Schiit Lyr Tube Rollers

[gibosi]

  This is a list i made of tubes known to work in Lyr.
 
6BZ7/6BQ7A/ECC180
6N1P/6N1P-VI/6N1P-EV/6N1P-EB
6N2P (possibly)
6N23P/6N23P-EV
6DJ8
7DJ8
6922
7308
CCa
E88CC
ECC88
ECC85 [6AQ8]
E188CC
E288CC
PCC88
ECC189 [6ES8] (Variable mu, not recommended but sound great to me)
PCC189 (as above)
6CG7/6FQ7
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Some entries are duplicates (e.g., 6DJ8 and ECC88).

 
The 6DG7/6FQ7 is essentially a 6SN7 shoehorned into a 9-pin all glass bottle. They are not the best match for the Lyr, but they will work, and as in dailydoseofdaly's experience, in some systems they might work quite well
 
But if you like the RCA "house sound", I would suggest the 6FW8. Back in the day, RCA was the biggest dog around, and they refused to license Philip's technology to manufacture 6DJ8/ECC88. Instead, they decided to make their own version. And for sure, the 6FW8 is a perfect replacement for the 6DJ8. But after going to all the trouble and expense of developing their own tube, poor RCA couldn't get anyone to buy them, and in the end, they were reduced to procuring 6DJ8's from Philips and rebranding them. lol

 

[ThurstonX]

 
The 6DG7/6FQ7 is essentially a 6SN7 shoehorned into a 9-pin all glass bottle. They are not the best match for the Lyr, but they will work, and as in dailydoseofdaly's experience, in some systems they might work quite well
 
But if you like the RCA "house sound", I would suggest the 6FW8. Back in the day, RCA was the biggest dog around, and they refused to license Philip's technology to manufacture 6DJ8/ECC88. Instead, they decided to make their own version. And for sure, the 6FW8 is a perfect replacement for the 6DJ8. But after going to all the trouble and expense of developing their own tube, poor RCA couldn't get anyone to buy them, and in the end, they were reduced to procuring 6DJ8's from Philips and rebranding them. lol

 
I should clarify that that isn't my list.  Just copy/pastin' 

 
I love it when you lay down some righteous tube knowledge.  I'm always learning so much.  I see RCAs listed quite often, and given what you wrote, I'd love to try their tubes, vs. the re-branded Philips tubes.  I'm looking at some types I don't have that don't cost an arm and leg (e.g., ECC85s).  Is there a way to know if something that says RCA was in fact made by RCA?
 
Thanks again!

 

[Amictus]

   
From the old thread:
 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/549508/schiit-lyr-the-tube-rolling-thread/6675#post_9378252
 
This is a list i made of tubes known to work in Lyr.
 
6BZ7/6BQ7A/ECC180
6N1P/6N1P-VI/6N1P-EV/6N1P-EB
6N2P (possibly)
6N23P/6N23P-EV
6DJ8
7DJ8
6922
7308
CCa
E88CC
ECC88
ECC85 [6AQ8]
E188CC
E288CC
PCC88
ECC189 [6ES8] (Variable mu, not recommended but sound great to me)
PCC189 (as above)
6CG7/6FQ7
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Some entries are duplicates (e.g., 6DJ8 and ECC88).

Outstanding. Good work.

 

[GrindingThud]

6GU7 works too, but even more flabby than 6CG7.

From the old thread:


http://www.head-fi.org/t/549508/schiit-lyr-the-tube-rolling-thread/6675#post_9378252

This is a list i made of tubes known to work in Lyr.

6BZ7/6BQ7A/ECC180

6N1P/6N1P-VI/6N1P-EV/6N1P-EB

6N2P (possibly)

6N23P/6N23P-EV

6DJ8

7DJ8

6922

7308

CCa

E88CC

ECC88

ECC85 [6AQ8]

E188CC

E288CC

PCC88

ECC189 [6ES8] (Variable mu, not recommended but sound great to me)

PCC189 (as above)

6CG7/6FQ7

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some entries are duplicates (e.g., 6DJ8 and ECC88).

 

[ThurstonX]

6GU7 works too, but even more flabby than 6CG7.

 
Thanks for confirming.  I've updated my personal copy of that list, and it looks like this 

 
6CG7/6FQ7 [flabby? see the following]
6GU7 works too, but even more flabby than 6CG7
http://www.head-fi.org/t/673709/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers/3405#post_10942771

 

[GrindingThud]

Jason's original reference to the flatulence: http://www.head-fi.org/t/549508/schiit-lyr-the-tube-rolling-thread/1380#post_7607045

Thanks for confirming.  I've updated my personal copy of that list, and it looks like this 

6CG7/6FQ7 [flabby? see the following]

6GU7 works too, but even more flabby than 6CG7
http://www.head-fi.org/t/673709/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers/3405#post_10942771

 

[ThurstonX]

Here's a brief but interesting discussion about the 6GU7, though not in relation to the Lyr:
 
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/101712-6gu7-sub-6cg7-6fq7.html

 

[ThurstonX]

Jason's original reference to the flatulence: http://www.head-fi.org/t/549508/schiit-lyr-the-tube-rolling-thread/1380#post_7607045

 
Thanks.  Someday I'll go back and re-read that thread.  In the meantime I'll keep learning from y'all 

 

[ThurstonX]

Previous post and thread lead me here: http://www.nj7p.org/Tube.php  which is a good resource.  I plugged in ECC85, as it was, IIRC, one of the original tubes shipped with the Lyr:
 
http://www.nj7p.org/Tube/SQL/Tube_query.php?Type=ECC85
 
The DIY Audio thread mentions that preferred substitutes are pretty close to the original.  These tubes are listed as preferred substitutes:
 
6BK7
6DT8
6EV7
 
Anyone have any experience with these in a Lyr, or opinions on them in general?
 
I should note that the 6BZ7 is merely a substitute (per that database), and the GEs that shipped with the Lyr (pre-Lyr 2, when I got mine a year ago) are 6BZ7s... I think!  LOL.  I'm all tubed out for the evening.  Time for The Blacklist and then some baseball.
 

 

[gibosi]

  I love it when you lay down some righteous tube knowledge.  I'm always learning so much.  I see RCAs listed quite often, and given what you wrote, I'd love to try their tubes, vs. the re-branded Philips tubes.  I'm looking at some types I don't have that don't cost an arm and leg (e.g., ECC85s).  Is there a way to know if something that says RCA was in fact made by RCA?

 
The 6FW8 is probably your best bet to experience the RCA sound in your Lyr. Unfortunately, these are rare, as only RCA made them, and commercially they were a flop, but on the other hand, they are usually not expensive. Occasionally, pairs do turn up and patience is the best strategy.
 
Don't know when this one was manufactured, but the D-getter suggests to me late 1950's to early 1960's.
 

 
The ECC85/6AQ8 is essentially a 12AT7. The 12AT7 is not pin-compatible in the Lyr, but the 6AQ8 is plug and play, no adapter necessary. That said, the 12AT7 and 6AQ8 have a gain of about 60, almost twice that of the 6DJ8, so I am not sure how well it would work. But hybrids, like the Lyr, are typically less sensitive to differences in gain than amps with output tubes, so they might be fine....
 
Because I am cheap and can run 9V tubes, I ended up purchasing a couple bunches of PCC85/9AQ8, which are identical to ECC85/6AQ8, except for the heaters. Of 11, one was manufactured in Heerlen, one in Hamburg and one in Berlin. The rest (8) were manufactured by Mitsubishi in Japan using Philips equipment. I also saw, but did not purchase, tubes made in eastern Europe. However, I did not come across a single tube manufactured in the US. So from my limited experience, I doubt that the ECC85/6AQ8 was manufactured by RCA or any other American manufacturer, but I can't be sure.....

 

[ThurstonX]

  The 6FW8 is probably your best bet to experience the RCA sound in your Lyr. Unfortunately, these are rare, as only RCA made them, and commercially they were a flop, but on the other hand, they are usually not expensive. Occasionally, pairs do turn up and patience is the best strategy.
 
Don't know when this one was manufactured, but the D-getter suggests to me late 1950's to early 1960's.
 

 
The ECC85/6AQ8 is essentially a 12AT7. The 12AT7 is not pin-compatible in the Lyr, but the 6AQ8 is plug and play, no adapter necessary. That said, the 12AT7 and 6AQ8 have a gain of about 60, almost twice that of the 6DJ8, so I am not sure how well it would work. But hybrids, like the Lyr, are typically less sensitive to differences in gain than amps with output tubes, so they might be fine....
 
Because I am cheap and can run 9V tubes, I ended up purchasing a couple bunches of PCC85/9AQ8, which are identical to ECC85/6AQ8, except for the heaters. Of 11, one was manufactured in Heerlen, one in Hamburg and one in Berlin. The rest (8) were manufactured by Mitsubishi in Japan using Philips equipment. I also saw, but did not purchase, tubes made in eastern Europe. However, I did not come across a single tube manufactured in the US. So from my limited experience, I doubt that the ECC85/6AQ8 was manufactured by RCA or any other American manufacturer, but I can't be sure.....

 
Again, thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.  Am I wrong in thinking the 6AQ8 is the US equivalent of the ECC85?  I need to find that reference to Schiit providing ECC85s with the original Lyrs.
 
Must have been this one:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/673709/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers/1485#post_10367481
 
"A while back, Schiit used to offer Tungsram ECC85 as an option for the Lyr, but no longer."

 

[gibosi]

  Again, thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.  Am I wrong in thinking the 6AQ8 is the US equivalent of the ECC85?  I need to find that reference to Schiit providing ECC85s with the original Lyrs.

 
Yes, 6AQ8 = ECC85
 
http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_6aq8.html
 
(This Radiomuseum site is very helpful in answering questions like this.)

 

[htr2d2]

 
Thanks for your suggestions!  I went ahead and ordered from Tubemonger in addition a pair of NOS Telefunken E88CC/6922.  

Love to hear what you think on the Telefunken tubes. Not gotten those, yet.

 

[R Scott Ireland]

Have any of you guys heard of an amp or device (relatively inexpensive) that can be used for burning in tubes?
 
Over the weekend I was listening to some sets of the "famed" Lorenz 3-Mica Stuttgart tubes.  One set stunk, while the second set was excellent.  It dawned on me that the first set was NOS and had probably not received more than a few hours play-in.
 
Then I started thinking about what a pain in the ?># it is to put 50 or 100 hours on a set of tubes - you have to tie up or burn your amp for that period and can't listen to other tubes at the same time.
 
So . . . I started thinking about how nice it would be to have a small 6DJ8 amp that could be used just for burning-in.
 
Any thoughts?

 

[ThurstonX]

I'd like to have them, just for the novelty of a pr of 6n23p's marked 'Made in the USA'.

 
Damn, Bob, did you get outbid on these?  I was tempted to bump it up at the last minute, but I was pretty sure you were the high bidder with a few minutes to go, and no one else would bother.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MATCHED-PAIR-7308-E188CC-NOS-VACUUM-TUBES-WESTINGHOUSE-VOSKHOD-6N23P-6N1P-/221564351213