[Len]

The 3SS30 is indeed a 5692, specially built for the Swedish military.

 

[markmaxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Len Mark, decent NOS 6SN7s can be had for as little as $20 a pair, with many "premium" pairs occupying the $100-150 range. There are some extremely rare tubes like the Swedish Standard that will fetch top dollar, but you really needn't these tubes for great performance (fact is, I don't really like the Swede 33S30).

I went to Hirsch's link www.tubeseller.com and there are some Premium 6SN7s in the $115.00 to $375.00 range in deed.

I have not even got my amp yet and I am already worried about new tubes

Sorry for the thread hijack. I can see I have lots to learn. But at least because of you guys, I also have lots to read!

 

[adhoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markmaxx I went to Hirsch's link www.tubeseller.com and there are some Premium 6SN7s in the $115.00 to $375.00 range in deed. I have not even got my amp yet and I am already worried about new tubes Sorry for the thread hijack. I can see I have lots to learn. But at least because of you guys, I also have lots to read!

actually, with tubeseller.com, you are paying extra for peace of mind.

you could much better prices on, say, eBay - however the caveat is that with eBay comes risk - counterfeiting, unacceptable microphonics, pictures not matching product receievd, faked test results, DOA tubes, lousy packaging et al...

then again, on eBay there is the (granted, unlikely) possibility of finding That Really Great Deal That No One Else Notices.

 

[adhoc]

170705 - some pretty comphrehensive updates have been added for the tube descriptions.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Your 6SN7 archivist name is quite appropriate! This is a substantial piece of work whose value is immense. Thanks for taking the time to compose such a tome.

A quick comment on this work:

First, unless these individuals used a duo or trio of the same exact tubes it's difficult-impossible to tell if it's a byproduct of interaction in how different tubes sound, or whether it is truly once tube's characteristics coming through. If someone used a SinglePower amp you add a variable of using two different tubes whose strengths can fill in for the weakness of the other tube(s), and ones whose weaknesses combine for a pretty bad sound.

Thoughts on a particular tube's sound characteristic are not nearly as worthwhile when the amp is not listed in with the comments. The context of sound is much more helpful when one knows at least the amp in which the tube's sounds were discovered. If someone has a dry sounding system to start with, and later describes a sound as neutral, we've got the context that helps us figure out what the tube is doing to the sound, and how it makes up for certain flaws in one's system.


Here's an example: I just removed a pair of GE JAN, 1966 vintage tubes that look exactly like the Sylvania bad boys, minus the copper rods. In my SDS-T these tubes are fast, but lean in the bass with a tipped-up sound. The highs were more extended than any other tube I've heard in my system, and with the right driver tube to fill in the bass and drop the highs a little this will be an amazingly good combo. The Ken-Rad and TS RP did nothing to alleviate the lack of bass and pronounce highs, but I won't give up yet as it is a very lively tube that has potential.

Right now I've got a pair of the Syl bad boys with a TS RP in the driver's seat. A superb combo, but sounds a little rolled-off in the highs. This could be due to the change over to from the GE, so I won't yet give a definitive statement on the sound of this combo, but I will say it is very, very good so far. After a couple of days of burning in this trio, and time to let me ears readjust to a lessened high-end, I'll have more to say.

Using two TS RPs in the output stage did something rather unexpected: it nearly killed the high-end of my system. Dark, dark, dark is how I would describe the use of those tubes as outputs. Not my cup o' tea at all!

Using the Ken-Rad with the Syl JAN CHS tubes as outputs was my first trio in this amp, and it was fabulous. I won't give much comment as I later found that one of the tubes was a Bad Boy, and the other was not. May have done some weird things to the sound, making for a less than ideal listening environment.

It wasn't until I found this thread that I realized that I had about (8) of the Bad Boy tubes!! Now that I've installed a pair into my system I'm all

and lovin' the sound.

 

[adhoc]

SIE, thank you for your kind comments.

Anyway, regarding the fact that combination of tubes were frequently used - you are correct. However, I did take that into account when compiling this thread, which is why the various comments are colour-coded based on their original 'source' thread.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

adhoc,

I saw that the quotes referred to individual threads, which was IMHO a really nice touch.

[size=small]To ANYONE reading this thread: MAKE SURE TO CHECK INTO HAVING YOUR AMP SWITCHED OVER TO ACCEPT 12SN7 TUBES!!!!! [/size]
At about 1/10th to as high as 1/4 for the same exact sound it is simply a steal. Tung-Sol roundplates, although impossible to find, only run about $50 a tube.

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ServinginEcuador adhoc, I saw that the quotes referred to individual threads, which was IMHO a really nice touch. [size=small]To ANYONE reading this thread: MAKE SURE TO CHECK INTO HAVING YOUR AMP SWITCHED OVER TO ACCEPT 12SN7 TUBES!!!!! [/size] At about 1/10th to as high as 1/4 for the same exact sound it is simply a steal. Tung-Sol roundplates, although impossible to find, only run about $50 a tube.

I have six or seven Tung Sol round plate 12sn7's. I didnt pay more than $7 for any of them. I paid the same price for NU black glass and Ken Rad 12sngt's. The most I paid for any 12sn7 was $15 for some RCA dark gray glass 12sn7's I especially wanted. I found five or six later on for $6.50 each. There is a good supply of RCA, Sylvania and Tung Sol clear glass 12sn7's if you look around. The only tough to find 12sn7's for me were the Ken Rad's and the Raytheon's. I am still passively looking for the Raytheons. Passively because I discovered the loctal 7n7/14n7 which is the best sounding tube I have had in my Singlepower amp setups period. Loctal 7n7's cost $6-7 most places and 14n7's run from $2.25- $3.50. All you need is an octal to loctal tube socket adapter and your set..... no amp mods needed.

 

[Len]

The 7N7 is a great substitute. Tube rolling opportunity greatly diminishes compared to 6SN7 (not necessarily a bad thing), but it's a terrific sounding tube. The big plus-side is any 6SN7 can be refitted to use 7N7 with relative ease. I'm actually surprised no one is offering a commercial adapter for it yet (AFAIK). 7N7s are cheap (likely will remain cheap for a long time) and relatively easy to find.

12SN7 are harder to find (except for people named Earl!

), and, unlike the 7N7, converting 6SN7 to 12SN7 has inherent design problems unless you purposely design the application for this purpose. But 12SN7 has more variety then 7N7 and can provide you equivalent 6SN7 sound (for about 75% of the 6SN7 variety). The main concern is - due to its limitd production runs - any small surge in interest for 12SN7s will raise its price quickly, as evinced by this past year. If you're planning on using 12SN7s, I'd buy them now.

A big shame is I think a lot of 7N7 and 12SN7s got thrown out with the trash over the decades. They saw little practical use before the tube renaissance of the early 90s (or even during tube's glory days), and guitar amps favored the 6SN7 by a stark margin. So chances are, a lot of 7N7 and 12SN7, and less popular tubes found a permenant home at the dump yard

This compounds availability problems of tubes which were originally far less prolific. In years past, I've picked up dozens of 7N7s for free from folks who were going to simply trash them.

It's easy to see why the 6SN7 was a favored tube. It sounds terrific, rivals any other tube in terms of sonic variety, was manufactured in incredible quantities (much more then 7N7 or 12SN7), and uses the very popular octal base. Problem is, it became a victim of its greatness, and prices (and lately, availability) reflects this. It's getting costly to operate, but from an investment viewpoint, the yield is better then the stock market

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacd lover I have six or seven Tung Sol round plate 12sn7's. I didnt pay more than $7 for any of them.

The only problem is that now it's impossible to find any. I've been looking for six months now, and haven't found any since I got lucky with the huge batch of tubes I got off of eBay. Nobody seems to have the Tung-Sol RP tubes now, which is quite sad as I'd like to buy a few more for myself.

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ServinginEcuador The only problem is that now it's impossible to find any. I've been looking for six months now, and haven't found any since I got lucky with the huge batch of tubes I got off of eBay. Nobody seems to have the Tung-Sol RP tubes now, which is quite sad as I'd like to buy a few more for myself.

Hmmm.

I am going to have to look around some more. I like the loctals so well I havent been on the lookout for any 12sn7's lately. Plus I have 175 12sn7's anyway.

Being the original adopter has its perks.... seems I got all my primo 12sn7's and 5687's before they disappeared and lots cheaper too.

The landscape changes quickly with tubes these days.

 

[Len]

I think you did gobble up all the good 12SN7s

But there's still a lot of 5687 out there. The SLAMs are actually quite late in the game when it comes to this tube. Audio Note owners, for example, have you guys beat by a decade+.

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Len I think you did gobble up all the good 12SN7s But there's still a lot of 5687 out there. The SLAMs are actually quite late in the game when it comes to this tube. Audio Note owners, for example, have you guys beat by a decade+.

Yes your right about the 5687's. I found a good number of tung sol 5687's recently and I told another head-fier about them so he could get them. I have over 100 and probably 50 or more are the tung sol D getters.... I dont need ANY tubes. But I always look for them anyway. I think I just like the challenge of finding the tubes I use in general. The loctals are my babies.

I hate to pass up any loctals even though I have about 200 between the 7n7 and 14n7's.

 

[adhoc]

i would agree with the comments so far regarding higher voltage 'replacements' for the 6SN7s. i would like to add 2 more advantages of using higher filament voltages:

- less hum; a higher voltage means less current. current generates magnetic fields. magnetic coupling means hum. hence less current = less hum.
- you can get cheaper filament trannies for 12V.

fwiw, iirc there are also 25n7s and 40n7s out there.

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adhoc i would agree with the comments so far regarding higher voltage 'replacements' for the 6SN7s. i would like to add 2 more advantages of using higher filament voltages: - less hum; a higher voltage means less current. current generates magnetic fields. magnetic coupling means hum. hence less current = less hum. - you can get cheaper filament trannies for 12V. fwiw, iirc there are also 25n7s and 40n7s out there.

With the Singlepower amps all you need to do is switch the 12 volt supply for a 25 or 40 volt supply and your in business. I have been looking for some 25sn7's....or 1633's. These tubes seem to mostly be RCA gray glass but there doesnt appear to be much of a supply; atleast from all my usual sources. For myself I dont know if the search is worth the effort. Some high voltage loctals would be nice though.