[TLO]

Well, the measurements sure are good, 2600 uMhos is "as new", and both have measurements right up there:

I think those are very nice

IDK about the price, if it is as nice, but it is typical. I paid around $100-$145 each for my VT-231's.

And, while there are small variations in sound, all 3 of my VT-231's sound the same on my TA-26, even the Black Glass Kenrad, so I don't think you can go wrong with those readings, and I've bought from that seller and he is a great guy. Ships fast too. It arrived surprisingly fast. Not all of his stuff is at the top of the measurements possible, so it is important to look for the best results shown on his Amplitrex AT1000, but once you've found what you want, I think he is a good resource to purchase from.

I do get a better base response from the 6SN7GTA Sylvania Chrome Top Tall Boy - not a VT-231 era tube - and I've heard the 6SN7GTB also has similar stronger bass response, but I've not heard a GTB yet.

I am very new at this with limited experience, but I recognized the seller via his photo setup's, so I thought I'd share my experience with him, and my own VT-231's:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203211481973 Bought on sale @ $123.26
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133982172533 Photo shows 2 VT-231's, but he split off 1 of the VT-231s and included a single 6SN7GTA Sylvania Tall Boy Chrome Top in price.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255309286381 $100
And, I had a great experience with all 3 of those sellers as well,

I am sure someone else here with far more experience can give you better/more info on these particular tubes and what might be a better buy/price in the VT-231 realm.

@rishabhgkp and I are discussing via DM, I'll also list what I bought from that dealer so others can check out what he has, which are a lot of high end down to very affordable 6SN7's and variants, all from India, and he also has RCA 6AS7G's...

6AS7G RCA Headphone Amplifier Tube Made in U.S.A Amplitrex Tested#309008
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194795484634
See other items

Yeah right, a very good seller, totempole_999. Did you even read his feedback rating? Yes, I am the one who bought a pair of Tung-Sol 6C8G from him and guess what, one of them has multi pins shorted. Long story short, after sending him 4 messages in a duration of about 2 weeks for a resolution, I gave up, left him a long detailed negative feedback and moved on....and you know what...I got a reply immediately within 24 hours offering to pay for return shipping and exchange if I would to remove the negative feedback...LOL. Yeah, I guess that is how you get their attention. To end this story, go to his feedback page and you will miraculously see two positive feedback, on the purchase of Tung-Sol 6C8G from other buyers, after my negative comment while the rest are listed as private listing. How convincing...

 

[Deleeh]

Hello,

I have also bought from Totempole the Nec 6SN7 through his idic shop not Ebay.
I can't say anything bad about it.
The shipment came with UPS, and within a week arrived undamaged.
I received the Nec with a measurement data sheet for each tube.
The only thing I noticed is that one tube is a bit louder than the other which can be irritating when mounted on the right side, so I changed it and everything was fine.
The second thing is that they both need a good 30 minutes until they are at temperature, including after 15 minutes of warming up, it occasionally crackles but it is minimal.
But this varies from tube to tube and can happen.
Worse would be a total failure.
I found it a pity that he hardly ever answers emails.

By the way, the Nec doesn't run badly at all.
I have noticed that it reacts a bit badly to the capacitors.
On the Euforia with the pure Vcap TFTF conversion on the 6SN7 socket and Mundorf capacitors on the 6as7G socket I didn't like it so much.
When I converted the 6AS7G to Vcap odam and
I tried it again with the Mullard 6080 and I have to say that the combination is quite good.

The Nec plays quite well in the instrument area but the rest is still a bit reticent, but with good capacitors it becomes a firework.
The question is which capacitors fall into the grid that the Nec reveals everything well.

 

[JTbbb]

Or Levi's jeans for Melz

MacDonald’s for Melz?

 

[Paladin79]

Hey I got all the pre-invasion Melz I could lay my hands on, you have to time these things. I flat told my friend I was doing this before sanctions hit. Now he is out of the business for a while and may not be back.

 

[HTSkywalker]

Hey I got all the pre-invasion Melz I could lay my hands on, you have to time these things. I flat told my friend I was doing this before sanctions hit. Now he is out of the business for a while and may not be back.

Never doubted your hoarding skills

 

[bcowen]

Never doubted your hoarding skills

LOL! Yeah, he's probably out of business because @Paladin79 bought every last tube he had.

 

[Paladin79]

LOL! Yeah, he's probably out of business because @Paladin79 bought every last tube he had.

I may have. I will work on plausible deniability later.

 

[bcowen]

I may have. I will work on plausible deniability later.

Blame it on @HTSkywalker . That's what I do.

 

[Galapac]

I haven't checked the specs for the Chinese CV181 variants to see if they are closer in specification to the 6SN7 or if they match the original Mullard ECC32/CV181 high current requirements, so perhaps some additional research might be a good idea?

I was told the Chinese version of CV-181 has nothing to do with the English version CV-181, which makes it confusing.
The Chinese version is a drop in replacement for 6SN7, in fact I have a few of them with no issues, in place of 6SN7.

 

[TLO]

I was told the Chinese version of CV-181 has nothing to do with the English version CV-181, which makes it confusing.
The Chinese version is a drop in replacement for 6SN7, in fact I have a few of them with no issues, in place of 6SN7.

You are right on. There is no another CV-181, there is only one and that is Mullard CV181 / ECC32 made in Blackburn, UK. The Chinese manufacturer just "borrowed" the tube designation for their tubes...like WE6SN7, just to emphasize how good their tubes sound. Ironically, WE never made 6SN7 tubes...LOL.

 

[hmscott]

I was told the Chinese version of CV-181 has nothing to do with the English version CV-181, which makes it confusing.
The Chinese version is a drop in replacement for 6SN7, in fact I have a few of them with no issues, in place of 6SN7.

Do you think those Chinese CV-181 tubes are no more than "dressed up" 6SN7's? No specification differences?

I've not noticed much/any difference in audio characteristics between my 3+1 6SN7GT VT-231's, but the 6SN7GTA does have better Bass Slam.

Is there any audible difference between the Chinese CV181 vs Chinese 6SN7's you have A/B'd?

 

[JTbbb]

You are right on. There is no another CV-181, there is only one and that is Mullard CV181 / ECC32 made in Blackburn, UK. The Chinese manufacturer just "borrowed" the tube designation for their tubes...like WE6SN7, just to emphasize how good their tubes sound. Ironically, WE never made 6SN7 tubes...LOL.

I do believe there is a Russian version out there of the Mullard CV181, which will say Made in England! Allegedly you can spot them because they have a black plasticky base and the dome is wider up top. Also the top mica is not crinkley, for want of a better word. There may be other differences, like the getters, but I am not sure about this.
The British ones tend to have a brown base, but I do believe that the earlier British Mullard CV181’s had black bases, but were not plastic.

 

[paradoxper]

Any clarification on #76 type with 6SN7? I can't seem to find heater current specs before I play.

 

[hmscott]

I've asked Xduoo support if their TA-26 will support the increase to .950mA Heater Curent over the 6SN7 .600mA. Hopefully I can try one in the TA-26

I also sent Xduoo this Mullard Specification Sheet and ECC32 description I found online, in case they hadn't heard of the original ECC32/CV181:
https://mullard.org/collections/audio-valve-ecc32-cv181-cv1988-13d2-b65-6sn7gt-twin-triode

I also found this earlier response about CV181's which helped provide some context, Thank you @Ripper2860!!

CV181s are all the same electrical specifications. Real CV181s are .96 heater current draw or they are either defective or not a CV181. Now where it gets confusing is with the folks at PSvane and Shu-guang -- they went and threw a monkey-wrench into the works by marketing a line of "CV181" tubes that are not CV181s . Their CV-181 series tubes are NOT CV-181s at all, but are actually 6SN7s with .6 heater current draw. Why their marketing department decided to do that is beyond me. Even Grant HiFi had to put out a disclaimer that the PSvane CV181s they sell are NOT CV181s but are actually 6SN7 tubes, due to concerns with heater current draw specs being different between the two.
Hope this helps.

Any clarification on #76 type with 6SN7? I can't seem to find heater current specs before I play.

Here's the specifications sheet PDF

Ok. It drives me crazy to not know origins. I'll run the TII and then pick up at least the SE. I think I'll try the Full Music as well just to complete the obscurity.

I hope they fit. LOL

@Galapac
I found this thread with interesting comments on the various labeled CV-181's from China

Shuguang Black Treasure CV181-Z
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/shuguang-black-treasure-cv181-z

I found this comment in that thread interesting if true:

"Remember, Sophia does not manufacture tubes they are a re-seller/re-brander of Chinese tubes with "supposedly" higher screening and tolerances. Grant Fidelity Audio provides a similar service but with a bit more transparency. Yes, the TJ Full Music and Sophia are the same tube."

 

[tafens]

I am crazy though. I haven't done enough of my homework to conclude anything meaningful. My guts says they were briefly manufactured and somewhere caught a inflated supply/demand curve. I'd like to read a comparison with some known quantity beforehand.

As far as I could find out looking around in Swedish forums and veteran’s pages, it seems to have been manufactured from the late 40’s until the late 50’s. And that (also as far as I could find out) encompasses the entire time span of manufacturing of that tube, ever, and the production volumes probably weren’t that high, either. No wonder they’re rare..