Seeking suggestions for 6922 tubes

@roxy54,

Many nice tubes in 6DJ8 family, especially ones made between 57-65 for a great tone and some made till 73.

6922 and 7308 would last longer but that would depend also of how hard the circuit pushes them. Some ECC88 will sound better than E88CC or E188CC but with a shorter life span. Please note that due to construction all these tubes can go noisy, so sometimes are a waste of money, even buying from a good source.

Usual suspects for good sound but expensive are Siemens, Amperex (Holland and USA), Teles (though i find them a bit overrated) and French made tubes like Dario and RT. Better value ones are Teslas early 60’s and red Tungsrams. In my experience, after trying most of them, the ones i would look for are:

Holland D getters, Holland (62-65), Holland orange o getter (67-68), Siemens Cca or E88CC(early), Siemens E188CC A frames, Amperex USA up to 65, and Mullard CV4293.

My earlier comments as @xenolith posted have not changed since i find Voskhods of that era (75-79) to be the best all rounder, with still better pricing, nothing missing, not hifi terms for that tube, simply fit and forget. They last long, are linear in presentation, have great bass and flow, a big picture, generate less heat at glass envelope, are quiet and rarely go microphonic. Much better than EV versions.

Last note, most modern tube units are manufactured with current Russian tubes in mind, so using the best alternative would be a good thing.

One Issue is to find a good vendor for those.

     If you're interest is in keeping the very clear, uncolored presentation, that Tele's typically produce; you'd best retain either them or Siemens.

     Personally: even the very slight increase in, "warmth" of the early 60's Amperex Navy 6922, dissuaded me from choosing it over the early 60's, grey shield, Siemens CCa.

     The (same generation/construction) gold pin, Siemens E88CC, E188CC, etc, has the same sonic signature as your Tele, or my CCa.     

      I currently have Two early 60's Siemens gold pin, grey shield E88CCs, two E188CCs and two CCas in my BAT VK-D5 and am enjoying the same very clean, uncolored sound as with the six CCa Siemens, I removed to compare.    Those are now my backups.

      There's a reason for their popularity and (now) their scarcity.

       I've bought tubes from the following eBay purveyor, a number of times and found him knowledgeable, honest and dependable:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_dmd=2&_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_ssn=audiotubes_de&store_cat=0&store_name=tubes

       He has a few NOS Teles and Siemens, of the 6922/E88CC family, toward the bottom of the second page.

       Regarding the Russian tubes that became so popular: It was obvious to me, a decade back, the cream of the crop were confined to just a very few years, the supply was largely exhausted and I MISSED IT.    Thus: no opinion.

        The following may be of interest:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/6922-tube-review-17-top-6922-6n23p-e88cc-cca-7308-e188cc-tubes.761078/

                  and:

https://www.tubemuseum.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SH%5FCCa%5Fsingle

      btw: Whatever level of Bass resides in your media (down to the Stygian); the early Siemens iterations will convey it, unhindered and not editorialized, in all it’s power/glory.

I’m using Amperex 6922’s with the gold pins from the early sixties in my preamp and am very happy with the sound. The only other advice I can give is don’t buy the cheapest EH tubes. They came with the unit when I bought it and were full and boring sounding.

All the best.

You may like Nationals made in India with Mullard tooling, I believe.