What made you change to a 6SN7 preamp?
If you made an intentional shift toward a 6SN7-based tube preamp, what sonic characteristics motivated your move?
I have been doing some comparisons and think I have some reasons I like the 6SN7 better, but there are so many factors which could be at play, that I'm not sure what is responsible.
Rather than list my details for others to analyze, I'd rather hear your answer to the basic question.
Tell me about your path toward a 6SN7 preamp?
What did you change from and why?
Even if, overall, the change was worth it, did you lose anything in the transition? What?
True, but the dealer can listen to the tube using a high gain device like a phono preamp. This is what Kevin Deal uses. But this type of test only insures that the tube is non microphonic when it leaves the dealer.
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IME, Herbies can reduce microphonics up to a point. Once a tube has gone full-on microphonic nothing can help. Tube dampers lightly touch the glass envelope and reduce resonances, but in many cases the sound will be affected. It may make the bass tighter in a good way or it may reduce the liveliness of said tube, making it sound dull. |
It was said that Vintage Tube carefully tests all tubes for microphonics. Testing equipment has no way to do this. The only way is to plug the tube into your component and wait a bit. Tube sellers cannot do this. Hoarders may have the best tubes. But even then, you need to buy more than you need just in case. I paid $750 for 4 Psvane 6SN7 Globes and they were all microphonic.
Vintage tube service tests them in circuit, he has many different components to test them in. |
$750 for a quad - where did you source them from? That’s interesting, you can buy a quad of PSVANE Cosor version globes for $259/quad. Can you share more... It’s helpful to trace this back. FYI: info through an overseas distributor I learned of others having problems here in the USA with (some batches) of tubes that were packed properly (originally) coming from the Shenzhen factories. Then, arriving to some dealers, being unboxed from large lot boxes, then repackaged and packed loosely without cotton in smaller and less protective boxes. And, more subject to vibration and shipping damage to the buyers. Good tubes gone bad in reseller packing and shipping trying to save weight and shipping costs. Argh. It took TJFM and GDParts two years to figure this out and what was going on. Since then, I’ve been only buying the premium boxed pairs distributor-direct, and they come in their own individual foam insulated jewelry type boxes. Not in the individual cheap thin paper boxes loosely packed by dealer-resellers. Ask the tube dealer reseller before they ship, how they are packed! Wondering how yours arrived, and for $750 sure seems questionable. |
