.

 

[Skylab]

Willisv that is a pretty nice collection of 6SL7 tubes! Very cool.

The one thing you might want to add at some point is a Mullard with the short brown base. I like it better than the full-base one you have (which I also have one of).

I guess I need to try the Valvos in my Cary. I have a pair, but haven't tried them.

 

[dallan]

Hey Skylab,
I listened to a Cary set up at CJ and it sounded very warm and smooth and i was curious about them, but more so i am looking at a dac upgrade, how do you rate their equipment and have you heard that dac? The setup was way warmer than the Zana, it was at the Moon table. --Thanks, kinda goin crazy on this dac search.

 

[KevinR70]

If I go Mullard should I get the short base brown version? Can anyone tell me the differences between the black base Brimer (I believe mine is CV1985) and the brown base Brimer with the Brimer written on the glass? I'm thinking about picking up a couple more tubes just having a hard time deciding which ones. Thanks.

 

[KevinR70]

Quote:

Originally Posted by willisv /img/forum/go_quote.gif There sure is a lot of interest in these new Senn phones. I am very curious how they sound with the ZD. Maybe it's time to start selling some unused gear.

I'm liking mine with the Zana more and more. It's actually pretty amazing with certain tracks. It seems to shine with accoustic stuff, jazz, blues, light rock (Dave Matthews, etc). I think (getting closer) I still prefer the 650's with some of the harder rock. I won't be getting rid of the 650's because of this, but I will have a hard time letting the 800's go since they are so good with the other genres mentioned. I'm in the process of trying to dial the 800's in with a little tube rolling at the moment.

On a side note, I'm surprised how good the 800's sound with my portable set up (predator amp, ALO LOD, Ipod using lossless files). I was giving the ZD a rest because it was so damn hot with the burn in I've been giving the 800's. I kept the burn in going with the portable rig and was very surprised at how good it sounded. No match for the big rig, but pretty impressive and certainly nice to be able to go outside and relax in the hammock to some incredible audio.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey Skylab, I listened to a Cary set up at CJ and it sounded very warm and smooth and i was curious about them, but more so i am looking at a dac upgrade, how do you rate their equipment and have you heard that dac? The setup was way warmer than the Zana, it was at the Moon table. --Thanks, kinda goin crazy on this dac search.

I have not heard their DAC. My Cary is a phono preamp, which uses 2x 6SL7 and 1x 12AU7. Phenomenal sounding piece of kit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinR70 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I go Mullard should I get the short base brown version? Can anyone tell me the differences between the black base Brimer (I believe mine is CV1985) and the brown base Brimer with the Brimer written on the glass? I'm thinking about picking up a couple more tubes just having a hard time deciding which ones. Thanks.

In my equipment, I prefer the short-base Mullard ECC35 over the full-base. But how that will translate to you, or the Zana, I can't say.

 

[dallan]

Thanks, just checking.

 

[Karo]

History of electron tubes - Google Book Search

It's been awhile since we heard from Ray. I can tell you that since I received the DAC3, I have heard about 1000 different flavors of the most accurately rendered bass I've heard in my entire life. The Ray seems to be lacking bass definition, although very beautiful. So I'm rolling back to the silver plate.

 

[Karo]

Quote:

Regarding this tube, it is the most euphonic, bloated and warm of the 8 ones I've tried. For me the only use for such a tube is listening to awful mono material from the 40s.

Tung-Sol, Valvo , and Brimar .... Check.

I've already got an NU on the way from the Netherlands. Hoping for the best. Thanks.

I'd also like to thank the gentleman who asked for a tube recommendation. It caused me to hit the 6SL7 section on eBay , found a very unusual looking Sylvania from an estate sale.

VINTAGE SYLVANIA 6SL7 GT ELECTRON TUBE - eBay (item 350207632657 end time Jun-04-09 18:04:09 PDT)

Maybe if you posted a link for one for purchase, or offered to sell one, it might be more constructive.

I'm also receiving this one .... do you think I should send it back ???

 

[willisv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif Willisv that is a pretty nice collection of 6SL7 tubes! Very cool. The one thing you might want to add at some point is a Mullard with the short brown base. I like it better than the full-base one you have (which I also have one of). I guess I need to try the Valvos in my Cary. I have a pair, but haven't tried them.

Thanks Skylab! I will have to look for one of those short base Mullards. What I really want is a Sylvania 6SL7W metal base but I don't think I will ever find one for sale.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just switched this tube out for the first time since getting the HD800s. I have been using a Brimar, I think i like the Mullard better with these phones, they bring up the bass a bit and warm them up.

Yes the Mullard is a very nice tube, happy tube rolling!

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinR70 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm liking mine with the Zana more and more. It's actually pretty amazing with certain tracks. It seems to shine with accoustic stuff, jazz, blues, light rock (Dave Matthews, etc). I think (getting closer) I still prefer the 650's with some of the harder rock. I won't be getting rid of the 650's because of this, but I will have a hard time letting the 800's go since they are so good with the other genres mentioned. I'm in the process of trying to dial the 800's in with a little tube rolling at the moment. On a side note, I'm surprised how good the 800's sound with my portable set up (predator amp, ALO LOD, Ipod using lossless files). I was giving the ZD a rest because it was so damn hot with the burn in I've been giving the 800's. I kept the burn in going with the portable rig and was very surprised at how good it sounded. No match for the big rig, but pretty impressive and certainly nice to be able to go outside and relax in the hammock to some incredible audio.

Thanks for this KevinR70, I have also been playing around with the different DSP settings in Foobar to fine tune the sound of my setup. My favorite ones are the Secret Rabbit Resampler and vlevel.