[Pondoro]

My FOTON 6N8S tubes from Ukraine arrived but are stranded at the post office, I must show up in person and sign for them. Thus perceptions of risk, I was willing to risk $17 on an antique item made of glass, shipped by a stranger from a war torn country. He was afraid to have the package left in my mailbox. I am not complaining, it is difficult for people from most countries to understand how safe rural Ohio is. I am humbled by the differences in our circumstances.

These are not grail tubes, I am trying them to see what they may sound like. Let us hope they are undamaged.

Tubes look great. I tried both in my Vali 2+, which works great with 6SN7 tubes, using a socket saver and a 6SN7 adapter. Neither of the new FOTON tubes lights up visibly, and neither works musically, I get a lot of noise but no music at all.

Any ideas? Did I just get two bad tubes? Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

 

[Ayaka]

My FOTON 6N8S tubes from Ukraine arrived but are stranded at the post office, I must show up in person and sign for them. Thus perceptions of risk, I was willing to risk $17 on an antique item made of glass, shipped by a stranger from a war torn country. He was afraid to have the package left in my mailbox. I am not complaining, it is difficult for people from most countries to understand how safe rural Ohio is. I am humbled by the differences in our circumstances.

These are not grail tubes, I am trying them to see what they may sound like. Let us hope they are undamaged.

Let me know what you think about them, will receive some in some weeks

 

[ColSaulTigh]

Tubes look great. I tried both in my Vali 2+, which works great with 6SN7 tubes, using a socket saver and a 6SN7 adapter. Neither of the new FOTON tubes lights up visibly, and neither works musically, I get a lot of noise but no music at all.

Any ideas? Did I just get two bad tubes? Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

Have you tried taking the socket saver out of the equation? It's possible one or more pins need the solder reflowed - a common issue with the Melz. Don't know anything about the FOTON tubes myself. @Paladin79 might be able to shed some light...

 

[Pondoro]

Have you tried taking the socket saver out of the equation? It's possible one or more pins need the solder reflowed - a common issue with the Melz. Don't know anything about the FOTON tubes myself. @Paladin79 might be able to shed some light...

They will not fit the Vali without the socket saver. The socket saver makes the larger diameter 6SN7 and 68NS tubes ride above the small hole in the lid of the Vali.

 

[Paladin79]

@Paladin79 @bcowen - Hi Tom & Bill, yes long time I know! I'm back and rolling tubes again in another SLP-98......LOL

What did I miss??

Well I am working on my power amp and speaker setup right now. PrimaLuna and Sonus Faber. I have mostly been searching for 12AU7's and @jonathan c was an immense help in that search. Now I want to do a DAC upgrade so I should be hearing and evaluating 15 DACS after the holidays. I have most interest in DACs with a tube output stage. I am still working on my vinyl setup as well and added an Emotiva transport. I had to add another rack just to supports additional items.
I also added a device that will turn a power amp into a headphone amp and I should be adding a record storage box to match the turntable base. It is still a work in progress. As far as 6sn7's, I mostly just use Melz 1578's I collected prior to the Ukraine invasion.

 

[Paladin79]

Have you tried taking the socket saver out of the equation? It's possible one or more pins need the solder reflowed - a common issue with the Melz. Don't know anything about the FOTON tubes myself. @Paladin79 might be able to shed some light...

Fotons are the reason I started replacing the solder in 6sn7 tube pins. People claimed they needed a super long burn in and I thought that a little crazy so I conducted some experiments with the pins, new solder, and a long test cycle. To the best of my recollection @bcowen who is the resident Foton expert went back and checked some tubes that he had applied the long burn in time to and found they were still acting like they did prior to said burn in. Bill can answer this better but the best Fotons are from the fifties and have ribbed plates. 1952-1957 I think but Bill can answer that better than me.

As best I recall the socket extension is needed on the Vali, the socket on the circuit board sits fairly low and will not allow an adapter otherwise. This is back when I did a lot of experiments with 6J5 single triode tubes, the device in the back had a 9 pin socket closer to the top of the amp so a 9 pin extension was not needed there.

 

[sqitis]

Well I am working on my power amp and speaker setup right now. PrimaLuna and Sonus Faber. I have mostly been searching for 12AU7's and @jonathan c was an immense help in that search. Now I want to do a DAC upgrade so I should be hearing and evaluating 15 DACS after the holidays. I have most interest in DACs with a tube output stage. I am still working on my vinyl setup as well and added an Emotiva transport. I had to add another rack just to supports additional items.
I also added a device that will turn a power amp into a headphone amp and I should be adding a record storage box to match the turntable base. It is still a work in progress. As far as 6sn7's, I mostly just use Melz 1578's I collected prior to the Ukraine invasion.

Absolutly love it!!! That TT block is just stellar, put me in line for one! Please! I'm digging the pipe work as well on your rack! I figured I could find a good set of Melz from one of you guys (especially you Tom) since you own probably half the world stock in 1578's........LOL

 

[Paladin79]

Absolutly love it!!! That TT block is just stellar, put me in line for one! Please! I'm digging the pipe work as well on your rack! I figured I could find a good set of Melz from one of you guys (especially you Tom) since you own probably half the world stock in 1578's........LOL

The great Melz are hard to find anymore and if you do, they could be $250 per tube, a few sellers from Ukraine occasionally have them. I am pretty much down to those I want to keep, sorry. I think you know I would help if I could. I will watch for some for you on Ebay, as far as I know the sellers in Ukraine have been delivering product but it is impossible for me to vouch for any of them.

Turntable plinth is solid birdseye maple with ebony splines.

 

[Paladin79]

Oh and I started building mini radial desktop speakers when someone on a Schiit thread asked if I could make them. The originals are by DecWare but they list parts used and have a video on how to build them. I eliminated a couple steps they were using, changed the shape a bit, and built them. They will handle up to 20 watts per channel but 10-15 watts is optimal. I am working on such a tube amp with a fellow engineer but I got sidetracked for a bit when I bought a cargo van full of audio gear. The tiny speakers helped pay for the gear.




.

 

[Pondoro]

Whoa, feeling a bit dumb here. The tubes as advertised on the internet were listed as "6N8S (6H8C, 6SN7)”, as I said I tried them. Now I look on the tubes and they say, "6H7C", which seems to be a different tube. I feel dumb for not noticing this and just trying them. My Vali seems undamaged. But are these tube the same? The internet does not say they are.

I think the seller shipped the wrong tubes.

 

[Paladin79]

Whoa, feeling a bit dumb here. The tubes as advertised on the internet were listed as "6N8S (6H8C, 6SN7)”, as I said I tried them. Now I look on the tubes and they say, "6H7C", which seems to be a different tube. I feel dumb for not noticing this and just trying them. My Vali seems undamaged. But are these tube the same? The internet does not say they are.

I think the seller shipped the wrong tubes.

I will check on this but I think it has to do with the cyrillic alphabet.

Got a photo of the 6H7C? That number does not seem right, maybe they are 6SL7's.

DO NOT USE THOSE!!!! I believe they are 6n7s tubes. A friend bought some by mistake and they smoked his amp.

 

[sqitis]

Oh and I started building mini radial desktop speakers when someone on a Schiit thread asked if I could make them. The originals are by DecWare but they list parts used and have a video on how to build them. I eliminated a couple steps they were using, changed the shape a bit, and built them. They will handle up to 20 watts per channel but 10-15 watts is optimal. I am working on such a tube amp with a fellow engineer but I got sidetracked for a bit when I bought a cargo van full of audio gear. The tiny speakers helped pay for the gear.




.

Wow, really like those! Good design Tom! The Birdseye is so stunning!

 

[Paladin79]

Wow, really like those! Good design Tom! The Birdseye is so stunning!

The originals sell for as much as $1,000 a set, I was happy with half that lol. Also it is not a bad idea to use a mini subwoofer with them or at least a small equalizer like a Schiit Loki. You have to make a 45 degree cut for the corners as well as tapering the sides. I can now do that in one step whereas the original builder cuts the taper, then the 45 degree on a router.

 

[Pondoro]

I will check on this but I think it has to do with the cyrillic alphabet.

Got a photo of the 6H7C? That number does not seem right, maybe they are 6SL7's.

DO NOT USE THOSE!!!! I believe they are 6n7s tubes. A friend bought some by mistake and they smoked his amp.

Well fortunately I did not seem to smoke the amp! I am familiar with Cyrillic but these letters seem Roman. I have attached a picture. Tubes are difficult to photograph!

 

[g0ldl10n]

Well fortunately I did not seem to smoke the amp! I am familiar with Cyrillic but these letters seem Roman. I have attached a picture. Tube are difficult to photograph!

Can confirm, those are 6N7 tubes - I have some myself, and that is what they are equivalent to.