[jaywillin]

 

,  No do dads  "YET"
 
 
 
 
Wait dont tubes burning bright = sparkly do dads ?

there certainly are some tubes that are "sparklier" than others

 

[sneaky415]

Some tubes have arrived:
 
Visseaux 6j5g: Impressive sound, unfortunately one tube had some piece of the getter missing and it had a terrible humming sound. There was definitely something fishy with that tube but the seller agreed to issue a refund so I am happy with that.
 
Mazda 76: This tube was very bassy with the bass bleeding over into the other frequencies. What I found after experimenting a bit was that I could use the equalizer to decrease the bass and slightly increase the midrange and I had tubes with a great sound. With a bit of tuning from the equalizer these tubes sound as good to me as the Visseaux. I believe the Mazdas to be high quality tubes, its just that the Ember wasn't tuned with these tubes in mind. With a bit of equalizing they sound great.
 
These are my preliminary impressions after listening for a few hours.

 

[nwavesailor]

  Some tubes have arrived:
 
Visseaux 6j5g: Impressive sound, unfortunately one tube had some piece of the getter missing and it had a terrible humming sound. There was definitely something fishy with that tube but the seller agreed to issue a refund so I am happy with that.
 
Mazda 76: This tube was very bassy with the bass bleeding over into the other frequencies. What I found after experimenting a bit was that I could use the equalizer to decrease the bass and slightly increase the midrange and I had tubes with a great sound. With a bit of tuning from the equalizer these tubes sound as good to me as the Visseaux. I believe the Mazdas to be high quality tubes, its just that the Ember wasn't tuned with these tubes in mind. With a bit of equalizing they sound great.
 
These are my preliminary impressions after listening for a few hours.

Hopefully we are not seeing a pattern in Visseaux tubes with issues. I recall another member posting in the last week or so with a problem with one of his NOS tubes after just 15-20 hours. I guess they are 50-60+ years old and any tube can (and will) fail at any time.
 
joespride may be on the right track with a primary pair of Visseaux 6J5G's + 2 backup pairs as well as 2 pairs of Brimar's!

 

[Luckbad]

After all of my tube rolling, I've settled on two preferred tubes:
 
NOS 6N6P / 6H6Pi tubes or new production Electro-Harmonix 6H30Pi (sound virtually identical)
New production Electro-Harmonix 12BH7
 
The latter is more neutral with better high end extension, but I usually prefer then 6N6P.
 
I have a bunch of random tubes that I'll eventually get up for sale here. Let me know if you want any of them before I post them.
 
They all measure well (many were from Jeremy):
 

1. Ken-Rad 6SN7GT (Made for Rogers)
2. 2x RCA 6SN7GT (Smoked Glass)
3. GE Firewire 6GU7
4. 2x RCA Cleartop
5. Raytheon 5814WA

 
I have some others running that I'm not remembering right now.

 

[joespride]

The enhanced bass with the Brimar 6j5 solid plates is really growing on me with the faraday cage in place, They may be a tad rolled on top but I dont feel like I am missing anything.......Mids have a really nice tone as well 

 

[nwavesailor]

  The enhanced bass with the Brimar 6j5 solid plates is really growing on me with the faraday cage in place, They may be a tad rolled on top but I dont feel like I am missing anything.......Mids have a really nice tone as well 

Are the "solid plates" on your Brimar's flat and not oval shaped as in the Visseaux? The 1950's Brimar's I auditioned had oval plates and I thought that perhaps all Brimar's had this internal structure.

 

[joespride]

Mine are the oval plates but no holes like the Visseaux, and the getter is the dimpled foil D on bottom side, Large round perforated mica top and bottom of the plates  

 

[nwavesailor]

  Mine are the oval plates but no holes like the Visseaux, and the getter is the dimpled foil D on bottom side, Large round perforated mica top and bottom of the plates  

OK............. That sounds like the same internals I noted in the Brimar 6J5G's I had.

 

[Luckbad]

What happens when you decide you're happy with a tube setup? You roll anyway.
 
MHDT Labs Atlantis with Sylvania 5670 Gold Brand -> Garage1217 Project Ember II with RCA 6SN7GT Smoked Glass
 
The soundstage is out of your head. Really surprisingly noticeable. Sound is excellent as well. Very detailed without any harshness--the treble is slightly rolled off without losing any clarity.
 
I'd be reluctant to talk about night and day, but it is an obvious difference from what I was using before.
 
How important is soundstage to me? Guess I'll have to figure that one out. I wouldn't say that I distinctly prefer this sound to the combo of 6N6P tubes in the amp and 6N2P in the dac. I think I'll have to burn all the tubes in now to be sure.
 
Glad I didn't put them up for sale yet!

 

[nwavesailor]

  What happens when you decide you're happy with a tube setup? You roll anyway.
 
MHDT Labs Atlantis with Sylvania 5670 Gold Brand -> Garage1217 Project Ember II with RCA 6SN7GT Smoked Glass
 
The soundstage is out of your head. Really surprisingly noticeable. Sound is excellent as well. Very detailed without any harshness--the treble is slightly rolled off without losing any clarity.
 
I'd be reluctant to talk about night and day, but it is an obvious difference from what I was using before.
 
How important is soundstage to me? Guess I'll have to figure that one out. I wouldn't say that I distinctly prefer this sound to the combo of 6N6P tubes in the amp and 6N2P in the dac. I think I'll have to burn all the tubes in now to be sure.
 
Glad I didn't put them up for sale yet!

Thanks, Luckbad!
 
I have a pair of the RCA 6SN7GT / VT-231 w/ smoked glass that I need to try. In other applications, these RCA's seemed kind of dull and uninteresting. Perhaps they are just 'neutral' sounding and I was looking for some sort of coloration. It will be interesting to see how the soundstage of the RCA's compare to the Visseaux.

 

[Luckbad]

 
Thanks, Luckbad!
 
I have a pair of the RCA 6SN7GT / VT-231 w/ smoked glass that I need to try. In other applications, these RCA's seemed kind of dull and uninteresting. Perhaps they are just 'neutral' sounding and I was looking for some sort of coloration. It will be interesting to see how the soundstage of the RCA's compare to the Visseaux.

 
My first impressions of the RCAs was the same, actually. A bit dull. The Sylvania tube in my dac is particularly not dull, so it might just be countering the RCA. I've read that the RCA benefits a ton from burn-in to become less dull, though.

 

[nwavesailor]

   
My first impressions of the RCAs was the same, actually. A bit dull. The Sylvania tube in my dac is particularly not dull, so it might just be countering the RCA. I've read that the RCA benefits a ton from burn-in to become less dull, though.

Generally not a big 'burn in' fan with tubes BUT I also am a bit quick to judge a tube. I think I need to give any tube a bit more time before giving it a thumbs up or down. The Visseaux 6J5G were an easy call as they sounded killer from the first few notes where other tubes may need more than a little warm up to show their true potential!

 

[Astral Abyss]

  What happens when you decide you're happy with a tube setup? You roll anyway.
 

 
I know.  It's a sickness I can't recover from.  I always think, "This tube sounds really, really good.  Oh, but I haven't tried such-and-such yet, everyone says it's wonderful."

 

[nwavesailor]

   
I know.  It's a sickness I can't recover from.  I always think, "This tube sounds really, really good.  Oh, but I haven't tried such-and-such yet, everyone says it's wonderful."

12 step program for tube buying....................without admitting we have a 'problem'..............we keep looking for the Holy Grail of tubes!
 
For me, at least for today, it is the Visseaux 6J5G *
 
*subject to change when a new shiny object distracts me!

 

[Tunkejazz]

When I ordered my Raytheon 6F8G, I got it in a bundle together with a National Union 6F8G too. Never bothered with the latter...until today.
 
What a beautifully sounding tube!
I like it better than the Raytheon. A few words that could describe the flavor of the sound: very articulate bass lines (bass guitars sound splendid), great clarity in the mids, and one the largest soundstages I have found in tubes (comparable to the Visseaux).