[Harry_H]

When looking at the price development of the Brimars, tubes like WE300b start to look cheap. Need some nice 6sn7's to complement WE300b, but I'm not too exited to buy some tubes from some unknown random sellers (most propably those cheap ones are fake or they are far from the NOS)

 

[Leto Dal]

I found a pair on lagerex today, its lower than ebay but still around 400 euro imported from UN.

All in all, I am not sure they are really better than something like lets say Sylvanias, which are much cheaper and well regaded by many.

 

[tunes]

Best price and most reliable source for Brimar CV1988 6SN7???

 

[DeeT79]

In the US I use tubes unlimited for NOS tubes and I purchased my Brimar CV1988 tubes from them. Excellent to do business with and fast shipping. They ship worldwide https://www.nosvacuumtubes.net/

 

[tameral]

Brimars are a mess, maybe the biggest 6sn7 mess if you are looking for a grail tube. The ones likely to be grail tubes are d getters, military issue from the early 50s or sooner - not GTY - but they made a ton of these Brimar over the decades. The halo getters from the 50s, military GTY - I’d rate below a lot of 6sn7 though nice tubes but prices are crazy on these I think for what you get. A nice pair of tsbgrp or true 1578s is worth it because they are set and forget drivers with WE300b - if you can source a d getter GT Brimar well that might be too - I only got halo getter gty

 

[nwavesailor]

Yes, but overall they were too expensive.

I always read that a few years ago people were buying now TOTL tubes for way cheaper, that's messed up...

Yes, a few years ago your car, home, fuel and food were also way cheaper not just great vacuum tubes.

Your TSRP (and maybe Ken-Rad) were produced in the 1940’s and people recognized what great 6SN7 these were and have been collecting them for decades in audio.

You, thankfully, have the means to buy these fantastic tubes that were made 80+ years ago and still sound great!!! I think I bought my TSRP for about $300 almost 20 years ago and tat was a lot back the as well.

Audio isn’t immune to supply and demand as well as inflation.

 

[Doug2507]

Brimars are a mess, maybe the biggest 6sn7 mess if you are looking for a grail tube. The ones likely to be grail tubes are d getters, military issue from the early 50s or sooner - not GTY - but they made a ton of these Brimar over the decades. The halo getters from the 50s, military GTY - I’d rate below a lot of 6sn7 though nice tubes but prices are crazy on these I think for what you get. A nice pair of tsbgrp or true 1578s is worth it because they are set and forget drivers with WE300b - if you can source a d getter GT Brimar well that might be too - I only got halo getter gty

Still learning...
Are these D getter, GTY (Y being brown base?), cv1988 (UK Gov designation for a GT), HH / KB FE stamped.

Are round and halo the same type of getter?

 

[Exekuhtor]

Yes, a few years ago your car, home, fuel and food were also way cheaper not just great vacuum tubes.

Your TSRP (and maybe Ken-Rad) were produced in the 1940’s and people recognized what great 6SN7 these were and have been collecting them for decades in audio.

You, thankfully, have the means to buy these fantastic tubes that were made 80+ years ago and still sound great!!! I think I bought my TSRP for about $300 almost 20 years ago and tat was a lot back the as well.

Audio isn’t immune to supply and demand as well as inflation.

I'm not talking about that kinda stuff, i'm talking about 2-3 years ago people bought tubes for 15-35 bucks that now cost 350-500+. That kind of price bump.
Of course everything gets more expensive, but tubes should not be bitcoins. Elrog also bumped up their prices, i just had much less of a problem with these prices if we got a lot more very good new stock tubes that sound equally good combined with a warranty. Normally if a tube goes kaputt or starts humming the answer from your dealer you can expect is: "Well duh, they are very old products that may or may not work as anticipated, be lucky you even had the chance to buy them off of me!"

Sadly i had to send the Sylvania Short Bottle back, one tube just didn't stop buzzing extremely loud, it made me think that one tube was defect. The seller will check it out. Thankfully the Kenrad VT-231 are very good.

 

[nwavesailor]

There is no doubt that the sellers read these threads and see what is the flavor of the month and jack up prices!
You are collecting some of the best 6SN7's and that is wise. They will no doubt continue to increase in cost as well.

 

[JTbbb]

Still learning...
Are these D getter, GTY (Y being brown base?), cv1988 (UK Gov designation for a GT), HH / KB FE stamped.





Are round and halo the same type of getter?

Nice tubes! HH August 1952. We all have our preferences but the majority seem to like these tubes. Ring and halo tend to be the descriptive terms.

 

[Doug2507]

I had a look earlier for a year chart for these Jeff but couldn't find one. Any pointers?

Indeed, they sound pretty good to my ears. Big thanks to a mutual friend.

 

[JTbbb]

I had a look earlier for a year chart for these Jeff but couldn't find one. Any pointers?

First letter H is year A=1945 dropping I&O. Second letter H is month A=January dropping I.

 

[105tc]

Check out Deyan here at head-fi, he makes them, not expensive either, very useful if you roll tubes on an (almost) daily basis.

Thank you for the impressions.

Also thanks for the referral to Dayan - just ordered a batch - he also does 300b saver sockets as well as adaptors.

 

[tunes]

Sure, keep in mind i just got the Sylvanias and the Kenrads, so with those i have only 10 minutes of listening impressions.

Sylvania 6SN7GTB Short Bottle - Good warmth, not the best treble extension on first glance, should be nice with the WE's to get the 1266 running. Nice midbass kick. One of the tubes makes harsh noises for one minute while warming up, luckily completely silent after that.
Kenrad VT-231 - Separation, details, soundstage from the very first impressions. They also seem to slam a very good amount. Mids seem nice but not the focus. No idea how they compare to the other technical tubes just yet.
Brimar CV1988 - Super sweet mids and highly resolving. Pure honey, top tier!
Melz1578 - Most detailed and separation i got, insane with MO's. No warmth. They slam like a truck.
TungSol Round Plate - Just behind Melz in technicalities. Mids are also very good but not Brimar sweetness. Probably the best allrounder tube i got.
Electro Harmonix Gold New Stock: Nice mids, you don't sacrifice too much details, highly recommended for the price.
PSVane Globes: Neutral, slightly U-shaped, very good extension, more solid state sounding, goes for technicalities and not musicality. Probably similiar to other Gold PSVanes. Shame about the slight imbalance, i will try to swap them out...


Thanks!

Check out Deyan here at head-fi, he makes them, not expensive either, very useful if you roll tubes on an (almost) daily basis.

Where do the Linlai E-6SN7 Elite tubes fit in here for new stock?

 

[tunes]

Everyone has different ears and I had a nice pair of Brimars from the 50s - military, from the right plant and everything - and wasn't that impressed or at least with my set up it lacked synergy - these had halo getters. I've gathered that the D getters may indicate something superior - a better production series or something magical going on and that those are the ones to really look for. I've owned Sylvania 6sn7w, Sylvania 6sn7 VT-231, Sylvania 6sn7gt, Brimar CV1988, RCA VT-231, Ken Rad VT 231, Tung Sol BGRP, Melz 1578, RCA 5692 and maybe a few others I can't recall - the two that stood heads and tails above the rest are the Tung Sol BGRP and the Melz 1578. I still own Ken Rad and RCA VT 231 too along I think the Ken Rads fall behind the rest but they are holographic and fairly neutral with decent bass.

Of the new production tubes, Linlai E-6SN7 Elite versus Psvane CV181-T-MII/2. How do they differ when paired with Elrogs??