Anyone try modern 6sn7 Shuguang WE type vs NOS RCA,Ken Rad

I’m off this week so I took out the Shuguang WE plus 6sn7’s today and put in RCA gray glass let them run for most of the day.

The RCA’s sound very smooth nice detail and bass. Put Shuguang back in and have to admit it’s a very nice tube. The RCA did not embarrass it at all. There just different Shuguang is a very refined tube. RCA more relaxed. 
 

I’m a little surprised. It’s a very natural detailed tube and could be happy with it. I haven’t tried my other 6sn7’s,

I do have some quads of Shuguang KT-88-T and WE Plus that came with amp that have never been used, brand new and I hear these Shuguang go out and red plate there first few hours in the amp. I’ve heard they have quality control problems. That may be okay in a signal tube but a power tube is another story. That is a concern. That’s not something a NOS Mullard xf2 EL34 would do. It could but doubtful.

@paulcreed  the RCA grey glass is a very nice tube. It does exhibit a relaxed feel with warmth and good detail. What I look for these days is a more lively tube, neutral, focused, with a large soundstage. I listen to classical (all types). Would you say the WE Plus have these characteristics?

I'm looking forward to more of your tube rolling.

@tooblue  would you say the WE6SN7 Plus has similar qualities to Sylvania? I think I have every 6SN7 Sylvania except the elusive 6SN7W.

And Viva Tubes carries the WE Plus?

The Shuguang is definitely more lively than RCA. In a strange way I prefer Shuguang as much as RCA but for different reasons. If I want a slow relaxed darker presentation RCA is my choice.

I’m not good with audiophile words but the Shuguang is clean, transparent, fast, kind of like the focus has been adjusted correctly on a lens. I think it’s very well balanced, neutral with nice air nice bass. Very musical tube while still being transparent which can be hard to pull off sometimes. If I was to think new production tube this is not what I would have imagined.

I’m going to compare my other tube to Shuguang but I don’t think any of them will put Shuguang to shame. 

These are stock tubes Don Sachs provided with his amps, best stock tubes I’ve ever received. They all have about 500 hours on them.

@invalid You must have read my post wrong, I acknowledged that the nos mullard’s are not drop in replacements, but the shuguang CV 181’s are, as they are not the same as the Mullard cv181’s. I have no idea why shuguang labeled them this way.

OK, I’ll make bold the bit that seems to be invisible. 900mA is 50% more current draw than a 6SN7. This is known and accepted, and poses a risk to your amplifier. edit - of course, ask your amp manufacturer if CV181z are compatible with it. If so, all is well - this may very well be the situation.

So -

One - The Shung tubes are clearly marked as CV181z. This is not in doubt.

Two - Being a reviewer and something of a shill, I trust that he had access to the spec sheet.  Evidence of this is that he rates the CV181z as 900mA, not 950mA which is the Mullard specs.  He is not merely guessing.

Three - He also repeats words to this effect elsewhere and also in a follow up review some years later, so its no typo.

Four - that the CV181z does sound better (brighter, more lively etc) than any 6SN7 is corroborative evidence that it is rated higher. An EE may be able to confirm this.

So people, unless you have evidence to the contrary which I will happily bookmark, this stands as reference in the meantime.

Failing this, it is not a 6SN7 and it is negligent of the manufacturer to market this as a 6SN7.

This is why the CV181Z might not be a drop in replacement for the 6SN7. Typical 6SN7 heaters draw about 0.6A and the CV181z draws about 0.9A (900mA), the old Mullard CV181 drew 950mA. This 50% increase in heater current amounts to 0.6A for a pair of CV181 in a circuit, which as you can see represents the load of a whole extra double triode.