Time To Replace Tubes?

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

I recently acquired the Wright Mono 10 amps, and I've tried three sets of tubes so far: Sovtek 2A3, EH 2A3 Gold, and now the Sophia 300B 2.5v Princess. Personally, I like the EH tubes a lot more than the Sovteks. I find the EH tubes more detailed and a deeper soundstage than the Sovteks. I'm not all that crazy yet about the Sophia's, but I've only run them a few hours so far. I've been told that these tubes take quite a while to break in.

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.

Thanks once again for the replies folks!!
Yeah i think i will have to rely on my own ears jax2 rather then to buy a $500 tube tester that i really don't know anything about.That money can buy alot of affordable tubes.
Smeyers, thanks for your input on those 2a3's.I think i will have to check out those EH2a3 gold's myself now after reading your results.I also would be interested to see how you find the Sophias after they break in so keep us posted if you would.
Armstrod, thanks for your reply as well about those tubes.I will keep my eyes open for some of those tubes but right now, like you said, the EH is a good bang for the buck tube.It did actually make things a bit more forward and i think that was a welcome thing for me in my system.It filled out the mids nicely.One thing i have noticed since i put that tube in however is a slight ringing in my ears after a long listening session.I don't know if that is from that tube or from wanting to play my stereo louder now.I never play that loud but i am noticing a slight din in my ears at night in bed the last few days.Weird and i want to monitor that for sure.Wonder if that tube could be imparting any artifacts that could be causing that?I don't know but it is a phenomenon i don't want to have keep repeating.Strange though too as like i said i like the sound of this tube.Well at least i like how everything has gelled lateley which i think we all know is such a welcomed moment to savor in space and time! ; )