[bdh]

Ok, I have a SinglePower Extreme and SinglePower MPX3 and am loving them.

I currently have a 6SN7 as the gain and 6BL7GT as the power tubes in the MPX3.
And a 6414 as the gain and 6AS7G as the power tubes in the Extreme.

The 6414 gives me great dynamics, impact, and frequency extention.
The 6SN7 gives me more focused, romantic, and overall better vocals, but at the expense of the rest of the music, not just the frequency extention at extremes, but most parts of the music and even in the mid-range, in my opinion. It's not bad, it just not as good as the 6414.

Does anyone have a recommendation of a tube that would blend the best of both worlds - the vocals of the 6SN7 and the rest of the music of the 6414?
I've tried many different ECC Type 1 tubes, but none bettered the 6414 for me.
I've tried a few brands of 6SN7's, but they are generally the same style with small variations.

How do the 7N7 and 2c51 tubes compare to the 6414 and 6SN7? Any others?

 

[minimus]

The Tung-Sol 2c51 is the best gain tube I have used in the Extreme. It creates a much better soundstage than the other tubes I have tried with the amp (including the 6SN7), and just overall sounds better across the frequency spectrum (the 6SN7 seem to emphasize the mid-range more than I like.) I also like the Hytron 5670 better than the 6SN7.

The best output tubes I have used are the Bendix 6080s. Much better than the 5998s that came with the amp. I recently ordered some tubes from Mikhail and he said these are the best sounding output tubes he has ever heard with his amp (but they are expensive.)

Do a search on "extreme" and you will find some good threads on tube recommendations for the amp.

 

[bdh]

I'll have to get a 2c51 adapter from Mikhail. Have you tried a 7N7 before?

I have a couple of brands of 6080s (not the Bendix though) and prefer the Chatham 6AS7G's to the 6080s I have. More dynamic, exciting, and tuby-er to me.

Yeah I've read and participated in most of those threads and bought tubes based on them, but was not able to determine from them an answer to my question above.

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, I have a SinglePower Extreme and SinglePower MPX3 and am loving them. I currently have a 6SN7 as the gain and 6BL7GT as the power tubes in the MPX3. And a 6414 as the gain and 6AS7G as the power tubes in the Extreme. The 6414 gives me great dynamics, impact, and frequency extention. The 6SN7 gives me more focused, romantic, and overall better vocals, but at the expense of the rest of the music, not just the frequency extention at extremes, but most parts of the music and even in the mid-range, in my opinion. It's not bad, it just not as good as the 6414. Does anyone have a recommendation of a tube that would blend the best of both worlds - the vocals of the 6SN7 and the rest of the music of the 6414? I've tried many different ECC Type 1 tubes, but none bettered the 6414 for me. I've tried a few brands of 6SN7's, but they are generally the same style with small variations. How do the 7N7 and 2c51 tubes compare to the 6414 and 6SN7? Any others?

Have you tried the Amperex 7062 instead of the 6414 .... they are essentially the same tube electrically and have the same pinout. I am currently using this tube with my Extreme. The tube gives a nice dimensionality and smoothness with good bass power. These tubes run about $8 each. The GE 6829 is very much like the GE 6414; same with the Raytheon blackplate 6829 vs Raytheon blacklate 6414.

2C51/5670's are absolutely awesome with the 6bl7gt's in the MPX3 .... unless they give you to much gain and you get low level hum. In that case, I would recommend the 6gu7. The 6gu7's are only a $5 tube but they are one of my favorites, if not my favorite. I use this tube in my high voltage Supra driving 6bx7gt's and also for my PPX3 SLAM's driving TS 5687's. I also use this tube sometimes with the Extreme, although, I generally seem to like the higher voltage gain tubes with the Extreme. But, for low gain input tubes this one is hard to beat

The RCA 6gu7 has the richest tonality and is the most easy going and refined; best in a brighter setup. The Sylvania 6gu7 is a brighter, faster and definitely more exciting tube. The dowside is the tube can sound a little raw and you have to be careful what you pair the tube with upstream. Surprisingly, the 6gu7 that seems to split the difference is the Japenese made Raytheon. I like them all depending on the application. I recommend trying one of each if you have an ECC type #2 adapter to use them.

The 7n7 is a Sylvania 6sn7gt/ 6sn7gta-b (depending on the date of manufacture) with a loctal base. You will get the same sound with these as you do with a Sylvania 6sn7gt. If you have tried the Sylvania vt-231 .... the earliest tall bottle 7n7 is the same tube.

The 2C51's are a brighter, cleaner, faster tube more like the 6414. But, I like them much better with 6bl7gta/6bx7gt's in my setup. The 2C51 seems to elevate the 6bl7/6bx7 tube performance above what I have heard with my other gain tubes. The 2C51 is quite good with the Extreme. But, I dont think the 2C51 lacks the 6414's bass power and punch and they are similar enough otherwise that I dont know if you would consider them an upgrade.

The 2C51 paired with the darker sounding 6080's is nice. But, personally, overall I like the 6as7g better than the 6080's. So, I like the 7062 > 6as7g combo or the Raytheon or Sylvania 6gu7 > 6as7g combo.

 

[guzziguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdh /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll have to get a 2c51 adapter from Mikhail. Have you tried a 7N7 before? I have a couple of brands of 6080s (not the Bendix though) and prefer the Chatham 6AS7G's to the 6080s I have. More dynamic, exciting, and tuby-er to me. Yeah I've read and participated in most of those threads and bought tubes based on them, but was not able to determine from them an answer to my question above.

I replaced my Sylvania Tall Bottle 7N7 with a Tungsol 2c51. I was sure it was better. At MOA, I switched back for fun. Now I'm not so sure which one is better.

The good news is that both are very good!

 

[takezo]

i like the tungsol 2c51 with a pair of 6bx7gt on a mpx3 slam se...outstanding SQ...
the western electric 396a is just as good as the tungsol, if not slightly
more laid back/refined...the best i've heard yet is the military bendix
6385...it has more air/headroom soundstage with solid bass that's almost
on par with SS amps...the mids are gorgeous too. the bendix 2c51 is not
as outstanding as the 6385 but on par with the we396a and tungsol2c51
with slight tonal differences...(all of these require the 2c51 adapter from mikhail)

all of these tubes required several hours of burn-in to settle at a sweet
tone...the bendix 6385 took somewhat longer but the result is outstanding...

 

[Happy Camper]

What does the Platinum vs Extreme offer in extra tubes?

 

[Mher6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Camper /img/forum/go_quote.gif What does the Platinum vs Extreme offer in extra tubes?

None, AFAIK. I remember SACDlover said that you can get a transformer upgrade to use more "powerful" tubes, though.

 

[Happy Camper]

Thank you.

 

[guzziguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mher6 /img/forum/go_quote.gif None, AFAIK. I remember SACDlover said that you can get a transformer upgrade to use more "powerful" tubes, though.

Actually, the Platinum comes with an ECC-1 adapter and a couple of tubes for it. Here is Mikhail's original Extreme thread.

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mher6 /img/forum/go_quote.gif None, AFAIK. I remember SACDlover said that you can get a transformer upgrade to use more "powerful" tubes, though.

The transformer upgrade was originally a 14 amp power transformer replacing the standard 8 amp power transformer and has nothing to do with the Extreme Platinum. That upgrade allowed using the 6528 output tubes which draw 5.0 amps of heater current vs 2.5 amps for the standard 6as7/6080. That upgrade has since apparently morphed into a completely seperate power supply with a 14 or 20 amp heater transformer .... because even with the more powerful transformer the amp ran hot with the smallish chassis.

guzziguy was correct ....
Actually, the Platinum comes with an ECC-1 adapter and a couple of tubes for it.

 

[sacd lover]

bdh, what tube types, including brand, have you actually tried with your ECC TYPE #1 adapter?

 

[sacd lover]

second call .... bdh, what tube types, including brand, have you actually tried with your ECC TYPE #1 adapter?