[Paladin79]

These suckers are transformative allowing the Freya + to flex with air and sweetness very hard to find in balance across many amplifiers. I may go as far to say my favorite audio purchase since the dawn of the DIY T2 with an appreciable step up in musical enjoyment. I recommend pairing with either RCA smoke or the VT231 to maintain a bit more body.

I tried a matched quad of those in my Freya + and they were scary good but a bit overwhelming lol. A matched pair is as far as I go now on the right side of the Freya. I have not played with the T2 but did build a Whammy sometime back since it is class A. I have a couple single channel Class A I might listen to as well but I prefer tube amps.

 

[paradoxper]

I tried a matched quad of those in my Freya + and they were scary good but a bit overwhelming lol. A matched pair is as far as I go now on the right side of the Freya.

A quad would be interesting. I'll have to hunt another pair down which seems increasingly difficult to find.

I can't say with the VT231 I find anything lacking though. Thoroughly satisfied besides lusting for the damned Sophia Blue Glass. Ha.

 

[Paladin79]

A quad would be interesting. I'll have to hunt another pair down which seems increasingly difficult to find.

I can't say with the VT231 I find anything lacking though. Thoroughly satisfied besides lusting for the damned Sophia Blue Glass. Ha.

Are you talking RCA VT231? I always liked the Ken-Rad black glass VT231 myself. I have owned RCA black glass but they never did much for me. (non VT231).

I have heard the Sophias, I would place them in my top 50 but not the top 10.

 

[paradoxper]

Are you talking RCA VT231? I always liked the Ken-Rad black glass VT231 myself. I have owned RCA black glass but they never did much for me. (non VT231).

Sorry. I should be more clear, for the VT231, I am directly referencing the Ken-Rad and the RCA grey/smoked I suppose are also a VT231?

 

[Paladin79]

Sorry. I should be more clear, for the VT231, I am directly referencing the Ken-Rad and the RCA grey/smoked I suppose are also a VT231?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265221121048?hash=item3dc0692418:g:7OgAAOSwHC9g5NC6
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304281506177?epid=1504045787&hash=item46d8975181:g:fQEAAOSw3GthzD5B
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133184318902?hash=item1f02676db6:g:-bsAAOSwy6la64Jz

Yep, the second one I would consider black glass myself.

As far as the Ken-Rad, this is the version I prefer, they are getting pricey.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1652770809...YUUeUcmR9Q%3D%3D|clp:2334524|tkp:BFBMuonO79Rf

 

[paradoxper]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265221121048?hash=item3dc0692418:g:7OgAAOSwHC9g5NC6
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304281506177?epid=1504045787&hash=item46d8975181:g:fQEAAOSw3GthzD5B
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133184318902?hash=item1f02676db6:g:-bsAAOSwy6la64Jz

Yep, the second one I would consider black glass myself.

As far as the Ken-Rad, this is the version I prefer, they are getting pricey.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165277080948?_trkparms=ispr=1&hash=item267b481d74:g:tBEAAOSwsJpfBcwL&amdata=enc:AQAGAAACoPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSLY2M1Gjmuwt9c03vWNfiRiOYSF5MptZ3DvpiluxeYNriU6Ft7LFuzSuCT8V3xJZaP0BBS8h61wKPmM5QnsxsxIjID9URC7jwfj0lCLM4Kqz1O0cACYiZhVODUXYMSx9KEZVkgUuzUcWx3I0IHUvCbvFSlTukRI4kSk2RhhKnteBMn6AkHEvs32c%2BRvn3T%2FoKNNXXmshGsOHBwXVzM2xazHQjDPZeNs5CUASyQUBrH9piOX49yXLlo9kGql6gOcujk4GTW%2FUv%2Fij4BRC29CTepIJEziO6DO12x0sqfQXzI%2FkFtd2lQJwMiTrGKU8mHjjZXMmN7OxErkrdocbnClCbEdX2zpOBFVCBzQYA9FMIcQbJC8nUOnJkCBHbNW3%2BrPVBg4IhYFyNkZH9ZwxPxkH%2BQPf3LKDya2fWhtsj0YN25K4H%2BTqy6T9EX2x25z2ZnlIlClcOqd7F0kxjJsPqplOntr%2BOvGG2h1HRW0LC1vemxmjfsRv8vJb%2F%2FKKvkyr4jCuSFLFm4GDKxedRMTvYLk3spCIRhR%2Bgh1GN1IY%2Fr8WLHUGz8B8AEyff1NBKsaDj%2Fd2zhg4FZUTbSCxHudY8h6ZDv5wl%2B8pzWkLGO%2FPoqfw973XFwsuHiuHCsjfxyRrmHlkWhsjyi5OM2tNcXCd6nuY6ULUSr1OML9VmiiSlogiOQFg5Yi0ZreQsHLZmSZzbQ57W6UuMnLGwpaqisH9lyySYr7ncaq8J6PpFdtBV9MH1lP1auI0oxzLM8wdy5VSmSEkI24fmZ3f00GzueB2yekHgqMC36cJZ9zhq4Y6eIlqGerWTTLav0M0nZeRRC442T0daUvHeQehHzrbRYUUeUcmR9Q%3D%3D|clp:2334524|tkp:BFBMuonO79Rf

Thank you for clarifying. It gets a bit difficult to disseminate what variants are the military spec or anecdotal legend.

They are all getting expensive!

Too fun.

 

[Paladin79]

Thank you for clarifying. It gets a bit difficult to disseminate what variants are the military spec or anecdotal legend.

They are all getting expensive!

Too fun.

Tell me about it, friends and I put together over 1500 6sn7 tubes and equivalents starting a couple years ago and we spent over $50k, the same tubes now would be closer to $90k if you can find them. Many top tubes were already owned by 16 of us and those were not counted in the $50k thus our average was pretty low. We also bought four or five collections so that kept the prices down some. There were also some pretty crappy, cheap tubes in the mix since we wanted to blind test anything made.

 

[paradoxper]

Tell me about it, friends and I put together over 1500 6sn7 tubes and equivalents starting a couple years ago and we spent over $50k, the same tubes now would be closer to $90k if you can find them. Many top tubes were already owned by 16 of us and those were not counted in the $50k thus our average was pretty low. We also bought four or five collections so that kept the prices down some. There were also some pretty crappy, cheap tubes in the mix since we wanted to blind test anything made.

I shouldn't have invested in crypto.

 

[bcowen]

Tell me about it, friends and I put together over 1500 6sn7 tubes and equivalents starting a couple years ago and we spent over $50k, the same tubes now would be closer to $90k if you can find them. Many top tubes were already owned by 16 of us and those were not counted in the $50k thus our average was pretty low. We also bought four or five collections so that kept the prices down some. There were also some pretty crappy, cheap tubes in the mix since we wanted to blind test anything made.

So you included all of @Ripper2860 's tubes too? I did not know that.

 

[Ripper2860]

So you included all of @Ripper2860 's tubes too? I did not know that.

The fact that you refused to refund my money after selling me those tubes ranks as 3rd on my 'Why I dislike @bcowen' list.

 

[bcowen]

The fact that you refused to refund my money after selling me those tubes ranks as 3rd on my 'Why I dislike @bcowen' list.

3rd? I thought that would be trivial enough to rank around 16 or 17.

 

[Ripper2860]

3rd? I thought that would be trivial enough to rank around 16 or 17.

It's 3rd from the BOTTOM...

 

[jonathan c]

The local news showed a Tube Lion with checkout lines wrapping all the way down and around the aisles. I find it rather encouraging.

FTFY…[Reg. TM; © bcowen: 2021]

 

[jonathan c]

It's 3rd from the BOTTOM...

…of a list of three……

 

[Ripper2860]

As if.

I will not reveal the extent of the list as it would only serve to feed @bcowen's morbid curiosity.