The Reference 6SN7 Thread

[khashmi]

Yup, bought from him before. Great guy!

 

[g0ldl10n]

Thanks for sharing this! I was able to successfully resurrect a Sylvania 6C8G where the right channel sounded normal, but the left was barely audible sound coming thru it. Resoldered the pins, and voila! Works perfectly!

Only wish I had known about this before tossing a few tubes that I thought were done for - oh well, great to know now!

I want to add something to this that I just discovered today, that probably should've been obvious.

I had a pair of troubled Marconi Triodes (MHLD6) where static would come and go intermittently, and also the sound would cut out completely at times. Well, I isolated the issue to the Top Cap (TC) and noticed that these are soldered in the same way as the pins, with a wire coming up thru the glass on the top, with solder. So essentially, a very wide pin per se.

Well, re-soldering the TC resolved the issues completely for me with these. So, if you have a troublesome tube with a TC such as 6C8G, 6F8G, etc etc., and you tried resoldering the pins with no luck, try resoldering the TC and see if that doesn't resolve the issues for you.

 

[Somatic]

Got my immaculate Melz from Ukraine. Time to test it out.



Edit: These new Melz with the WE300B is sounding very nice.

I really like the sound of these. They are from 72 and 76. My other Melz are from 63. Wondering if its ok to mix different years like the 72 and 76. I was not aware they were different years when I bought it. They sound excellent though.

Anyone can reiterate the differences again on each decade for the Melz?

 

[JeffMann]

I am a neophyte tube amplifier owner and I purchased my first headphone tube amplifier (Cayin HA300MK2) about 2 months ago.

I replaced the stock Gold Lion 300B tubes with Elrog ER300B tubes and I then decided to purchase a pair of RCA smoked glass 6sn7GT tubes to replace the stock Tungsol 6sn7GTB tubes because they are reputed to be warmer sounding with a silky (non-harsh) treble. I purchased an used pair for $60 from a seller on Audiogon. I very much like their sound quality and I wanted to purchase another pair that is well matched with good test results.

I have a number of questions.

I noted that I could purchase the standard version or the V231 version, which sells for much more on e-Bay. Is there a difference in expected sound quality? Is there a difference in expected lifespan presuming that they are new (unused)?

When choosing to purchase a matched pair on e-Bay, I noted that the seller may provide conductance values, which can vary from 2,400 => 3,200+ for a new (unused) NOS pair. Is there a significant difference in expected sound quality and/or tube lifespan when choosing a matched pair of these tubes that measure 2,400 versus 3,200?

Then, I noted that Vintage Audio Services charges a lot more for the same RCA smoked glass 6sn7 tubes (compared to e-Bay prices).

See - https://vintagetubeservices.com/octal-tubes/

He charges between $108 - $186 for each tube. I presume that the most expensive tubes have the lowest microphonics, which may be important if one has a tube preamp with a moving coil cartridge as a source. However, I am using a Denafrips Pontuis II DAC that has an output of 2V over an RCA connection to drive my Cayin headphone tube amplifier. Does that mean that I can safely choose his "Line" version and still end up with a noise-free tube that has the same sound quality as his "Moving Coil" version?

Jeff.

 

[paradoxper]

I really like the sound of these. They are from 72 and 76. My other Melz are from 63. Wondering if its ok to mix different years like the 72 and 76. I was not aware they were different years when I bought it. They sound excellent though.

Anyone can reiterate the differences again on each decade for the Melz?

The later years seem to have a little more bass punch but less high extension. It takes a bit of critical listening to distinguish their comparative difference but
I personally have only kept the early years as they retain more of that 3D.

 

[whirlwind]

V231 versions of these tubes means they were made for the military.

 

[JeffMann]

V231 versions of these tubes means they were made for the military.

I am aware of that fact, which suggests that the V231 version of that tube is more ruggedly constructed. However, does that mean it sounds better or lasts longer under standard use in an audio tube amplifier (like my Cayin HA300MK2 headphone amplifier)?

Jeff.

 

[Somatic]

I am aware of that fact, which suggests that the V231 version of that tube is more ruggedly constructed. However, does that mean it sounds better or lasts longer under standard use in an audio tube amplifier (like my Cayin HA300MK2 headphone amplifier)?

Jeff.

How are you liking that amp? Any noise issues or transformer hum etc? I was going to get that one before the Envy.

 

[mordy]

I am aware of that fact, which suggests that the V231 version of that tube is more ruggedly constructed. However, does that mean it sounds better or lasts longer under standard use in an audio tube amplifier (like my Cayin HA300MK2 headphone amplifier)?

Jeff.

As far as I know there is no correlation between the ruggedness and extended life span of a tube and the sound. Some tubes have additional micas and support rods to prevent microphonics.
In addition, as far as I know, the sound of a tube is not affected by smoked glass vs clear glass, although many dealers are charging more for smoked glass versions.
My theory is that unscrupulous dealers are capitalizing on tube characteristics that are easily discernible by the masses. Brown base, red base, curved base, smoked glass etc anybody can see and thus these identifiers become a reason to charge higher prices.
And forget about a tube without the tube glow or with low tube glow….

 

[lupoal]

Hi,
sorry for the probably most common question of the century but I’m in trouble finding a replay so…
I bought a couple of Sylvania (branded Baldwin) 6SN7GBT… there are two codes
3 1
1 1
2 3
so 312 means Sylvania and 113 should be the production date… ok, what is the production date?
thks in advance

 

[whirlwind]

I am aware of that fact, which suggests that the V231 version of that tube is more ruggedly constructed. However, does that mean it sounds better or lasts longer under standard use in an audio tube amplifier (like my Cayin HA300MK2 headphone amplifier)?

Jeff.

No, as already mentioned the sound should be the same....maybe less chance of back round noise because it is constructed for more rugged use.

If tubes would be the same price I would opt for military version, not sure I would pay a lot extra for them though.

 

[mordy]

Hi,
sorry for the probably most common question of the century but I’m in trouble finding a replay so…
I bought a couple of Sylvania (branded Baldwin) 6SN7GBT… there are two codes
3 1
1 1
2 3
so 312 means Sylvania and 113 should be the production date… ok, what is the production date?
thks in advance

312 is the EIA (Electronics Industry Association) code for Sylvania and 113 means the 13th week (April) of 1961.

 

[JeffMann]

How are you liking that amp? Any noise issues or transformer hum etc? I was going to get that one before the Envy.

I love the amp. It is dead-silent and there is no transformer noise or any noise heard through my headphones.

I have one problem - using a RCA connection between my Denafrips Pontus II DAC and the Cayin amp. The volume control with my Susvara headphone is between 10 - 12 o'clock at my normal listening level, which is excellent. However, with my HD800 headphone it is between 7 - 7:30 o'clock, which is problematic because the sound volume changes between each step in the volume control is too large.

Jeff.

 

[Somatic]

Wondering what is a good tube tester for beginners? I am looking to test 6SN7, 6F8G and 6J5 variants. Thank you.

 

[Somatic]

Wondering something, if someone buys the Tung-Sol 6SN7, 6F8G and 6J5 variants of the same year/plate will they sound the same or still have a variation in sound.

So far seems I'm on team TS and Melz. Not feeling Ken-Rads. RCA smoked glass is ok, but feels too blunted/warm. Thanks.