Russian Tube Preamp, No Return, Here I go again

chackster

keyword of my hope is: "re-surfaces".

Perhaps, it seems like you are saying: there never was a low priced method from Russia; never close to as low as China was and still is able to accomplish. Past: better time, not better price.

"russian 6N23P-EV in the second cascade"

Knowing this, the preamp maker should have offered spare(s) at a low cost prior to shipping the unit.

If China had 6N23P-EV’s in stock, how much do you guess they would charge to ship a pair?

I shake my head at the low shipping charges they offer.

Seamail shipping cost nothing compared to EMS. But seamail is 3 month minimum.

Airmail post is also cheap, but you must wait longer.

I have no idea why do you compare China and Russia? Almost everything is made in China and almost nothing is made in Russia nowadays.

Chinese products cost nothing and shipping often is free (don’t know how they can make a profit :))

Elliot, you need not fret about the availability or lack of 6N23 tubes in the US or the shipping expense from Russia. I’m sure there are some very suitable substitutes that are readily available here. Moreover you have thousands of hours of listening ahead of you before you even have to solve this non-problem. That’s assuming you like the SQ of the Russian preamp. If you don’t, you’ll be selling it before the tubes wear out.

Did some research for you. 6DJ8/6922 are equivalents. This is a whole family of tubes sold under different alphanumeric designations. You could hardly have a wider choice. Go to Tubes Store for example. Oy.

lewm,

thanks for looking this up, very helpful.

I agree, thousands of hours, and, my office system gets less work than the main system. On the other hand, it could arrive smashed.

It was a 'what if?' and, my recent lousy sounding 6SL7's for my Cayin is a warning about spending money for the wrong substitute. I got lucky, my 2nd choice was a winner.

If it sounds great, a direct replacement may avoid a tube chase.