***Is It Me Or Have Todays Modern Tubes Gotten REALLY REALLY Good***


About 3 years ago it was the Quad VA-One EL-84 amp that won my ears & heart.Almost 3 years I ran that amp night and day and never felt the urge to roll any of the tubes,which I believe were E.H...A user interface problem forced it’s sale and now it is the magical Cayin CS-55a with factory KT88’s,AU7 & AX7 small signal tubes..Once again I find absolutely no reason to start rolling tubes.Maybe,maaayyybbbeee I could squeeze a drop more liquidity outta the upper mids and possibly a hint more shimmer on top but at what expense?I hate gambling.Anyone else noting the quality of today’s new issue tubes?
freediver

Showing 1 response by porscheracer

For 6SN7 tubes for my preamp and amp, I am really quite happy with the Shuguang Treasure CV181-Z and CV181-T tubes. They might not be quite as good as the very best NOS war time tubes, but they are more consistent, less expensive, and easier to get.

For KT88 power tubes, I like the Shuguang Treasure KT88-Z and KT88-T tubes better than any of the Russian tubes out there. I don’t even consider NOS for these tubes as I am not going to spend the money for the old Genalex tubes.

For, 6922 tubes, I could not find a new production tube that sounded good. So I invested in late 50’s and early 60’s Siemens and Telefunken NOS tubes. In the end, I used an adapter with Western Electric 396A/2C51 tubes. These were the best tubes I ever heard in 6922 applications. Russian Reflektor 6NP3-E tubes with the same adapter are really good too. Better than the much more expensive 6922 tubes.