Which 6922?

In my experience the JJ's are the warmest of the bunch. I use them in a couple of CDP's. Actually there are not that many new production 6922's. The EH's are fairly good, certainly quiet and rugged and have good bass. Don't know about anything from China.

Hello,
I would call the Tube Depot or The Tube Store and ask them as they really know their tubes and their sound characteristics in and out. (www.tubestore.com or www.tubedepot.com) Personally, from experience and working at Cary Audio in 2004, I like EH brand in general but also the JJ's too as they have a lighter sound whereas the EH's overall tend to have a lot of low end grunt. Sound preferences of course factors in heavily with tubes, as does their production run, tolerances, and the age of them, etc. I also like to substitute the 6DJ8 for a 6922 as Audio Research does whereas Conrad Johnson loves 6922's for decades. Perhaps call CJ in Virginia. 6DJ8 is a more direct and driving/leaner sounding tube whereas the 6922 is more melodious and smooth and rich.

This kind of goes against what you are asking for, but I strongly believe you are best served by staying away from current 6922/6DJ8 variants. That may change in the future, as there are some new production tubes that rival the old days, but from what I have seen so far, not for this tube type. They strike me as either being thick and veiled or brittle, hard, and incredibly amusical. That being said, I guess I like the JJs best.

Instead, my recommendation is to seek out older 6922/6DJ8 tubes. If you stay away from those that carry all the prestige and are fought over in auctions, you can get closer to the performance of the best than most give credit for, at prices no worse than new production variants.

Incidentally, I specifically recommend against the Philips ECG JAN 6922 that a lot of people are steered into as an alternate to new production. It's a cold, heartless sounding thing.

Check out Brent Jesse or Upscale or Andy's for some revelent[sp] info.Good luck,Bob