The Reference 6SN7 Thread

[exdmd]

Dude. Just go to the first post in this thread and see what Robert H. Says about them.

 

[belgiangenius]

● “This tube was never considered special until some dealer got a bunch, noticed the price creeping up, slipped a few judicious posts onto Audio Asylum shilllling them, and sat back to watch he demand he generated drive up the price - and then, it snowballs - everyone's gotta try them - and then, everybody who paid $250 to $300 for a pair of tubes all of a sudden starts hearing incredible things in them and they are the new "best". One idiot on Ebay has even taken to selling French Neotron round plates and alluding to them being as good as Tungsols, or maybe even made by Tungsol! (hint - the Neotron is an OK tube, but nothing special.) The fact is, the T-S round plates are very fine, have great inner transparency and are unique sounding, the mids are not lush, but they do have a nice touch of euphonics, the bass is weaker than I would like and the highs can be sibilant - a problem. It does have the virtue of being the most uniformly quiet 6SN7 and consistent from sample to sample.” –Robert H. (in personal correspondence)

 

[JKDJedi]

Highly recommend Westinghouse 50's 6SN7GTB with offset black ladder plates and top D-shaped getter holder. These are pretty hard to find, but do pop-up on occasion and are not crazy expensive (usually south of $50). It's on my top 5 list of 6SN7 tubes and ranks highly with many on the Schiit Lyr 3 tube rolling thread. Highly recommended.

Thanks Ripper, I'll let you know how these work out

● “This tube was never considered special until some dealer got a bunch, noticed the price creeping up, slipped a few judicious posts onto Audio Asylum shilllling them, and sat back to watch he demand he generated drive up the price - and then, it snowballs - everyone's gotta try them - and then, everybody who paid $250 to $300 for a pair of tubes all of a sudden starts hearing incredible things in them and they are the new "best". One idiot on Ebay has even taken to selling French Neotron round plates and alluding to them being as good as Tungsols, or maybe even made by Tungsol! (hint - the Neotron is an OK tube, but nothing special.) The fact is, the T-S round plates are very fine, have great inner transparency and are unique sounding, the mids are not lush, but they do have a nice touch of euphonics, the bass is weaker than I would like and the highs can be sibilant - a problem. It does have the virtue of being the most uniformly quiet 6SN7 and consistent from sample to sample.” –Robert H. (in personal correspondence)

That's in reference to the VT 231 tube buddy ^^

 

[belgiangenius]

Thanks Ripper, I'll let you know how these work out

That's in reference to the VT 231 tube buddy ^^

VT231 is just the military designation of the same tube, buddy.

http://www.nostubestore.com/2018/07/tung-sol-jan-ctl-6sn7gt-vt-231-round.html

The listing even says 6SN7GT/VT-231

 

[JKDJedi]

VT231 is just the military designation of the same tube, buddy.

http://www.nostubestore.com/2018/07/tung-sol-jan-ctl-6sn7gt-vt-231-round.html

The listing even says 6SN7GT/VT-231

sounds good...thanks!

 

[Wes S]

In regards, to the Tung Sol, there are always two sides of the story. However, I am pretty sure, that tube has remained famous, for a reason.

The big questions are - Which one sounds better, the one with copper grid post, or steel? and round plates or oval?

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

Dude! Thanks for this tip!

By chance I still had those 1578s in a junk pile on my bench (photo on previous page). It's only by chance that they sat there for ~18 months and never found their way out the door.

I heated up a 150W soldering iron until it glowed red and touched each pin of both tubes for about 15 sec.

I plugged them into my Schiit Freya and....dead quiet!

I finally got to try these tubes out. Damn. These are some of the best sounding neutral tubes I have ever heard!

They don't have the sweetness of something like a Raytheon VT-231, but they are excellent tubes. I may try them in the buffer position rather than the driver position.

That sounds rather simple to a noob like me. 150W sounds like a powerful iron, but I do not even have any. What kind of soldering tip - pointed or chisel, i.e. did you touch the pins with a point, or with a flat tip?

 

[JKDJedi]

Are the Brimar 6SN7GT Grey Round Plates really worth $300!? X(

 

[audiquattro]

Do you research and you will find many of the best tube gurus label the Tungsol round plate as mediocre and overhyped. Not worth the money, IMHO.

After tried about 50+ different types, these are still the reference tube for my Dared DV Parallel SET 300B amp driver tube.
The Sylvania VT231 6SN7W Metal Base came closely 2nd.

Tried them on Cary SLP-98 preamps as well. It sounds incredible euphonic. Warm and juicy.

Like all others said, your setup may vary. I am all in with tube gear driving my horn / dual concentric / single driver speakers.

 

[Wes S]

Are the Brimar 6SN7GT Grey Round Plates really worth $300!? X(

Yes! If they test good, and have no noise or microphonics. They can be found for cheaper, and also for a lot more.

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

Yes! If they test good, and have no noise or microphonics. They can be found for cheaper, and also for a lot more.

Yes! If they test good, and have no noise or microphonics. They can be found for cheaper, and also for a lot more.

I have one and I can confirm that it has an excellent sonic signature for my taste: resolves well in terms of timbres and space, fast and clear, balanced tonality, rich harmonics, and euphonic to my ears in Vali 2 on AKG K702.

 

[Wes S]

I have one and I can confirm that it has an excellent sonic signature for my taste: resolves well in terms of timbres and space, fast and clear, balanced tonality, rich harmonics, and euphonic to my ears in Vali 2 on AKG K702.

Good description, of one of my favorite tubes.

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

Good description, of one of my favorite tubes.

Thank you. It was in a batch of 30 loose used tubes for which I paid $380. It had no brand on it. In the same batch, I found CBS 5692, and some other very good tubes.

 

[Roasty]

I didn't see this thread before I went on ebay and bought this rca 6sn7..

Can I get some advice if these tubes are any good or should I have purchased something else? Did I overpay for the tubes?

It'll be used on my woo audio 22 (with Brimar 5z4g/Sophia 274b, and TS 5998).

 

[audiquattro]

I didn't see this thread before I went on ebay and bought this rca 6sn7..

Can I get some advice if these tubes are any good or should I have purchased something else? Did I overpay for the tubes?

It'll be used on my woo audio 22 (with Brimar 5z4g/Sophia 274b, and TS 5998).

https://www.etsy.com/listing/718654...MIiMuukY7D4wIVkp6fCh30sAFjEAQYASABEgLWMPD_BwE

looks like you overpaid.

Off topic
As for 5998 type, have you tried with 6080 or Western Electric 421A tube?
The WE 421A sounds much more transparent and euphonic in my 421A/5998 triode push pull amp.