[richard89]

You're an astute buyer now Richard. Glad you like the 7236. You'll be exposed to more variations with other power and driver tubes.

You're going to love them all just like I do.

I was really happy to find a pair of 7236's for only 31 USD. It's really fun and interesting to discover these combos. I've been very surprised and pleased with what I have so far. Just waiting for from 6520's, 6AS7G's, or 5998's to go on eBay now. I'm a little hesitant about the 5998, they are so expensive!

 

[HOWIE13]

  I was really happy to find a pair of 7236's for only 31 USD. It's really fun and interesting to discover these combos. I've been very surprised and pleased with what I have so far. Just waiting for from 6520's, 6AS7G's, or 5998's to go on eBay now. I'm a little hesitant about the 5998, they are so expensive!

 
They are expensive but if you can be patient (unlike me) I'm sure a pair will surface for you to buy.
 
I wasn't patient but they are definitely worth the money to my ears.  Amazing, as they do everything right for me.
 
I actually prefer in general the 6080 to 7236 but I'm keen to know how you find them. Some people really like the 7236.

 

[HOWIE13]

  Cheers. But tbh I don't really want to go for the sonic signature too much as my T1 headphone is already sonic enough. Will try though.
 
post #12260 is the craziest setup I've ever seen. 
 
From the aesthetic aspect, I won't do any Christmas tree set-up myself, It just looks so nerdy and mental no matter how good the sound is. 

 
 
Trying to be minimalism yet sounds good. 

 
Well I go for extremes in looks 

.
 
Actually, the Christmas tree and 5998's, both with C3g or EL3N's as powers, sound very similar, big engaging sound-stage with great detail and imaging. The two different drivers of course impart different  flavours to the sound.
 
Possibly the Christmas tree has the slightly bigger sound stage and the 5998 a trifle more inner detail but I wouldn't notice unless A/Bing,(that doesn't look right, but you know what I mean)
 
That's the thing about Elise, almost all tubes sound so very good and there are so many combos for you to enjoy, and for those who don't care about rolling, the stock tubes are good anyway.
 
If you want to go really minimalist then try 6DJ8's as drivers. Elise makes them sound like I've never heard them before.
 
Here's a minimalist pic just to prove I'm not a nerdy, mental crazy obsessed with trees.

 
 

 
5998 + Mullard ECC88 (Blackburn, 1963)- in reality the 5998's are identical in dimensions.

 

[Oskari]

If anybody's missing the 6SN7 and 6AS7G threads, somebody's moved them to the Cables etc. forum.

Not a high level of consistency…

 

[hypnos1]

  Cheers. But tbh I don't really want to go for the sonic signature too much as my T1 headphone is already sonic enough. Will try though.
 
post #12260 is the craziest setup I've ever seen. 
 
From the aesthetic aspect, I won't do any Christmas tree set-up myself, It just looks so nerdy and mental no matter how good the sound is. 

 
 
Trying to be minimalism yet sounds good. 

 
Yeah..."neat and sweet" is certainly my motto also!

...And if you do manage to get those GECs (could certainly save you a hefty rob from Customs if you pick them up in China, lol!), I think I can safely say you will probably find no need or desire whatsoever to change Elise for anything else...perhaps better to upgrade other parts of the system - if necessary!

...(doubt you'd need to change those T1s though...

...). Good times ahead, mon ami...

 

[hypnos1]

It's a conspiracy! I'm sure it is!

 
Surely, O, you realise that without conspiracies the World would have come to a halt a long while ago, lol?!!

...but would certainly have been a better place, methinks!

...
 

If anybody's missing the 6SN7 and 6AS7G threads, somebody's moved them to the Cables etc. forum.

Not a high level of consistency…

 
Presumably complaints from non-6SN7/6AS7G amp owners LOL!!!...these threads have indeed been extremely useful for a lot of people - hopefully at least the 'moved' messages will remain permanent. A dedicated "tube" thread I'm sure would also have been very useful...

...(actually, come to think of it, such a thread would possibly have proved invaluable in "cross-fertilisation" between many different amps, providing folks with different possible avenues to follow...

...ah well...).

 

[Oskari]

The 6BL7 thread is still here. The rectifier thread is still here. Other tube threads are still here. That 6922 thread is in Computer Audio. :confused_face_2:

Consistent, eh?

 

[richard89]

   
They are expensive but if you can be patient (unlike me) I'm sure a pair will surface for you to buy.
 
I wasn't patient but they are definitely worth the money to my ears.  Amazing, as they do everything right for me.
 
I actually prefer in general the 6080 to 7236 but I'm keen to know how you find them. Some people really like the 7236.

Hey Howie which brand of the 6080 do you have? Should I get the Tung Sol 6080 or the Mullard 6080?

 

[hypnos1]

The 6BL7 thread is still here. The rectifier thread is still here. Other tube threads are still here. That 6922 thread is in Computer Audio.

Consistent, eh?

 
Hmmm...strange indeed..

...???...

 

[louisxiawei]

   
Yeah..."neat and sweet" is certainly my motto also!

...And if you do manage to get those GECs (could certainly save you a hefty rob from Customs if you pick them up in China, lol!), I think I can safely say you will probably find no need or desire whatsoever to change Elise for anything else...perhaps better to upgrade other parts of the system - if necessary!

...(doubt you'd need to change those T1s though...

...). Good times ahead, mon ami...

Thanks hypnos1. Looks like we have something in common aesthetically.
 
Just feed you an interesting story. I talked to the seller of used GEC 6AS7G, during the chat, out of curiosity, I asked him why selling the nearly perfect condition GEC 6AS7G,  quit playing tube amplifier or you even have a better upgrade?
 
And turn out to be, he got an "upgrade" from it - a Western Electric 421A from 1950s (so the number on the valve ends in 3 digits not 4) and this pair of tubes costing him £1000. Crazy!!!!! 
 

---

Any suggestion @hypnos1  for the driver tube matched with my GEC 6AS7G after I get it from him? Again, looking for the best of the best, matching with GEC 6AS7G. 

 

[HOWIE13]

  Hey Howie which brand of the 6080 do you have? Should I get the Tung Sol 6080 or the Mullard 6080?

 
Well my favourite is the Tung-Sol as it has the best balance for my ears. Mullards are very good too. The ones I like are the military version CV2984. They have an equally capacious sound stage, a bit cooler and cleaner than the T-S, occasionally a bit too much so for certain music, for other tracks it's great. I did try the non-military ones, just the plain Mullard 6080, but they were very microphonic and couldn't properly assess their sound. Maybe someone else could advise on these.
 
I've also used Raytheon, very fast and clear but occasionally a little too much at the top, Bear in mind I'm using K702 and HD600 cans. They will sound warmer with some other headphones. 
 
Others I've used are Philips and GE which are both very good all rounders.
 
One I could not recommend is Thomson, which for me was too thin and shrill.
 
I think 6080 is a tube type well worth exploring as a power tube in Elise. I find them generally sweet, clean and clear rather than lush and they have a big sound stage. - oh and I've had no hum issues with any of them either. 

 

 

[richard89]

   
Well my favourite is the Tung-Sol as it has the best balance for my ears. Mullards are very good too. The ones I like are the military version CV2984. They have an equally capacious sound stage, a bit cooler and cleaner than the T-S, occasionally a bit too much so for certain music, for other tracks it's great. I did try the non-military ones, just the plain Mullard 6080, but they were very microphonic and couldn't properly assess their sound. Maybe someone else could advise on these.
 
I've also used Raytheon, very fast and clear but occasionally a little too much at the top, Bear in mind I'm using K702 and HD600 cans. They will sound warmer with some other headphones. 
 
Others I've used are Philips and GE which are both very good all rounders.
 
One I could not recommend is Thomson, which for me was too thin and shrill.
 
I think 6080 is a tube type well worth exploring as a power tube in Elise. I find them generally sweet, clean and clear rather than lush and they have a big sound stage. - oh and I've had no hum issues with any of them either. 

 

Howie I think I just made a mistake, I pulled the trigger on two 6080WA's for 50 USD shipped. The problem is one is Tung Sol and one is Chatham. Would this still sound good with the amp? Is two of the same best or ideal? Thanks

 

[HOWIE13]

  Howie I think I just made a mistake, I pulled the trigger on two 6080WA's. The problem is one is Tung Sol and one is Chatham. Would this still sound good with the amp? Is two of the same better? Thanks

 
Chatham was a division of Tung-Sol and I believe their tubes were similar so should be fine. 

 

[richard89]

Thank to you sir. Sorry for the barrage of questions, but is the 6080 and 6080WA similar? I had the option for getting two NOS Tung Sol 6080 for 68 USD shipped but I kind of pulled the trigger a little too quickly and offered 38 dollars with 11 dollars shipping for my order of the 6080WAs.

 

[hypnos1]

  Thanks hypnos1. Looks like we have something in common aesthetically.
 
Just feed you an interesting story. I talked to the seller of used GEC 6AS7G, during the chat, out of curiosity, I asked him why selling the nearly perfect condition GEC 6AS7G,  quit playing tube amplifier or you even have a better upgrade?
 
And turn out to be, he got an "upgrade" from it - a Western Electric 421A from 1950s (so the number on the valve ends in 3 digits not 4) and this pair of tubes costing him £1000. Crazy!!!!! 
 

---

Any suggestion @hypnos1  for the driver tube matched with my GEC 6AS7G after I get it from him? Again, looking for the best of the best, matching with GEC 6AS7G. 

 
£1000?...crazy indeed! - especially as there as those who say the WE 421A is in fact 'just' a specially-selected 5998, in the same way the C3g'S' seems to be a C3g that measures with higher than usual transconductance, but otherwise identical LOL!
 
As for drivers for the GECs, this is not a straightforward one, alas - will give you my own summary tomorrow, when I have more time!

...If you want a more detailed blow-by-blow progression of my findings, you might want to trawl(!) through my past posts...if you ever manage to find the time, lol!