Please post your thoughts on the EHs as I am considering them also
Thank you…..
They're good. I haven't felt the need to roll tubes anymore and assume them as the defacto tube in the amp. Lots of dynamics and bass. They were a little crude with treble out of the box but they settled down after 50-60 hours run-in.
I've been playing around with them (genres and phones) and don't mind them with either my Amirons or DT1990s, pretty much a neutral reference.
Paid $80ish dollars for them though so I can't guarantee they're going to outpace something like an RCA NOS set of tubes, I like my RCA 6SN7 in my Lyr quite a bit, which has been gathering dust in favor of my Asgard 3 with my other set of phones.
Sorry about the late response but all my stuff broke and then I had to burn them in and then I didn't have much time to listen to them.
I would go gold pin in comparison to the regular EH brand, it's a little bit nicer of a sound and less 'raw' in comparison to a non-gold pin EH tube in my Vali 2. Upscale audio treated me very well and delivered quick and EH has proven to be a real set-it and forget it brand.
I could do tube rollers at this stage (those extension things that sit the tubes above the amp) but I've forgotten about it. The NOS sound can be more 'warm' or bring more spice on occasion but with these new production tubes I feel like I'm getting holography in the stage as well as more sharp and concise dynamics. Enough that if I were to do my Lyr again I might go with the EH gold pin 6SN7. I just feel like I've found my brand pretty much and there's no need to think about the dicey selections on Ebay.
For a long time I considered my Valhalla a mistake but now that I have these tubes in there I don't have to worry about tube matching for phones anymore, which was a bother. The whole rolling thing gets in the way of the tunes. I plug in my Aeon's and the sound is terrific with K-Pop. My DT1990s are good for a more raw feel with punk or metal. My Amirons get the golden oldies very well, and I don't touch the tubes anymore.
The amp is just giving me a euphoric double-tube sound that is basic and goes along with anything. I obviously really wish I had gone down the rabbit hole earlier and done my research on tubes at the start. But you don't have to take my word for it, there's also good word on these tubes in other forums that aren't this site and Passion for Sound said he really liked the EH6SN7 gold pin in the Lyr, I think most people generally enjoy these tubes.
They give me peace of mind which is all I ask, but who knows maybe the exotic $300 tubes out there bring something else to the game. I just think the amp sounds great now in general. EH is WAAAAAAAAY better than the JJ tubes recommended on here, frankly I think that was a myth started by a JJ exec. My JJs have always collected dust and found their way out of the amp as fast as possible. The stock tubes are great with 'vinyl' music from before digital but I don't need a mythic warm sound since I'm streaming 100%.
I feel like the stocks probably fit with a turntable very well, those rockets and such. I don't miss them at all.