[bpiotrow13]

I don't have 421A's, but from the rest the best to my ears are for sure 6AS7G GECs.

Not the cheapest answer Maybe GEC 6080 would be this direction for less money.

Interesting note on this question might be, that Euphoria doesn't really have massive soundstage when compared to WA2.

I have never listened to Euforia, but one of the reasons I sold my WA2 was that its soundstage was artificially wide for me. WA3 was much more natural with this respect.

 

[Flisker]

I read from somewhere else, someone said Winged C has wider soundstage than GEC 6AS7G. so i wondered does TS 5998 stage is wider/bigger?

Maybe the Winged-C's are inconsistent, I got a pair with Elise, put about 200 hours on them and still didn't em at all, soundstage wasn't impressive, treble was annoying, nothing spectacular when it comes to mids, it sounds overall weird and unappealing to me, except for the bass, that's really tight and snappy.

Also got second pair with Euphoria, but didn't both even trying them out after experience with the first pair.

The GEC 6AS7G is just very well balanced, solid soundstage, overall effortless yet detailed sound, there is no harshness, it's perfect mix.

TS 5998 is also amazing but it has booster bottom end and compared to GEC it sounds somewhat bloated to my ears. Soundstage is good on these, similar to GEC I'd say. But it's not as smooth overall either.

I should point out that these observations are mostly when using it with HD650, because that's just what I enjoy the most.

I'd just recommend trying anything other than the Winged C's. Some other 6AS7G's might be also great pick, I only recently got first pair othe than the GEC's and I think those are amazing for the price. But there seems to be a lot of variation from what I read, so might be hit or miss situation.

In the end I think 5998's won't dissapoint you. The GEC's are sure worth considering, if you don't mind burning 500$+ for some decent pair.

 

[bpiotrow13]

I have one that is stamped both, this is the same tube.

Very interesting, I have never seen such branding. Just to add one more variant, this is the Chatham branded RCA.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/woo-wa2-tube-rolling-recommendations.393811/post-16875088

 

[Flisker]

Not the cheapest answer Maybe GEC 6080 would be this direction for less money.

Yea the price is ridiculous, it's kinda same as the 421A's. So that's only if someone doesn't really care that much about the price/performance.

I have never listened to Euforia, but one of the reasons I sold my WA2 was that its soundstage was artificially wide for me. WA3 was much more natural with this respect.

That's interesting experience. I use it mostly with HD650 which would make sense I guess. But I loved it with HD800S very much also.
The issue is when one wants to use it with some low impedance headphones, that's just no-go. Can't even drive 150 ohm HD660S properly.

 

[bpiotrow13]

That's interesting experience. I use it mostly with HD650 which would make sense I guess. But I loved it with HD800S very much also.
The issue is when one wants to use it with some low impedance headphones, that's just no-go. Can't even driver 150 ohm HD660S properly.

OLTs have their limitations. One way to make WA2 better for lower impedance HPs is to use it with Tung Sol 5998 or Tung Sol 7236. Those tubes drive lower impedance HPs better.

As for soundstage it is all up to personal preferences. I like intimate warmer sound, I prefer the soundstage to be deeper than wider. I also prefer ecc82 driver tubes to ecc88, so I decided to go for custom OTL rather than Woo wa 2 or 3. But again, it is very subjective and I know many persons loving Woo wa2 with HD 800.

 

[bpiotrow13]

if you don't mind burning 500$+ for some decent pair.

I am afraid is is now much more than USD 500... If You see one pair for USD 500 let me know on PM

 

[Tom-s]

which is the most wide soundtage and holograhic sound among all the tube? 6AS7G, 6080, 5998 and 421A? i dont really like too warm as i've used to the Winged C 6h13C sound.

In my experience with this tube family I'd recommend a Bendix 6080 for soundstage / instrument separation. It goes wider/deeper than any other in this aspect.

 

[Dogmatrix]

I am afraid is is now much more than USD 500... If You see one pair for USD 500 let me know on PM

Looking for pairs you will pay a premium but if you buy one at a time it's not so bad
I paid under $150 US for this on EBay a little over a month ago

 

[bpiotrow13]

Looking for pairs you will pay a premium but if you buy one at a time it's not so bad
I paid under $150 US for this on EBay a little over a month ago

Wow, thanks, need to go for a hunt than. Except for WE 421a (which seems to be the same as TS5998) this is the only type of 6as7 family I do not have, at least among widely recognised brands.

 

[JTbbb]

which is the most wide soundtage and holograhic sound among all the tube? 6AS7G, 6080, 5998 and 421A? i dont really like too warm as i've used to the Winged C 6h13C sound.

I have the Euforia AE with HD800S and found the GEC 6AS7G a little too warm for my taste, preferring 5998’s

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Wow, thanks, need to go for a hunt than. Except for WE 421a (which seems to be the same as TS5998) this is the only type of 6as7 family I do not have, at least among widely recognised brands.

I am the farthest thing from an expert, but my use of four 421As and at least as many 5998s confirmed that there must be some difference between the two models. All 421As behaved in a certain way in my amp, all 5998s the other way on a certain minor point. My conclusion - there must be some internal difference.

 

[Flisker]

I am afraid is is now much more than USD 500... If You see one pair for USD 500 let me know on PM

I got lucky and got NOS pair for 500$, but they don't seem to pop up too often.

 

[bpiotrow13]

I am the farthest thing from an expert, but my use of four 421As and at least as many 5998s confirmed that there must be some difference between the two models. All 421As behaved in a certain way in my amp, all 5998s the other way on a certain minor point. My conclusion - there must be some internal difference.

Could be, opinions here are really diverse Given the prices I feel really lucky I have some TS 5998 and will probably never have chance to listen to WE421.

 

[Alson Chua]

I have the Euforia AE with HD800S and found the GEC 6AS7G a little too warm for my taste, preferring 5998’s

In my experience with this tube family I'd recommend a Bendix 6080 for soundstage / instrument separation. It goes wider/deeper than any other in this aspect.

Maybe the Winged-C's are inconsistent, I got a pair with Elise, put about 200 hours on them and still didn't em at all, soundstage wasn't impressive, treble was annoying, nothing spectacular when it comes to mids, it sounds overall weird and unappealing to me, except for the bass, that's really tight and snappy.

Also got second pair with Euphoria, but didn't both even trying them out after experience with the first pair.

The GEC 6AS7G is just very well balanced, solid soundstage, overall effortless yet detailed sound, there is no harshness, it's perfect mix.

TS 5998 is also amazing but it has booster bottom end and compared to GEC it sounds somewhat bloated to my ears. Soundstage is good on these, similar to GEC I'd say. But it's not as smooth overall either.

I should point out that these observations are mostly when using it with HD650, because that's just what I enjoy the most.

I'd just recommend trying anything other than the Winged C's. Some other 6AS7G's might be also great pick, I only recently got first pair othe than the GEC's and I think those are amazing for the price. But there seems to be a lot of variation from what I read, so might be hit or miss situation.

In the end I think 5998's won't dissapoint you. The GEC's are sure worth considering, if you don't mind burning 500$+ for some decent pair.

Guess 5998 its pretty solid with so many recommendations! will try to hunt for a pair. Thanks for all the recommendations guys Also will have a look on Bendix 6080 sounds like pretty solid. Cause i have Euforia and i have HD800s too. If its too warm like a philip GE 6080 its no good lol..

 

[mordy]

I got lucky and got NOS pair for 500$, but they don't seem to pop up too often.

Except for the WE421A I have all the power tubes discussed above. IMHO the sound you get from them depends on how your amp was designed and your ancillary equipment. This is the reason you have so many different opinions. In other words, certain tubes can sound great in one amp and meh in another amp. That said, certain tubes do well in almost any amp. In the Elise/Euforia I liked the GEC 6080 the best.
The top tubes among others and in no special order are Bendix 6080, GEC 6AS7G/6080, Tung Sol 5998, Chatham 6AS7G etc.
IMHO I think of the power tubes as a rhythm section in a band - they set the foundation, but always in connection with the synergy of the driver tubes.
Regarding the sound stage width I feel that this is more influenced by the driver tubes.
Then you have amps that can use multiple tubes as power tubes - four or six, but that is a different ball game...And hybrids that only use driver tubes and solid state instead of power tubes....