A 'rephrase' of a great Howlin' Wolf tune may help :
Some tubes built like this, some tubes built like that,
But the way I'm built, a-don't you call me fat,
Because I'm built for comfort, I ain't built for speed,
But I got everything all the good tubes need.
The Philips ECG 5687 are also one nasty tube. These were made in the late 70's or 1980's and came in a box of 100 no doubt as a military contract fullfilment. They were about $1-2 each in bulk and they were OK to supply with a new piece of gear but were not a VERY good tube. The TS 5687 were fantastic!
So one of the two STC 6J5G developed some noise. What to do? I put in one Brimar branded 6J5GT/G with unknown manufacturer. I have several that are branded Brimar but made by Ken-Rad. This is something else and looks like one made by NU. Anyway, you are not allowed to do this if you are a serious audiophile, you all know this. What was the outcome you might wonder? Well, suddenly the Haltron 6K6GT/G started to sound much better. This could be due to the change of input tube or they might have become run in. Or both. I don't care, I will just listen.
Get me to wondering, on an amp like the Chan Ultimate, where one 6SN7 is feeding both channels; a doublet adapter is needed to use 6j5 tubes in pairs, maybe place complimentary 6J5s in the mix. I wonder…
Get me to wondering, on an amp like the Chan Ultimate, where one 6SN7 is feeding both channels; a doublet adapter is needed to use 6j5 tubes in pairs, maybe place complimentary 6J5s in the mix. I wonder…
Get me to wondering, on an amp like the Chan Ultimate, where one 6SN7 is feeding both channels; a doublet adapter is needed to use 6j5 tubes in pairs, maybe place complimentary 6J5s in the mix. I wonder…
Very few people have the same frequency response in both ears. Most people have a 'leading eye', a 'leading hand' and, most likely, a 'leading ear'. So in my opinion there is room for experiments. I had one 6C5G with hot stamped base from the late thirties that made beautiful music when partnered with this STC 6J5G. Unfortunately the heaters in the 6C5G burnt out last year. One NU 6C5GT/G stepped in and I experienced another kind of good music. But I miss the dead predecessor. You can see it here:
Sure, I need 4 single triodes in my amp and, esp. when I was first starting this obsession journey, I didn't necessarily have 4 identical tubes of a particular type. So I would mix and match, and it was fine. I looked at it as blended Scotch vs. single malt. JMO, YMMV and all that.
Sure, I need 4 single triodes in my amp and, esp. when I was first starting this obsession journey, I didn't necessarily have 4 identical tubes of a particular type. So I would mix and match, and it was fine. I looked at it as blended Scotch vs. single malt. JMO, YMMV and all that.
Very few people have the same frequency response in both ears. Most people have a 'leading eye', a 'leading hand' and, most likely, a 'leading ear'. So in my opinion there is room for experiments. I had one 6C5G with hot stamped base from the late thirties that made beautiful music when partnered with this STC 6J5G. Unfortunately the heaters in the 6C5G burnt out last year. One NU 6C5GT/G stepped in and I experienced another kind of good music. But I miss the dead predecessor. You can see it here:
Ain't it cool?
I'm sure we succumb to expectation bias in tube rolling like anything else. I threw my "worst" 6J5 into my amp a while back without thinking about it much while I already had my "worst" power tubes in there. Not even sure why, I didn't have an intent, I just did it at random. One night while listening to this combo I got really, *really* into the music and had one of the best listening session of my life. Everything just sounded wonderful. Then at one point I remembered that I had my "bad" tubes in the amp and kind of had one of those "huh........ huh" moments.
This is an interesting topic. I've often wondered how much right or left side dominance can affect senses like our hearing. I recently noticed that I've apparently lost all of my leading eye dominance. When I was younger I had a clear right eye dominance when doing the "pointer" test. Now I get double-vision because my brain apparently can't decide which eye it wants to be dominant. I did some reading on this and it's a real thing that happens to people but is apparently rare. It made me wonder if I'm experiencing changes in hearing too.
I’ve had a “lazy” right eye since childhood. Normally just peripheral vision is merged from this eye. But close up I get double vision unless my eyes are perfectly horizontal… I also wonder if similar effects occur with my ears…
I don't think I've ever come across what I would call a "bad sounding tube" pre 1970. Sure, some are "bad" because they have no life left, but that's a different matter.
If I wasn't so interested in the history of manufacturing, with slight OCD, and the collectors disease (cured now?) who treats a lot of tubes as "antiques/historical artifacts", I would only have cheap(ish) tubes for sure.
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