[105tc]

I'm still really tempted by these tubes but one tube is missing the central stem.

I'm sure it's fine as it's just a plastic stem to assist mounting the tube correctly.

With that issue though and and still having a premium price makes me feel like its a bit of a con.

Who knows though, maybe the going rate for these is more like £800 (like the Melz).

Let's hope we get some more New Production 6SN7s made which can compete with the NOS.

Out of interest is the W so much different from the WGT? Or for that matter the GT? It seems that the W is like 3-4 times the price.

 

[JTbbb]

I'm still really tempted by these tubes but one tube is missing the central stem.

I'm sure it's fine as it's just a plastic stem to assist mounting the tube correctly.

With that issue though and and still having a premium price makes me feel like its a bit of a con.

Who knows though, maybe the going rate for these is more like £800 (like the Melz).

Let's hope we get some more New Production 6SN7s made which can compete with the NOS.

There are another couple of pairs on eBay at the mo that look good, not metal but nonetheless will sound great.

 

[JTbbb]

Out of interest is the W so much different from the WGT? Or for that matter the GT? It seems that the W is like 3-4 times the price.

The W is nicer.

 

[turbofeet]

There are another couple of pairs on eBay at the mo that look good, not metal but nonetheless will sound great.

Yes I have seen but I'm looking for the "long bottle" which I assume are the better variants.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Let's hope we get some more New Production 6SN7s made which can compete with the NOS.

I so hope Western Electric finally releases a 6SN7 of highest quality

 

[JTbbb]

Yes I have seen but I'm looking for the "long bottle" which I assume are the better variants.

Mmmmmmm. You will enjoy those others. Ask Leto Dal.

 

[JTbbb]

Mmmmmmm. You will enjoy those others. Ask Leto Dal.

I can never decide which I like the best regardless of which 300B I have in.

 

[BrainSalat]

No you dont. May is incredible in NOS. Its smooth and organic. If you want to add more visceral punch for some genres or recordings you can use oversampling with HQplayer there are a lot of options to shape the sound, dozens of filters of rather knowledgeable people at this point. Saying that I use May in NOS 90% of the time, the smooth organic nature of it is next to none.

I don't have May but the Spring3 KTE but I fully agree with @Leto Dal .

The Spring3 was released after the May and HoloAudio decided for a good reason to remove OS from the DAC (Spring2 had OS as well) and if you want the OS taste you can always do it externally through HQPlayer.

I also prefer most of time NOS. With OS you get a sensation of more resolution and augmented soundstage, but the last, with acoustic genders sometimes sound to me a bit artificial/synthetic while NOS more realistic. But for other genders like EDM, the extra resolution and 3D image is nice. So, complementing your DAC with HQPlayer will give two presentations to choice, is up to you what you like most.

Using HQPlayer also give you the option to upsample to DSD (instead of PCM). HoloAudio DACs have a dedicated chip for converting DSD content without using the R2R ladder (a complete different path than for PCM) and I would say I like more the results with DSD than with PCM.

The other drawback I see of using HQplayer against NOS is that it requires a beefy processor/GPU, it's very power intensive, your computer will be fully loaded, so extra watts for your monthly bill and noisy fans.

 

[BrainSalat]

I can never decide which I like the best regardless of which 300B I have in.

@JTbbb Do your CV1988 sound the same like these?

 

[JTbbb]

@JTbbb Do your CV1988 sound the same like these?

A friend has both and he cannot decide if there is a difference between black/clear glass. The clear glass are the forerunner to the black glass. Clear glass typically being 50’s. The military marked ones do have a date code.

 

[JTbbb]

I have this very early cv1988 January 1946



And this January 1953



They are both in my Envy now with WE’s sounding fantastic. They have both been in my modified Crack sounding the same, I’ve never had a black glass……

 

[Doug2507]

Yes I have seen but I'm looking for the "long bottle" which I assume are the better variants.

Maybe not better but different sound. There's a good short write up somewhere on the net about difference between short / tall bottles, black plates etc etc and what genres they may suit best.

 

[DeeT79]

@JTbbb Do your CV1988 sound the same like these?

I've had both and there was no difference in sound. The black glass were made a little bit later, I think in the 60s and were used to reduce the light signature for military application. Other than that, everything is mostly the same.

 

[joseph69]

Received my Novik socket savers for my incoming Envy PE which I'm hoping to take delivery of within the next 2 weeks--or possibly sooner.