Shootout of Nos 6sn7 tubes

@tksteingraber Glad to hear that you are enjoying the NU 6F8Gs. They have a very special blend of sonic attributes that I find impossible to beat.

The 1982 vintage NOS Melz 6n8s/1578 tubes I bought recently are sort of a mixed bag sonically. Extremely quiet (none of the crackling I read about) with the best bass slam/texture/definition I have heard (I prefer their bass to that of my KR Vt-231s) and unequaled imaging/soundstaging. Transparency is on par with my Tung Sol VT-231s. Upper treble is smooth and refined. Unfortunately, they are very forward in the upper mids, thus fatiguing after just a short session. They have improved in this area with additional play, but so far the upper-mid forwardness largely remains.

There is a ton of discussion on the Melz over on head-fi.org. Members Paladin79, bcowen, and JKDJedi seem to be the foremost experts on Melz. IIRC they feel that the Holy Grail Melz 6n8s is the early/mid 1950’s non-hole shiny black plates with the same micas and metal supports as the later 1578s. Good luck finding those at this point!

@dlcockrum thanks for the detailed Melz summary of your experience.  I got lucky andc ordered 2 used Melz with test results in 90%’s.  1-1956 and 1-1953 due to arrive on Tues from Ukraine.  They are the non hole version and the picture shows black shiny plates.  We will see what arrives🤞.  My concern is noise and test results.  I have a tube  tester so we will find out.  Should be fun.  I have really been enjoying tube hunting and rolling🤪

@tksteingraber Please let me know how you like the early Melz and the KR 6f8g.

I too have been a big fan of the NU 6f8g round plates, and I have been using them for quite a while. However, recently I have rolled in the Linlai Elite 6SN7s, and they are fantastic tubes, worthy of replacing the NU 6f8gs in my rig. I find the Linlai to have have better transparency and air, resulting in a more holographic soundstage, but they don’t do this by sounding brighter or etched, and the midrange stays very natural. They are a touch more forward sounding than the NU, but I like that. Other improvements over the NU - tighter bass, much, much quieter, and not microphonic (like the NU usually are). 

@1markr Thanks for the input on the Linlai Elites. I researched those a year or two ago and got lost in the endless back and forth forum chatter about which ones were the good ones (Horizontal or Vertical lettering, etc) and whom to buy from. Can you tell us exactly which ones you have (or better post a pic) and whom you bought them from?