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Showing 1 of 1068 conversations about:
Horseknight
179
Nov 2, 2018
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An update for my first round of tube rolling (around $35 cost):
I replaced the Shuguang (originally stocked) 6SN7 with Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB. Immediately sound improved. Especially the trebles turned clean and detailed. I can hear wider-spaced and delicate details. Both Shuguang and Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB have loud hums at the beginning. It takes 48 hours of baking/burning-in for the stocked Shuguang 6SN7 to drop its humming. 
LowFi42
263
Nov 3, 2018
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scottluI personally like the more rustic and rough look. Why the need to belittle?
Horseknight
179
Nov 3, 2018
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LowFi42Hi! Good morning. Thank you for your kindness and support. I am glad that the wood frame protects the device and also making sure my active puppy not getting burned by the tube heat. Glad to have more cool & sensible members like you here. Have a nice weekend.
JMAX2016
10
Nov 6, 2018
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HorseknightWas it the big tube or the smaller tube that you replaced with the new Tung Sol?
I own the dark voice, and am thinking about tube rolling it for my senn 6xx's. Thanks.
Horseknight
179
Nov 6, 2018
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JMAX2016Hi! It is the "small front" tube I replaced with Tung Sol. The "large back" tube I kept the original ShuGuang tube. This pair sounds very good and seems to be the best low-cost adjustment before spending more than $30 or more. I hope this is helpful.
JMAX2016
10
Nov 7, 2018
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HorseknightOkay cool, thank you! Now what if you were to spend more. What would you get? (For the tubes)
pukkita
20
Nov 7, 2018
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HorseknightCouldn't agree more, the NOS 6SN7GTB (top getter) is one of the finest sounding 6SN7 in this topology I've tried, I built several variations of this popular WCF amp back in mid 2000's, following a Pete Millett design I believe.
Another one I recall sounding really, really clean sounding, with really low microphonics, distortion, and meaty but tight bass was NOS russian 6H8C.
It may be or not your cup of tea, I see them as a great tube for mic preamps, etc; the GE has more warmth and tubey-velvety "fuzz".
Horseknight
179
Nov 7, 2018
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JMAX2016I am still looking and search for my next batch of tubes to consider. I will try one of the more expensive front tubes. It seems the front tube has direct impact on the sound clarity and high/low end extensions. Although I ordered the bigger brother amp of DarkVoice 336..... the La Figaro 339 Tube Headphone Amplifier last month. I believe they share the same driver tubes (large back tubes) but the smaller tubes are different types.
Horseknight
179
Nov 7, 2018
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pukkitaOf course. The GE 6SN7GTB is awesome and produced beautiful & very enjoyable sound. Some of the more rare tubes can be found on ebay but I often am not sure if if the tubes sold there are actually good stocks. This tubing game is fun and sometimes exhausts my attention.
JMAX2016
10
Nov 7, 2018
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HorseknightThanks Horseknight, I appreciate it. I'm going to search for this tube, and probably order it today.
Horseknight
179
Nov 7, 2018
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JMAX2016Hi! The cheapest and most reliable place for getting this tube is at tubedepot.com. Also, there is often a 5% off coupon for that site. I am listening to my DarkVoice now with Monolith 1060. AWESOME :-).
pukkita
20
Nov 7, 2018
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HorseknightCouldn't agree more... I've sourced tubes in the past from them, specially USA NOS, good, honest, reliable vendor.... be wary of ebay vendors selling "rare" unobtanium tube versions for ridiculous prices. Don't get obsessed with them.
I Just checked prices today for original Reflector 6H30P (knowing the appreciation they've gathered these last years) and boy, I have a small investment without knowing! they cost +$260 more than I paid for them in early 2000's! (like 30€ ea back in the day...) They're great but no way I would be paying that much for them today!!!!
The point I'm trying to make: don't let rave reviews make you shell out more than say $60 for a reputed NOS 6SN7 ever. I liked Tung-Sol, RCA, GE, Mullard...
Neither need to look for military-grade, reinforced, ultra low microphonics ones either, this is a headphone amp!
Had good experiences in the past with Antique Electronic Supply too.
Sal4070uk
0
Feb 10, 2020
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HorseknightThe standard ShuGuang a crock of S*** hose droppings and anyone that says " they're fine is either dead ,dumb or in denial
( better get some Cotton buds quick ) or sell the Darkvoice 336se get a metal dust bin & stick your head in it and bang it HARD for a really long time , problem solved lol , no honestly the basic valves ARE piss poor GREAT AMP THOUGH if you don't own one buy 1 it's a bloody bargain , it's a deal it's (the sale of the century) trust me ,just try one WOW
quooston
12
Oct 23, 2021
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HorseknightThanks for this. I just purchased a Tung Sol 6SN7 GTB and SVETLANA 6AS7. The Tung Sol 6SN7 GTB is humming like crazy, as you said. I'm going to let it burn in nicely before I jump to any conclusions.
Having said that, the sound is is thicker, richer, smoother than the stock tubes for sure. I will hold onto the stock tubes though and swap out the power tube again to see, as you said that they pair well.
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