Asa, my WGT are Navy types from WW2. I expect that they would sound very similar, if not identical to the VT231 army issue. The "W" designation is also a mil-spec suffix. I am not sure what the mil-spec difference is between W and VT231. I know my WGT were Navy sonar tubes. Since you already have VT231's, I don't think it would be worth moving to the W or WGT, because I don't really know that you would be gaining anything. If it was strictly for curiosity's sake, that may be worthwhile. At any rate, I would be quite satisfied myself with a good pair of VT231's from that time period.
Black glass KenRad 6SN7s take the cake
I've been experimenting with 6SN7s in my VAC 70/70:
ElectroHarmonix: good tube! and great for the price. Much better than I though it'd be, but ultimately sounded too edgy and sterile. Good control throughout, and good detail.
Sylvania VT231: twinkly and brilliant; great detail, tight bass, but much less fatiguing than the ElectroHarmonix; nice and smooth, but still lacking in the mids for me.
TungSol black glass, round getter: better than the Sylvania, in that it was a bigger sound. Lost the twinkly and brilliant quality. Good detail. Good overall, balanced tube. Nothing outstanding I thought, relative to the other tubes I tried.
KenRad, tall, black glass: THESE KICK!! very lush, deep, BIG BIG sound; the absolute best midrange; detail was good, and surprisingly, this tube is NOT DARK. very smooth, and less reserved sounding than the other tubes. Let's it loose... and that's the one drawback; the bass isn't as tight the TungSol or the Sylvania, but it didn't annoy me. What I gained from this tube far outweighed this drawback.
...that's just what I thought of these tubes in MY system. Who knows if these qualities translate to other pieces.
ElectroHarmonix: good tube! and great for the price. Much better than I though it'd be, but ultimately sounded too edgy and sterile. Good control throughout, and good detail.
Sylvania VT231: twinkly and brilliant; great detail, tight bass, but much less fatiguing than the ElectroHarmonix; nice and smooth, but still lacking in the mids for me.
TungSol black glass, round getter: better than the Sylvania, in that it was a bigger sound. Lost the twinkly and brilliant quality. Good detail. Good overall, balanced tube. Nothing outstanding I thought, relative to the other tubes I tried.
KenRad, tall, black glass: THESE KICK!! very lush, deep, BIG BIG sound; the absolute best midrange; detail was good, and surprisingly, this tube is NOT DARK. very smooth, and less reserved sounding than the other tubes. Let's it loose... and that's the one drawback; the bass isn't as tight the TungSol or the Sylvania, but it didn't annoy me. What I gained from this tube far outweighed this drawback.
...that's just what I thought of these tubes in MY system. Who knows if these qualities translate to other pieces.
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- 32 posts total
- 32 posts total