Gentlemen,
Here are my observations from the front lines of the battle of the tubes... The four low level 6SN7s in my VAC Phi 200 needed replacement, so as an experiment, I rolled new issue Tung-Sols and burned them in for at least sixty hours. Then I received four 6SN7s (new Chinese) from Kevin which were picked and matched by Brent and then inserted into a Phi 200 at the vactory and only after they listened to them (in my exact amp) did they send them to me. Gotta love those guys!
There is no comparison, the fresh, unburned tubes from VAC completely outperformed the Russian made Tung-Sols. The difference is not subtle at all. The VAC sourced and tested 6SN7s simply shredded the russians.
And now, the KT-88s...
With the new driver tubes humming a happy tune in my amp, it was time for phase two:
I compared the chinese VAC KT-88s, (which came with the Phi 200, and sounded lush, detailed and gorgeous), with the Russian contenders , the Genelex Gold Lion reissue output tubes. I burned in the GGLs for sixty hours before critical listening (they sounded thin ROOTB) to make a valid comparison.
The GGLs sound light, open, untethered and musical, with a lot more inner detail and air. Compared to the lush, dark-leaning and romantic KT-88s from VAC, it's hard to say which is "better." The best way I can express it is that they are equally good, but different... it's more an issue of personal taste. Some reference tunes sounded better with one and vice versa. They are both very good tubes, and for now, the Lions are still in my amp and I'm enjoying my system immensely. If it wasn't such a PITA, I would swap them out as needed depending on what I'm spinning. That's not going to happen.
I hope this helps those of you considering rolling these readily available tubes in your amps. I'd be happy to answer any questions regarding my experiment.
Cheers!
Alón
