[buonassi]

it never ends....

 

[Ripper2860]

Until you run out of $$ or they put you in the ground.

 

[ProfFalkin]

As long as they put me in the ground with my headphones...

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

@Ripper2860 , is it time to release the Franken?

And you find great tubes!

 

[Wes S]

This is long (sorry), but skipping to the end won't do any good because I put all the important stuff in the middle. In my never-ending quest to find the perfect tube for the Lyr, and even after realizing such a thing doesn't exist I started looking at 7N7's. Firstly because they're electrically identical to a 6SN7 (basically a 6SN7 with a different base), and secondly because they're cheap. Like me. I started with a pair of Tung-Sols -- $20 bucks for the pair delivered. After a day's worth of break-in, I liked them. Liked them quite a bit, actually. Strong bass, very dynamic, and a sparkly treble. Very nice tubes period, and really nice tubes for the money. But at the end of the day they were just really nice tubes, and not in any position to unseat a Bad Boy, WH D, or even my beloved Fotons. But I was intrigued, and bought a pair of CBS ($18 delivered) and then drained the bank account on a pair of RCA's ($28 for the pair). Honestly couldn't tell a lot of difference between them and the Tung-Sols. All of them nice, none of them groundbreaking. As I continued my research, it would seem that there were only two manufacturers of this tube type: Sylvania and National Union. There is so much conflicting info out there it's hard to tell who's right and who's not, but the dual-manufacturer status of these is prolific among the more reputable sources. After looking closely at these three different tubes, it became obvious why they sounded so similar: they're identical internally. Not sure if they were made by Sylvania or NU, but it's clear they were made by the same manufacturer. After more searching I ran across a number of different forum posts from all over that mentioned the tall bottle versions of this tube type sounded better than the short bottle ones. As the tubes I had were all short bottle, I ran across an Ebay ad for the tall bottle pictured below. And the rest is now history. Powerful bass, dynamic and punchy, a midrange that's *just* right, beautiful treble, the rhythmic drive of a Foton. But there are two things that are remarkable with this tube: imaging (or maybe soundstaging) that locates each performer or instrument in its own acoustic space. You can pick out the individual voice in a chorus and the 3rd violin from center in an orchestra. And you hear the space surrounding them. I haven't heard this space-reality thing with headphones before. Not even close. And then there's the tone. Holy friggin' crap. Tone. The depth of harmonics and the full fleshing out of every resonance and micro-detail in the note. If you're a rocker or metalhead and love the sound of an electric guitar or bass, you'll turn into one great big goosebump with this tube in the Lyr. I even listened to some jazz...and liked it. That's never happened before either. I rarely gush on a tube because a lot has to do with personal preference and system synergy, so I won't gush over this one. I'll just say that even after several reality checks swapping a Foton or WH D back in for comparisons that the Frankentube is now my personal reference and owns the #1 spot by a pretty wide margin.

Frankentube? Well, had to name it. Not all tall bottle 7N7's have this magic. What's notable is the shape of the top of the glass bulb -- it's 'squared off' like the top of Frankenstein's head (or was that Herman Munster)? There are tall bottle versions that have the more rounded top shape, and they don't sound nearly as good to my ears. This is the Frankentube:



Here's the Frankentube (left) next to two non-Frankentubes. Hopefully it illustrates that 'square' top a little better:



Here's a GE labeled Frankentube. Thankfully the only thing 'GE' about it is the silkscreening:



This is the pile of 7N7's I've played with while narrowing down the specifics of what constitutes a real Frankentube. I'm not suggesting that the Franken configuration is the only version of a 7N7 that sounds good, but NONE of the others I've tried so far get close:



The stuff required to be knighted as a Frankentube:

1) Tall bottle with unique 'squared-off' top shape.
2) Top getter with flashing that completely covers the inside of the bottle at least a 3rd of the way down, and usually half way down.
3) T-Plates where the flat part of the plates face each other. There are gray plate and black plate versions. I have both, and can't honestly tell much difference between them.
4) True racetrack mica supports, top and bottom. By that I mean that the shape is a true oval, and not like a rectangle with ends that are rounded (see below).
5) Square (or slightly rectangular) pan-type getter tray (or support).

Frankie's racetrack mica:



Imposter:



Yes, you'll need an adapter for the Lyr:



These were plentiful and cheap when I first started perusing Ebay. I paid $15 for the Lansdale labeled tube pictured, and $14 for the GE. They're still cheap, but not that plentiful any more which seems to coincide with telling @Ripper2860 about them. Think he bought like 100, but that's 'cause he's a collector and not a hoarder.

Damn man! You put all of us wanna be tube rollers to shame! Nice find and thanks for the the info!

 

[Currawong]

The Lyr 3 is in for review so I'm joining in the fun. I liked the Emerson (Tung-Sol?) in there, but the regular GE that I have in there now is pretty good. I have a Fat Boy, but it's in another amp at the moment. Funnily enough I was glancing at the local second-hand dealer and they had a single Sylvania chrome-top for $17! I remember paying $100 for a pair, so I nabbed it. I expect it will give the usual excessively smooth sound they are known for. I have some 5692 tubes I might try as well, but they tend to be too lively sounding.

 

[cebuboy]

The Lyr 3 is in for review so I'm joining in the fun. I liked the Emerson (Tung-Sol?) in there, but the regular GE that I have in there now is pretty good. I have a Fat Boy, but it's in another amp at the moment. Funnily enough I was glancing at the local second-hand dealer and they had a single Sylvania chrome-top for $17! I remember paying $100 for a pair, so I nabbed it. I expect it will give the usual excessively smooth sound they are known for. I have some 5692 tubes I might try as well, but they tend to be too lively sounding.

How did you like it with the WE 396A/2C51?

 

[Ripper2860]

The Lyr 3 is in for review so I'm joining in the fun. I liked the Emerson (Tung-Sol?) in there, but the regular GE that I have in there now is pretty good. I have a Fat Boy, but it's in another amp at the moment. Funnily enough I was glancing at the local second-hand dealer and they had a single Sylvania chrome-top for $17! I remember paying $100 for a pair, so I nabbed it. I expect it will give the usual excessively smooth sound they are known for. I have some 5692 tubes I might try as well, but they tend to be too lively sounding.

Looking forward to another of your excellent reviews!!

 

[ilikepooters]

Has anyone tried a 6N1P-EV with an adaptor?

Think i mentioned it earlier in the thread but i've just rolled one in again, straight after listening to the Westinghouse GTB short bottle D Getter.

They are very much on par, imaging slightly wider and deeper on 6N1P-EV, also bit more bass heft.


Really worth rolling considering how cheap they are.


Ones i'm using are Nevz (Novosibirsk, Pentagon logo) '67 vintage.

 

[Wes S]

The Lyr 3 is in for review so I'm joining in the fun. I liked the Emerson (Tung-Sol?) in there, but the regular GE that I have in there now is pretty good. I have a Fat Boy, but it's in another amp at the moment. Funnily enough I was glancing at the local second-hand dealer and they had a single Sylvania chrome-top for $17! I remember paying $100 for a pair, so I nabbed it. I expect it will give the usual excessively smooth sound they are known for. I have some 5692 tubes I might try as well, but they tend to be too lively sounding.

Awesome! Currawong joined the tube rolling team!

I really want to hear your thoughts, about that JW WE 396A, as well! I have a bunch of them, and the adapter, but have been to scared to try it.

 

[Currawong]

How did you like it with the WE 396A/2C51?

Good! Very open and clear. I get the feeling that it gives the Lyr 3 a bit of a "lighter", less punchy, but more spacious sound than the other tubes, which is a bit different to how I experienced it in other amps.

 

[earnmyturns]

Update on Psvane 6SN7-SE: I thought the Ken-Rad VT-231 (staggered plates) was the acme for small ensemble jazz, but now I'm finding the burned-in Psvane even better, from the deep solid bass to the delicate, shimmering cymbals, with piano and sax mids a bit more forward than with the Ken-Rad, good separation between instruments. Listening to "Blue Dream" by the Jamie Saft Quartet (recommended!), better sense of depth and presence than I was used to with this DAC and headphones (see sig for details).

 

[Ripper2860]

Listening to "Blue Dream" by the Jamie Saft Quartet (recommended!),

A very excellent recommendation!


(Psvane added to my list of tubes to buy.)

 

[FLTWS]

Update on Psvane 6SN7-SE: I thought the Ken-Rad VT-231 (staggered plates) was the acme for small ensemble jazz, but now I'm finding the burned-in Psvane even better, from the deep solid bass to the delicate, shimmering cymbals, with piano and sax mids a bit more forward than with the Ken-Rad, good separation between instruments. Listening to "Blue Dream" by the Jamie Saft Quartet (recommended!), better sense of depth and presence than I was used to with this DAC and headphones (see sig for details).

I'll have 50 hours on my Psvane 6SN7 UK by this afternoon, might make today a Psvane day and forego the Yggy A/B comparisons for the day.

 

[quimbo]

This was posted in another forum

Department Of The Army Technical Manual - Basic Theory and Application of electron Tubes:

https://ia801000.us.archive.org/11/items/TM11-662/TM11-662.pdf