[Dogmatrix]

Also, don't get me wrong - that RCA is probably a very good and smooth sounding tube. Nothing wrong with it. I just hate false advertising.

Edit: I just checked every Sylvania tube on eBay that was a 6SN7 and labeled "Bad Boy". None of them were real bad boys.

I don't think "Bad Boy" is a brand like Lamborghini or even a registered trade mark so sellers are free to label anything "Bad Boy" buyer beware .

 

[FLTWS]

Also, don't get me wrong - that RCA is probably a very good and smooth sounding tube. Nothing wrong with it. I just hate false advertising.

Edit: I just checked every Sylvania tube on eBay that was a 6SN7 and labeled "Bad Boy". None of them were real bad boys.

I've never used eBay, for any type of purchase.

 

[bcowen]

Yeah, it's an actual Sylvania thing. There are very specific criteria which make a Bad Boy what it is. It's such a popular tube that a ton of Ebay sellers will put Bad Boy in the title on any 6SN7 just to get suckers to buy the tube. It's basically false advertising.

Furthermore, that tube is an RCA. Only Sylvania made the "Bad Boys".

So... It's like saying "GERMAN AUTOMOBILE, MILITARY "LAMBORGHINI" MFG 1944 WITH TINTED WINDOWS" when trying to sell this car:



(That is a 1944 VW Schwimmwagen, on display at the VW museum. Clearly, not a Lamborghini.)


It's just irksome.

I agree. Irks me too. Seems these days that most every Ebay seller is putting Bad Boy in the title of ANY US-made 6SN7. I've gotten to the point I just gloss over it, and I'll probably end up missing a real Bad Boy in the rare case one ever pops up. I saw this one at $9.99 with 6 hours left and put in a $25 bid. Didn't expect that to fly. As long as it tests out like the seller advertised, it's still a steal.

I'm going to list my stash of 20+ awful sounding late '90's Sovtek 6SN7's with 'Bad Boys' in the title. I figure Old_Guy_Radiola / BangyBangTubes has cornered the false advertising and relabeled crap-for-premium-prices market for long enough. Ebay doesn't seem to care.

 

[Ripper2860]

So for us toob noobs -- what makes a 'bad boy' tube different? How can one separate the fake ones from a true 'bad boy'?

 

[Wes S]

So for us toob noobs -- what makes a 'bad boy' tube different? How can one separate the fake ones from a true 'bad boy'?

2 threads with all the info, for tube identification and impressions of 6sn7 tubes.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-6sn7-identification-guide.209782/
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-reference-6sn7-thread.117677/

These 2 threads are so valuable and so far I have found them to be very accurate.

 

[Ripper2860]

Thanks!

 

[ProfFalkin]

I don't think "Bad Boy" is a brand like Lamborghini or even a registered trade mark so sellers are free to label anything "Bad Boy" buyer beware .

Well, that is a good point.

 

[Ripper2860]

Dammit!!! I didn't even last a week since getting the Lyr 3!

A NOS 1940's Ken-Rad 6SN7GT tube is on its way to me as my 1st real foray into tube rolling. (I'm not counting the Russian tube I got along with the Tung-Sol.) Next on the list is either a GE 6SN7GTA or RCA Early Smoked Glass GT.

(This is gonna be worse than my previous camera lens addiction.)

BTW - I continue to be impressed with the Lyr 3. It just keeps getting better and better.

 

[ProfFalkin]

A NOS 1940's Ken-Rad 6SN7GT tube

Flat or T plates?

One of them is good, the other...

I hope you got the good one.

 

[Ripper2860]

Oh crap! There's more than one?? ...

The one I'm getting has narrow, flat, black plates that are somewhat at an angle from each other. Not T plate. Should I cancel the order?

 

[bcowen]

Dammit!!! I didn't even last a week since getting the Lyr 3!

A NOS 1940's Ken-Rad 6SN7GT tube is on its way to me as my 1st real foray into tube rolling. (I'm not counting the Russian tube I got along with the Tung-Sol.) Next on the list is either a GE 6SN7GTA or RCA Early Smoked Glass GT.

(This is gonna be worse than my previous camera lens addiction.)

BTW - I continue to be impressed with the Lyr 3. It just keeps getting better and better.

Go to the RCA next. Be interested in your thoughts. Personally, I wouldn't even add to the wear and tear on the Lyr's tube socket plugging the GE into it.

 

[ProfFalkin]

Oh crap! There's more than one?? ...

The one I'm getting has narrow, flat, black plates that are somewhat at an angle from each other. Not T plate. Should I cancel the order?

I'm such a jerk. I feel bad. I was messing with you. Don't kill me.

The flat plates do sound slightly different than the t plates, but from what I've gathered they're both very good sounding tubes.

Mine are flat plates. Very resolving, lots of impact, and a nice sweet tone.

You're fine.

Crisis averted.

 

[ProfFalkin]

Go to the RCA next. Be interested in your thoughts. Personally, I wouldn't even add to the wear and tear on the Lyr's tube socket plugging the GE into it.

GE = not great. I bought a whole bunch of the damned things when I was tube rolling on the Elise.

I wouldn't exactly describe the GE tube sound as akin to someone neutering a cat with no anesthesia while their 6 year old practiced on trumpet for the first time in a dank mountain cave... but I'd believe it if somebody said it.

 

[Ripper2860]

Thankfully, the seller seems reputable and would have taken it back (SND Tube Sales: http://vacuumtubes.com)

And yes, that was downright mean!! I like your style!!

The GE is now officially off the list and Hytron 5692 Brown Bottom has taken its place (although in a different price strata). -- Unless you're pranking me again, that is.

 

[ProfFalkin]

Thankfully, the seller seems reputable and would have taken it back (SND Tube Sales: http://vacuumtubes.com)

And yes, that was downright mean!! I like your style!!

The GE is now officially off the list and Hytron Brown Bottom has taken its place (although in a different price strata). -- Unless you're pranking me again.

No, I'm not pranking you. Hehe. I do feel guilty about that.