Shootout of Nos 6sn7 tubes

[thomask]

Friends, as a newbie I need to ask an obvious question! Sorry.

I recently bought a pre-amp and some tubes to test.

I started with a pair of PSVANE UK-6SN7. I found the sound extremely low.

To give you an idea, the pre-amp is connected to a Cambridge ARX100 amp with 100W per channel pushing a pair of Monitor Audio 300 towers (150W). In this configuration I needed to use more than 90% of the Cambridge's power to obtain a sound at a volume that is, let's say, acceptable for night listening.

Obviously the blame for the bad quality of the Chinese pre-amps had already been decreed! I was already resigned that I had thrown money away. I had already asked to speak with the engineer at the store I bought to find out which parts need to be replaced to increase the output power of the pre-amp...

Behold, on Saturday I decided to put a pair of Linlai E-6SN7 to roll. Without the slightest faith that one last category pre-amp would be able to push tubes even bigger than the ones I had tried...

My friends... It just exploded a loud, clean, smooth, deep sound that I am here enjoying as I write to you. I'm using less than 50% of the Cambridge's power and less than 50% of the pre-amp's power (which I don't realize has ruined the sound quality of the system, quite the contrary without any noise) and I'm getting an amazing sonic response!

Newbie Question: Of course, but I have to ask LOL... Is there a problem with the pair of PSVANE I tested?

They don't overheat, but they play with some errors that I didn't notice in Linlai's pair. I figured it was because of the burning process.

But overall the sound is very good. Only the volume is very, very low.

Another thing I noticed was that the Linlai took a lot of work to connect to the preamp. Really tight. The PSVANE, on the other hand, didn't need as much work to connect to the preamp.

I had tried few Chinese 6sn7 tubes.

They sound decent but not better than vintage tubes.

The problem is that there are too much variaiton and reliability issues among Chinese new produciton tubes.

Psaven Acme 805 and 300b tubes could match vintage tubes in SQ.

I have no experinec with Linai tubes thus no opinion on them.

But they are not inexpensive.

 

[Lowrider75]

Friends, as a newbie I need to ask an obvious question! Sorry.

I recently bought a pre-amp and some tubes to test.

I started with a pair of PSVANE UK-6SN7. I found the sound extremely low.

To give you an idea, the pre-amp is connected to a Cambridge ARX100 amp with 100W per channel pushing a pair of Monitor Audio 300 towers (150W). In this configuration I needed to use more than 90% of the Cambridge's power to obtain a sound at a volume that is, let's say, acceptable for night listening.

Obviously the blame for the bad quality of the Chinese pre-amps had already been decreed! I was already resigned that I had thrown money away. I had already asked to speak with the engineer at the store I bought to find out which parts need to be replaced to increase the output power of the pre-amp...

Behold, on Saturday I decided to put a pair of Linlai E-6SN7 to roll. Without the slightest faith that one last category pre-amp would be able to push tubes even bigger than the ones I had tried...

My friends... It just exploded a loud, clean, smooth, deep sound that I am here enjoying as I write to you. I'm using less than 50% of the Cambridge's power and less than 50% of the pre-amp's power (which I don't realize has ruined the sound quality of the system, quite the contrary without any noise) and I'm getting an amazing sonic response!

Newbie Question: Of course, but I have to ask LOL... Is there a problem with the pair of PSVANE I tested?

They don't overheat, but they play with some errors that I didn't notice in Linlai's pair. I figured it was because of the burning process.

But overall the sound is very good. Only the volume is very, very low.

Another thing I noticed was that the Linlai took a lot of work to connect to the preamp. Really tight. The PSVANE, on the other hand, didn't need as much work to connect to the preamp.

Did you allow proper time for the Psvanes to burn-in?

As for the low gain, maybe the tubes are weak. Did you buy from factory or dealer? Some dealers don't test tubes to high tolerances. Gm or emission could be low. Or maybe they have lower plate current and don't play loud.

 

[Powerman]

Recently I was able to stumble into a pair of Mullard ECC32s, and Brimar CV1988s. I run 3-hole 52' Sylvania bad boys. At first, they both sounded great, but not better than the Sylvania. I was actually disappointed after all the good stuff I heard about ECC32s. The CV1988s were the closest to my Sylv BBs, so for the money, I made my mind up to move the Mullard on and keep the Brimars for spares.

Well, I made another run through to confirm my choice... And I could not tell a difference. Damn! Then I noticed shinny spots above the heaters... Like flashing. They have bottom getters. I thought, are these things "new". I look back at pics from seller and it wasn't my imagination. One pics happened to show the spots just barely showing. So... I put more time on them... Then more time. Holy Cow!

The tubes had zero time on them. Litterally "brand new". They sounded good at first, but stage and space kinda sucked. Now, it's better than the Sylvania. This in in my Lampi B4. I absolutely love that house sound of Mullard and what it does to the bottom end, but I don't like sacrificing top end. But in this case, I lose nothing. The bottom end is even more defined and incredible, but top end is improved. Much more pleasing, but with more resolution and space.

The lampi is unbelievable for stage, but the Mullard make it even better. There is one song I listen to because it just sounds so good. However, there is no "stage" to it. Kind of a crappy recording in that respect. It has always been 2D and homogenous. The Mullard make it sound like it's live in front of me. That "you can touch it" realism, defined stage. Quite amazing.

Of, course I had to do the same for the Brimars. They got better as well, but not quite as good as the Mullard. And that is a disservice to say that... They sound really good, very uncolored, very accurate. Transperant. I usually like that. But I don't need all 3. The Mullard are the new reference. The Sylvania are more... Rock-n-roll. Mid forward, in your face kind of. Certainly "colored", but in a good way. And crisp on top end. I will keep them for the fact they are really good and offer something different. The CV1988s are simply accurate. Thank the tube gods I didn't move those Mullard... Exactly as I have read, they really are special.

 

[jtcfdog]

For what it's worth I'm currently using a Linlai HiFi Black Plate as an input tube along with a pair of Psvane cv181 t.The Linlai is clean,clear,and detailed,excellent highs and bass.The Psvanes are warmer and sweeter with organic mids.It's a perfect balance for me.I've used Sofia blue 6N97s also and they were really impressive until they broke in.Sweet but detailed top to bottom. But they lost most of their appeal after 100 hrs or so.They retained a pleasant lower midrange but the detail faded away. I have no way to test them so I couldn't say why.I bought four of them,two for the preamp I had at the time plus two back ups.I liked them in the amp too.
Before the Linlai/Psvane combo I was happy with GE and Sylvania NOS.