Most Musical 6NS7 tube for a Preamp?


A request for recommendations by those with experience with different 6SN7 tubes.

My system so far is a Pass Labs XA25 SS Amp, and a circa 1988 Tannoy FSMs.
The speakers operate at 4 ohms with a 94 sensitivity.

The room size is medium. Acoustically well treated.

I listen at lower volumes 60-75db. Vocals mostly.

I am looking for the most musical preamp, with a remote.

Budget is $3k. Used preferred. Better value.

Not considering anything from Schiit Audio.

Considering- Supratek Chardonnay.

Any other suggestions?

Tube Ideas?

Thank you!
chorus
Yeah @atmasphere, for pre-amp applications, Roger had a hard-on for the 6DJ8 (used in his RM-5 and the Audible Illusions Modulus 2 & 3). He was a man of "firm" opinions. ;-)
@bdp24 We used the 6DJ8 in some our early stuff, since the tube is very linear (which is probably why Roger liked it) and you could get good bandwidth as it supported high currents.

But finding one that wasn't microphonic was really challenging! I often found examples you could yell at and hear yourself in the speaker- and that was in an amplifier!


The 6DJ8 was not intended for audio- it was more for instrumentation (look in a Tektronix 'scope sometime- the tube ones are full of them) and television work. OTOH the 6SN7 *was* designed for audio, and like many products there were hiccups along the way but they did get the design right.  When we started using it the only source of current production was Russia and they were dreadful. But then the Chinese got in the game and their 6SN7s were pretty good! Since then there has been no turning back and we use the 6SN7 in  all of our products.

When we came out with the UV-1, instead of using the 12AU7 (which is based on the 6SN7) as we were doing in our modifications of the Dynaco PAS-3, since we had the room and the current in the power transformer, we opted for the 6SN7 as the centerpiece of that preamp.


What's nice about the 6SN7 is that if a line stage design is at all competent, it will easily keep up with line stages costing a lot more. It does not have to be a complex circuit- in our UV-1 there's only one tube per channel and 4 resistors!


Audio Research makes respected preamps, but I would expect many of the 6SN7-based preamps on this thread to keep up with any of them. This is not an attack on ARC, its simply a statement of how well 6SN7s work in line stages!
Thank you to all for the valuable, informed counsel.

patrick- good confirmation on the newer, Chinese version.

mca-ny- which speakers do you run?

Atma- My reentry to hifi in 2017 has been guided by a now friend
and longtime audiophile. Your comments help to explain why he
put me on the 6NS7 for line stage use.

Great help All!!
Hello Chorus, I remember responding once before to you on another subject. Anyway, I’ve listened to a lot of 6SN7 tubes in my life. I haven’t heard all of the very good ones but I’ve heard enough. Whenever I look for sounding that has a musical sound, I'm not desiring to give up transparency; I’m also looking that it is transparent too. So musicality to me means something not very detailed and clean sounding but full and textured with great clarity.  Some of the tubes mentioned here are very good, like the TungSol’s but they might be very expensive. But other tubes, like the Sylvania “W” are very clean sounding and even though they are fantastic, you might not find them to be what you’re looking for. One tube that comes to mind that I feel is the perfect one you’re looking for is the genuine Sylvania Crome Dome made in 1957 and 58.  There is a big misunderstanding online of what the genuine Chrome Dome looks like. I can forward you info on this so that you can get correct information. 
Actually the Sylvania were made in the early 50’s, around 51 or 52. I mistook the year with another item.