Shootout of Nos 6sn7 tubes

@highstream 
I'll be curious to read your thoughts after you play around with the tube rolling in your Supratek when you return to the stock tubes from Mick. I have really enjoyed tube rolling in my Cortese but could easily live with the preamp outfitted with the stock tubes.  They're really good and strike a very nice balance with all the important characteristics I look for when rolling tubes. 
Right now I tend to roll between CBS 5692s and Ken-Rad VT-231s. Only because I'm too cheap to step up to the Melz 1578s, the Psvane CV181s and I missed out on the Shuguang WE6SN7 plus tubes with the extra tall glass.
 I've got a lot of love for the 6SN7 and the Supratek!

if you try the shuguang black treasure cv181z IMO are like or better than the psvane

I missed also on the we6sn7, apparently great tube

I switched from Melz 1578 to RCA vt231 in Line Magnetic 508 for fresh air.

Wow, there is more air floating around Altec A7.

The strength of Melz 1578 is deep and impactful bass, wide and deep soundstage with pure but slightly less treble.

While my Chord Dave Dac sent to AS center for repair, I had been using EMMLab Dac2 which give more organic and impactful sound than Dave.

Dave and Mscaler combo give more details and pinpoint imaging in 3d space.

With Dave and Mscaler and Lansche 4.1, I prefer Melz 1578 to other 6sn7 tubes made in USA.

But with EmmLab Dac2 and Altec A7, I prefer RCA vt231 to Melz 1578.

I may switch back to TS bgrp 2 weeks later.

Although I have 3 pairs of RCA vt231, I have only one pair of TS bgrp which is damm expensive for small input tube.

It is kind of mix and match.

There are no best tubes for everyone.

Vintage audio tubes are like vintage wines.

As some people collect lot of varius wines, I collect vintage tubes.


You may choose a tube depending on system and your mood.

This is off topic but is there anyone in the NYC/tri-state area that has a tube tester and the knowledge that would be willing to test some of my 6sn7's?

I have various tubes, some sought after but have no idea if they are still strong after years of use. 

If not is there any reasonably priced testers I can buy that aren't too large? I know there are different types of tests, etc.  

Few days ago I replaced RCA vt231 with Sylvania 6sn7 wgt with brown bass (not metal bass) in Line Magnetic 508.

Sylvania 6sn7 wgt give vivid sound with sharper focus while RCA vt231 give more relaxed sound.

It is like wine tasting of vintage wines.

Most of vintage tubes sounds good but with different flavor.

It is up to you to choose specific flavor depending on your taste and system.

As I have more than 60 different kind of 6sn7 and variants, I take turns on tubes depending on my mood.