Linlai E 6sn7 tubes

At 100 hours the Linlai 6SN7 sound about the same, perhaps a little more open with tighter bass. I could live with this sound, without further improvement. I would take a little more midrange warmth and ambiance. But, they sound really nice at this point. 

Thanks,

aldnorab

@coachpoconnor If it fits, I bet it will be tight in the ’98 and pins possibly not fully seated to the base. Also, may depend on which Linlai you buy. Some are narrower at the lower hip area. Here is a photo of the Psvane 181-TIIs, and they are wide and bulge out at the bottom. I was able to make the top psv work in my SLP-98 yet they could sit down more if the cutouts the top plate of the preamp was a wider diameter. The 2nd Linlai tube pictured here is narrower at the lower hip, might fit better. The bottom linlai tube pictured here is wider hip like my psv is and might be a tight fit or bottom out on the top plate before fully seated in your 98. Best of luck.

CV181-TII (wide lower hip)

New Linlai 6SN7 Hifi Black Plates, Gold Pins, shouldered (slightly more narrow hip)

New Linlai E-6SN7 Globe-Balloon Black Plates (wider lower hip)

I'll throw my hat into the ring as well. I received my Linlai Global Elite 6SN7 a couple of days ago. Got less than 10 hours on them but I have to say I'm impressed. Very open and transparent without any harshness or edginess. Some of the best bass I've heard from a 6SN7 tube. It has taken my Aric Audio Super 6SN7 up a notch or two. I'll be curious to see if they develop any issues but if they hold up these will be my go-to tubes.

I'm having bad luck with tubes. The Bendix 5852 burned up on me at 20 minutes of use last night. You've never seen a big man move so fast running for the power buttons.

I currently run my Cary SLP-05 using Sylvania 7n7’s from 1975 that I got from JAC music Germany. They are a real improvement imo over the EH stock tubes and considerably cheaper than similar 6sn7. You need to buy an adapter for the 7n7.

might be worth looking into as an option.

I would love to compare the Linlai with these but I would need 6 minimum so kind of a pricey comparison and not sure they would fit in the SLP-05.