Sballs, I suggest that you try Joe's Tube Lore as a good place to start. (It does not address your particular piece of equipment, but it does give a good solid base to begin your research from.) Joe's Tube Lore @ Audio AsylumScroll about half way down the page to see where his review of the 6922's begin. Good Luck in your search!!!! |
The Electro Harmonix 6922's are good for around $15 each, or......if you want to spend big, Amperex 7308's are about as good as it gets.
I own both.
Dave |
Kurt_tank,
Thanks! That site pretty much gives me exactly the info I was look for.
Regards
Sballs |
Sballs, Glad you're happy with Joe's Tube Tore. It is a nice starting place. But consider that it doesn't include any new production tubes which have varying tonal qualities and, if noise is your only real issue, that is still obtainable from some manufacturers. Quality NOS 6922's and 6DJ8's are really expensive, especially when you order some tested for low noise.
If you specified what tubes you have now and how you view their tone, and what tone you would like, you just might get some specific and helpful responses.
FWIW. |
I've had great luck with Jim McShane. He'll tell you whether or not he's had experience with your equipment. Google is your friend. |
I second Jim McShane as a great source. |
I put some expensive NOS 6922 in my pre, and I was not overwhelmed. I have used NOS 12au7 tubes and was awed in another pre. Maybe 6922 NOS tubes don't make as much difference as 12au7 tubes. MY point is, I would not spend money on expensive NOS 6922 tubes. |
If your not in a hurry Andy and VTS has some great tubes available. For better pricing he has a good "lightly used" supply too. |
Try Bent Jessee here:http://www.audiotubes.com/6dj8.htm
Try the '71 Mazda RTC. I had one in my Music Hall DAC and it made all the
difference. |
Roger Modjeski has them at a reasonable price. |
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Please look at the tubes being sold by member "Tcscata"
6H23 are perfect for 6922. I use them in my tube buffer and they sound fantastic! I mean better than $200/pr tubes for much much less. Just check them out before you buy. |
I 2nd the 6h23 Voskhod rocket logo's that Koestner recommended
They are the best that I've heard. In my system they bettered siemens halske, amperex orange globes as well as 7308's. |
I suppose Upscale Audio has some decent tubes, but the service isn't what it used to be. The people on the phone are not that knowledgable and they refused to take my order over the phone. |
I replaced the older Amperex Nos tubes in my preamp with JJ 6922 tubes and it sounds great with strong bass, transparent midrange and good highs. I also saved myself a few hundred dollars by not going with Nos tubes again. The eight JJ 6922's cost me about a hundred dollars; Nos tubes would have cost at least $400 and more likely around $600. |
Please beware that many so called NOS (New Old Stock) tubes are actually OUT (Old Used Trash). Be careful when you buy those. |
I agree with Sidssp that a lot of so called NOS tubes are really junk noisy garbage. That is why you really need to buy from a reliable dealer. If your a gambling man and spend less up front but then separating the wheat from the chaffe then you can take your chances on the big auction site. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose, please be good and don't sell the losers. |
Thanks all,
For $35 I think I'm going to give the cyro'ed Voskhod 6H23 that some have recommended before spending more.
Sballs |
Those $35 cryo'ed 6H23 tubes are a steal. It's only that the supply is greater than the demand right now since not too many people know of them. Soon when word gets out and the few ( <100 ) out there are gone, they're gonna re-sell for hundreds. Even if you don't like them, keep them and sell them for double that in 1 year.
PS: I'm not the guy selling them :-) |
I just bought some Platinum grade Amperex 7308 for my preamp from Kevin @ Upscale and VERY please with the transaction and tubes. Ordered Sat and delivered Wed.
Brendan @ tubeworld is a good source. His prices are on the high side but all legitimate top quality stuff.
I've also had very good luck with Chris Johnson @PCX. Reasonable price with helpful advice. |
I can vouch for Kevin at Upscale. I recently purchased 7308 and 6H30. Great tubes and great service. Also picked up equipment and couldn't be more pleased. Highly recomended. Jim Mcshane also great to deal with. |
I've used a pair of Russian "Rocket" logo tubes in my preamp for a while now. I got them from Upscale Audio, but you can actually pick them up for about 1/4 of the UA price on e-bay (I recently picked up some back-ups). Just make sure they are the true "Rocket" logo on them. The Russian logo's determine the manufacturing plant over in Russia and for some reason the one's with the rocket on them sound best and don't go microphonic as easily. You need to research the Russian tube factory logo's on-line to identify the proper factory name (Voskhod, Kaluga).
http://www.ominous-valve.com/russtube.html
Enjoy |
The 6H23 russian rocket tubes are available from GSTubes.com based in Moscow at 6$ each,Anton is a very helpfull guy,there so good I now have 2 spare sets,just in case. |
