Time To Replace Tubes?

Thanks folks for your help and information first of all!! : ) VERY HELPFULL and i appreciate it.
Larry510 i am curious as to what speakers you are using?i have very efficient horn speakers(103db) and seem to get enough power with the 2a3 tube and was wondering what sonic changes occurred for the better for you by using that 300B?
I currently am running the stock Sovtek 2a3 which alot of people seem to think is a decent tube and it does sound good in my system.
The Wright amps i am using are self biasing so i don't have to worry about that which has been a nice feature since coming from PP amps that i had to bias which i found myself always being concerned about.So it does sound like a tube tester may be what i need.I am totally ignorant of them and their use so is there any recommendation for an inexpensive one made for knucklehead simplicity?
Larryken have you found the 2a3's you mention including the EHgold 2a3 to sound better then the Sovtek 2a3's?I have heard alot of good things about the Sovtek so haven't bothered swapping and George Wright sends them out stock as he did the EH6sn7.I am back to the EH 6sn7 and loving it so figured he selected those tubes to use for his design.I am sure that finding just the right NOS tubes would be a positive step but the price of the new production tubes makes me not want to go that route if i don't have to and these EH6sn7's are doing it for me right now for sure.I don't think i gave them enough time for them to break in before yanking them.I was just on another thread where some SET owners were talking about them and saying they were comparing them to some NOS mullard and they were shocked at how close they were in sound?So i am not crazy....well maybe ; )

Seeburk - I'm not sure if there's a TubeTesterForDummies, rand most that I know of are quite old. I use a BK707 and, though it does take some getting used to, it can be very versatile. Unfortunately it will not test the larger 2A3 and 300B tubes. On the other hand the price of a good tester spans a large range depending on where you happen to find it. You can find one at a garage sale or auction for $50, or one here on A'gon for $500. Supply and demand. Be aware that some tube testers actually utilize a tube in their circuit. Also it would be good to find one that has been somehow confirmed accurate or recently calibrated/adjusted.

George certainly knows his tubes. You should see his NOS stockpile. I don't think that means that he necessarily provides the very best tube for the purpose with his amps, nor does any manufacturer that I know of. That would be a very expensive proposition in most cases, although it would seem to make sense given it would make their product sound better. I think to stay $ competitive, no one does it. Probably the Sovtek and EH that he does provide are damn good bang for the buck. I think the Sovtek 2A3 is one of the few tubes that company does very well. I think I settled on some JAN 6SN7's in mine, but I don't recall what else I rolled with them.

Marco

Hey Stew - How do you like the Mono 10's you got? Are they working out for you in your system?

Marco

Seekburk,

I own a Wright WLA12A preamp, which also uses 6SN7s. When my stock EHs got noisy, I wrote George for recommendations and got this response:

Dear Dave,

NOS are almost always a better choice for 6SN7's but the availability is getting harder to find these at a good price. My favorites are the mid 50's to late 60's production angled plate 6SN7GTA or GTB, RCA are also nice, the best are American made Raytheon, Westinghouse or Tungsol,good luck. The EH's are robust and fairly reliable as well, but a bit forward.

Best,

George

Taking his advice, I found some reasonably priced Sylvanias from the 60s, and they've been a major improvement, much smoother highs than the EHs. I tried some Sovteks and they were pretty bad in my amp, although many mfrs seem to use them as their OEM tube. I also tried some NOS GEs from the 70s that I got for free, and while they were slightly better than the EHs sonically, 2 out of the 4 were noisy. I haven't had the inclination to try any of the $100/pair 6SN7s, as I don't think my pretty basic preamp and system warrants them.

All in all, I'd rate the EHs pretty high considering their price and availability. You can improve on their sound with older tubes, but unless you're lucky enough to get them cheaply like I did, you'd probably have to spend a lot of money for the improvement.