[Nastrahl]

Thanks you all for your replies.

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

We have no kids, we better save for tubes instead

You seem to be going straight to the point: the twin separate triods. I went the slow, long way: ECC88 > PCC88 > 5670 > 6C8G > 6SN7 > twin 6J5. I recently thought that I should have done the same, but I put in the WE396A yesterday, and liked it again... And then I was not a big believer in MELZ 6N8S until I tried it. Now I am eyeing the old Loctals...

 

[Paladin79]

You seem to be going straight to the point: the twin separate triods. I went the slow, long way: ECC88 > PCC88 > 5670 > 6C8G > 6SN7 > twin 6J5. I recently thought that I should have done the same, but I put in the WE396A yesterday, and liked it again... And then I was not a big believer in MELZ 6N8S until I tried it. Now I am eyeing the old Loctals...

The twin loctal Sylvanias are very good, especially the XXL and military version. There are dual adapters made for them, usually listed as dual 7A4 to 6922 and such.

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

thank you, cannot find any direct converters from 7A4 to 6922 - only 7A4 to 6SN7. I reckon I can buy two adapters 7A4 to 6J5 and then stick 7A4 with this adapter to a twin 6J5 to 6922 converter, can I not?

 

[Paladin79]

Sorry I have so many adapters I lose track of which will go directly to 6922. Dual 7a4 to 6sn7 adapter, then 6sn7 to 6922 works perfectly. What you are saying about the other adapters sounds perfectly doable as well.

This is the one I use:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-Gold-p...155816?hash=item2ee7206628:g:ZYMAAOSwZupcTRBV

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

Sorry I have so many adapters I lose track of which will go directly to 6922. Dual 7a4 to 6sn7 adapter, then 6sn7 to 6922 works perfectly. What you are saying about the other adapters sounds perfectly doable as well.

This is the one I use:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-Gold-p...155816?hash=item2ee7206628:g:ZYMAAOSwZupcTRBV

Maybe wrongly, but I assumed that loctal to octal adapter does not convert anything - just connects the loctal socket straight to octal base.

 

[Paladin79]

You are not thinking wrongly and you should be fine doing that. I was just saying which one I was using but there are other ways to do it.

 

[bcowen]

We have no kids, we better save for tubes instead

LOL! Be sure to do the tubes first. If you get tired of listening to them, just turn off the amp. Much easier than having to pack up kids to send off to Grandma who will *always* send them back at some point anyway.

 

[bcowen]

Maybe wrongly, but I assumed that loctal to octal adapter does not convert anything - just connects the loctal socket straight to octal base.

Nothing is technically converted per se, but the pinouts are different so the wires go to different pins between the two. Perhaps a pointless nitpick, but consider who just posted this.

 

[Paladin79]

Nothing is technically converted per se, but the pinouts are different so the wires go to different pins between the two. Perhaps a pointless nitpick, but consider who just posted this.

You find out the wiring is different the first time you build one pin to pin.

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

The starter stash of 7A4's just arrived. Unfortunately the adapter just arrived in NY, and will spend the requisite week on vacation there before proceeding south. Maybe next weekend I'll be able to give them a whirl.

Round black plate, but same squared off bottle top as Frankentube. What to call it....we already have Frankenminion. Only one triode instead of 2, but HalfenFrank just doesn't flow. Since it's closely related, how about Frankintube?

See what I did there? LOL!!!

What did you pay for these Sylvanias? Just curious - I just bought some NOS NIB exactly same boxes, same date

 

[ScubaMan2017]

Oh, mine says "Made in the USA". I just checked.

Welcome, Groucho! Re: stock tube. When I got my Vali2, its stock tube was some mysterious Russian tube. Even the sales department couldn't tell me its providence. Eventually, I went the socketsaver-adapter-6SN7 route. I've noticed its a common sentiment on the thread -- the Vali really benefits from upgraded tubes (it turns very good sound to excellent sound). My only regret, I lost the friendly glow from the larger tube (100% aesthetic). It's my ridiculous leaning tower of Vali!

Ok, here is my stock tube...
......{snip}.....And this one is the Philips 7DJ8...
......{snip}......After some reading around I finally decide to roll the 7DJ8 tube in, works fine, very very quiet and first few hours of listen is a really airy and smooth sound.....{snip}....Bass is big and solid with a beautiful smooth mid range to die for! High's are noticeably more airy than the stock tube.....{snip}.....However the stock tube is a great and I mean great start, Schiit picked a very decent tube to pair with the Vali 2.......{snip}......I can't wait for this tube to really burn in and open right up.....{snip}......Got my eye on a few tubes, so stay tuned!

Instead of new-old-stock, I purchased some Slovakian glass for my Vali. Like you, @volly , it dramatically increased my perceived SQ.

I also received a 6BZ7/6BQ7A CANADA as the stock tube. I need to listen to it more to see what way I want to go. I will follow this thread to see how other tubes compare.

I find it interesting there's a whole bunch of different stock tubes used on our Vali2s. USA? Canada? USSR? Sure. Our littles toasters are very forgiving.

Any thoughts on the EH 6922? I just ordered one for my V2. I know it's a big time input/gain tube for a lot of the upper echelon stereo preamplifiers out there(ARC, BAT, MCINTOSH etc.)

Electroharmonix have their diehard fans. I suspect, @nordkapp , you'll be satisfied with it. For my Vali2, I tricked it out (bigger, uglier knobs & an adaptered-6SN7 tube). I'm rocking a JJ Electronics (new production, Slovakian) tube. My Vali's set.

I fired up my new toy -- a Valhalla with (2-stock) + (2 upgraded [?]) tubes. Plugged in my high-impedance headphones. Powered it up. Briefly listened... as the amp radiated HEAT. And... .... .... unplugged my headphones and reattached it to my modified Vali. Yep, my Vali sounds better than my fancy-dancy Valhalla! Now, of course, I'm going to let my new monster amp settle. This Valhalla runs HOT. My point: our Valis are respectable amps! If THOSE people snicker at our toasters, they know nothing.

 

[Robert Padgett]

Welcome, Groucho! -snip--

I fired up my new toy -- a Valhalla with (2-stock) + (2 upgraded [?]) tubes. Plugged in my high-impedance headphones. Powered it up. Briefly listened... as the amp radiated HEAT. And... .... .... unplugged my headphones and reattached it to my modified Vali. Yep, my Vali sounds better than my fancy-dancy Valhalla! Now, of course, I'm going to let my new monster amp settle. This Valhalla runs HOT. My point: our Valis are respectable amps! If THOSE people snicker at our toasters, they know nothing.

An extra set of socket savers (two each tube) gets the tubes up and in the freely circulating air. Well worth it, as the metal body is not really even warm to the touch, and the only placing my hand over and almost touching the tubes, do I feel much convection heat rising from the tubes. Best way to run cooler. Heat gets trapped inside.

 

[bcowen]

What did you pay for these Sylvanias? Just curious - I just bought some NOS NIB exactly same boxes, same date

For the military boxed, 3/4 round micas? IIRC, I paid $29 for the pair. Got another pair for $20 from a French Ebay seller, but $10 shipping added to that. However, the rectangle plates are sounding better at this point. Not enough experience yet to state that equivocally...more listening time needed. I got 5 of the rectangle plates for $50 with free shipping. Funny but all 5 of them test at 800+ GM's on the 752A where all 4 of the military boxed ones are in the 600-650 range. Doubt that has anything to do with the SQ though (min good for the 7A4's is 400).

 

[Paladin79]

For the military boxed, 3/4 round micas? IIRC, I paid $29 for the pair. Got another pair for $20 from a French Ebay seller, but $10 shipping added to that. However, the rectangle plates are sounding better at this point. Not enough experience yet to state that equivocally...more listening time needed. I got 5 of the rectangle plates for $50 with free shipping. Funny but all 5 of them test at 800+ GM's on the 752A where all 4 of the military boxed ones are in the 600-650 range. Doubt that has anything to do with the SQ though (min good for the 7A4's is 400).

No matter which version of the 7A4's you believe sound better, I will only have the other version, it is how things work out for me.

I did get some Russian 7A4's last night but I had eight packages waiting for me when I got home and barely even had time to open those. I will listen to them some time.