Modwright sony xa5400 vs Modwright Oppo 95

Jwm, what tubes are you rolling in the MW Oppo and Sony?

I'm rolling TS 5u4gb and BT CVBT-181s in my MW Transporter. I prefer the BT over the Sophia's ... BT is more musical and Sophia a little harder sounding.

From my experience, with a little work, the MW Transporter is competitive with players costing much more. Several months ago dealer dropped off a Lampizator L4, had it for a week or so and the showdown was very interesting.

Knghiifi,

Have you tried any Sylvanias 6SN7W or 6SN7 GTA? I tried the Sophias as well and the sound didn't cut it for me, thin sounding compared to Sylvanias. I'm thing about possibly some 11950 Sylvanias VT231 or maybe some 181 if they are better. Would love to get more opinions on tube for my 5400.

Thanks,
Wig

I really like the Sylvania's in the Oppo 95. The 6SN7 Sylvania GTB chrome top are very reasonable easy to find and sound great. I have also tried the Sylvania Army Navy 6SN7GT VT-231 with silver near the bottom of the base. These were made earlier than the other Sylvania's and are harder to find. They avg. about 200.00 a pair. These sound sound clear, but still have a very natural midrange and tight bass. I just ordered some Sylvania BAD Boys which have three holes in the middle instead of two. I also like the Tungsol black plate which are very hard to find.

Wig, I tried Sylvania bad boys and it was too sweet for my taste. At the time I was using a Mullard GZ32 so probably too much of a good thing.

I found the Transporter is also very sensitive to rectifier tube. It took a while and $$ to find the right combination but well worth it. I like the BT and TS combination so getting off the bus for now.

JWM and I did some tube rolling with his MW Oppo 95 a few days ago and at the end of the night, we agreed, the clear winner was the 1940s Tungsol black glass. Unfortunately, with prices reaching $500 pair, they're a bit of a luxury for most people.

Our next favorite was another oldie, the Sylvania VT-231, which gave up a little of the magic, but was still a great sounding tube.

After that and in order of preference, we enjoyed some brown base Sylvania 5692's, (probably made by RCA), some vintage Raytheon GT's, Sylvania Chrome top GTB's and finally, early RCA GT's.

Frankly, I'd take almost any NOS over the current offerings, mostly Chinese, though I do hear good things about the "Black Treasure" stuff. I've heard them in a few systems at CES but never in any A/B comparisons with NOS.