How do the Electro Harmonix 6sn7's sound?

I've not heard any, but a friend whose ears I trust says they're somewhat edgy and not very musical sounding. What he says leads me to believe that they sound about as unattractive as the Sovtek 'N7s--thin and edgy, exactly the opposite of the sound I like.

BTW both of us love the sound, overall, of the Ken-Rad copper-post-hollow-filament-tube blackplates, staggered or not--slightly warmly balanced, NOT edgy in the treble, and very musical and attractive. He LOVES the sound of the similarly warmly balanced (and expensive) Brimars, altho they're a little edgy in the treble for me. I find the black-T-angleplates by Tung-Sol and Sylvania to be slightly thin and edgy. RCA black-ladderplates seem to do nothing right and are just boring.

I stumbled into 1 Raytheon-branded Tung-Sol roundplate but haven't listened carefully to it, as I'm looking for a mate for it. They're VERY expensive (as in over $100 each if they test strong), and I may sell the single.

Have you seen this rather-comprehensive thread on 'N7s? http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=119638
.

It is not a bad sounding tube at all, pretty linear and fast. Sounds about as good as a Syl GTB which means you can do a lot worse.

EHs in general are a little edgy and can be slightly analytical in the highs. I noticed this consistently when tube rolling my CJ MV55, whether it was the EL34s, 6SN7s or 12AX7s. But they aren't bad tubes at all and in a soft system, they may be just right.

Arthur

For an inexpensive new 6SN7, I obtained superior results (in the same amp Arthur mentions above) with the Chinese "Ruby" version (Shuguang factory I believe) than the Russian Sovtek (Reflektor factory, same as EH, though I don't know if or how they might differ beyond the pins) -- and I haven't often liked Chinese tubes.

I have a Wright WLA12A, and find the EH 6SN7s very listenable and a bargain at $8.95/ea. They're far superior to the Sovteks I own, both the 6SN7s and the supposed "milspec" 6H8Cs. If all NOS tubes went away and I could only get new production tubes, I could easily live with EH.

That said, there are definitely NOS tubes that sound better. I have Sylvania GTBs that are my current favorite, and GE GTBs with the top filament that are a close second. I didn't have to pay a lot for either, and I've never tried any really expensive tubes - not sure my preamp or the rest of my system warrant them.

I'm interested to try the Shuguangs...with the metal bases, you can dream that they're $400 Sylvania Ws...

:-)