Top resistors

"Of the lot that I tried, I rank Russian 6N8S tops, followed closely by Raytheon GT, followed by EH. "

Is it common consensus in audigon?
I've read from some other forums that Russian made 6N8S tubes are not as good as US made 6SN7 family tubes.
This link may help further understand 6SN7.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/reference-6sn7-thread-117677/

The Russian NOS 6N8S I tried are rare & expensive mil spec stamped 1578 with metal base. I believe they date to 1955.

Yes I as well have used Vishay S102's many years ago and ran an ear opening experiment with them. I had an Adcom 535 Amp. De soldered one entire channel only with about 13 Vishays Bulk Metal Films. The ones that cost about $10.00 Each. I did this just for one channel only to see if I could hear the difference, and let the other channel alone.
All I can say was WOW WOW WOW.The noise floor dropped way way down. You coud hear absolute silence between every note that was played thru my phono stage. Detail was magnified substantially But without any hardness to speak of. Everything was absolutely effortlessly in reproduction. Once I installed the ther channel the 3D imaging really expanded wall to wall. To bad I still do not have that amp today. It was one of a kind and alot of work, But worth the challenge. I hope this answers some of your questions.

76Doublebass,

Good for you! I did the same thing with Vishays bridged in speakers and the difference was shocking. The image is wall to wall. I think the Duelunds that I recently purchased have a simliar impact as the Vishays. The Duelunds are a easier and less expensive swap than building a high power resistor out of many Vishays for speakers and in some instances power amps. Tom

Hi dgarretson!
Did you change xover (internal) for treble on Merlin VSM-MX to Duelund R and VSF Copper capacitor?
If, what value on capacitor/resistor.
Really would like to know difference in sound compared to original.

Enjoy the music!