Seeking advise on 6922 tubes for a preamplifier..

Usa, Think of changing tubes as comparible to changing components. It can make as much or more difference than the differences between CDP's or amps.

Lacking specific knowledge of the outcome of changing tubes in the '16' and what if any tonal differences you may appreciate, what I would suggest is that you do a bit of experimenting with some new production tubes to see what differences they might make. For example if you find that either JJ's, EI's, EH's, all of which have a different sonic signature, float you boat, you will have a basis for looking for some better NOS version with the same tonal signature, but might improve on things like high frequency clarity, bass response, etc.

Hope that helps a bit.

you definitely ought to contact CJ to see what they suggest. they undoubtedly have played around a bit...

Yes, tube rolling can be exciting, addictive, and expensive. The 6dj8/6922 family can range from $10ea to $200ea. Having to deal with rolling 6 tubes at a time is very costly. A set of 6 gold pin tubes can cost you $450+. But on the bright side......... when you found just the right tubes.....! If you are interested in NOS tubes I suggest starting with Mullards, they have always been a sweet tube for me.

Hi Usa,

I have done some tube rolling on my CJ Premier 17LS. The difference between the stock Sovtek tubes and the Phillips
Mini Watts was signifigant. The noise floor dropped
dramatically with better extension on the top and bottom.
I ultimatley sold the 17LS but if I had kept it I would
never switch back to the stock tubes.

Good luck

I was tempted to do some 6922 "tube rolling" when I 1st got my new Herron Pre but avoided doing so 1) can get expensive, time consuming & not always beneficial (ie: experiences from owning previous tube gears) 2) there are cheaper options for eg: Herbie's HAL-O's tube dampers
http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/
At least the HAL-Os provided an improvement to my stock Sovteks, overall better focus & tightening of the LF.