Grant Fidelity Treasure Globe 6SN7 SE
I'm writing to "second" the question by the OP. I'm surprised no one has answered as I'm sure there are a lot of 6SN7 users out there and a Linlai 6SN7 thread discussing a similar tube is going like wildfire. Does anyone have any experience with these tubes? I'll try to paste a link below showing the Grant Fidelity page that lists both the Treasure Globe 6SN7 SE as well as the Linlai. https://premiumvacuumtubes.com/product-category/shop_by_tube_model/6sn7_cv181/ |
I do not have any experience with these tubes. However, I have been interested in new production 6SN7 tubes for about three years, dating from when I purchased my tube preamp. When I first started tube-rolling in my preamp almost everything I read was about the various flavors of old production US tubes, and some of the older Russian tubes. I guess I kind of got lucky because I ended up with several pair of the reddish/brown-base military spec tubes (why is my brain failing me tonight? You know the ones I’m talking about - they have the extra copper support rods...), Ken Rad VT231, Sylvanias, a Tungsol round plate and a bunch of old Russian tubes that sound pretty good. All at fairly decent prices. So I’ve never pulled the trigger on any of the Shuguang, LinLai or other new production 6SN7s. A few years ago, when Grant Fidelity was distributing Shuguang tubes they went through various what I will call "boutique" design 6SN7s. IIRC the globe tubes came in a blue glass version and the clear version they sell now. Then there were also the so-called CV-181 Treasure series tubes. Then the so-called Western Electric (hah! pure marketing) 6SN7 plus tubes that were really tall and had an orange anodized metal base. According to what I read here and other places on the 'net, all the Shuguang variants sounded very, very good. I only ever read very positive comments on all those tubes. Now it's the same with the Lin Lai. People rave about them. You've possibly seen the thread somewhere where a reviewer praised the Shuguang Treasure series and said they displaced his secret favorite Brimar tubes. He loved them. Those tubes are still around. Don’t recall where it is, but somewhere around on this thing they call the internet there’s a "reference 6SN7" thread that extends for years and years and has lots of comments, especially about the vintage US tubes. And the uber-rare British, Italian and European variants. $$$. Sorry to say I can’t really help you. I will say that they guy that designed my tube preamp kind of scoffs at the idea of tube rolling. His faith is in the circuit he designed and built and he used to ship his tubes with non-boutique run-of-the-mill Russian tubes. They sounded great. |
@markusthenaimnut You don't say what your preamp is, but in my experience rolling dozens of tubes across a half dozen amps and preamps there is simply no question in my mind that different tubes sound differently and some tubes sound much better. Even the Schiit Freya manages to showcase different flavors of tube. I would be curious what sort of circuit in a tube based preamp would completely negate the sonic contribution different tubes make? |
Despite my skepticism, I went for a pair of the GF Treasure Globes about 6 mos. ago. Frankly, they shocked me at how good they sound. I also have an excellent Aric Audio preamp (a "near" Motherlode II I would call it), and the Globes are as good as my favorite NOS 6F8G round plates (National Unions) in the preamp. OK, I'd maybe a very, very slight nudge to preferring the NUs, HOWEVER, the Globes are tremendously quiet, very well balanced top to bottom with an awesome soundstage. The kicker is that the '40s round plate NUs are extremely hard to find, they are microphonic, and they get noisy quickly, like playing vinyl. The bottom line, after rolling multitudes of highly rated NOS 6SN7s, the GF Globes, though a bit on the expensive side, are the real deal (just give them 100-200 hours to get to their best). I haven't heard the Linlai Elites, but would love to read a comparison between the two. Anyone?? |
We did a comparison and IMO they sounded very similar- and both excellent. However, the globe structure has a decided resonance that the Linlai does not. As long as you don't have microphonic problems its no worries, but any microphonics the tube has/might develop will be exacerbated by the resonance of the glass. |
Thanks very much for the response, @atmasphere! You mentioned they sounded similar. Do you recall any specific differences besides the potential for microphonic issues?
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Thankfully no microphonic issues exist in my GF Globes! Thanks @atmasphere ! |
@pinwa Sorry for that. My preamp is a Supratek Cortese. Note that I did not say that different tubes don't have a different sound. I think they do. Hence my preference for KenRad VT231s. Or red-base 5682s. I have enough tubes that I've always been on the fence for spending the $$$ on new production tubes. But I'm very curious about how they sound and how they might compare to the vintage tubes. And it is probably more accurate to say that, in my email exchanges with Mick, the owner and builder of my Supratek, that he places more importance on the circuit, tube reliability, predictability, avoiding microphonic tubes, consistency/close matching between the two sections of the dual triodes and a reliable source of supply than on stating which old production tube is the best. As a builder his needs are different than an owner/user. He needs tubes in *quantity*. I think nowadays he's building with the LinLais. |
