Small or big tubes/valves for pre amp ?


Hi guys, have been thinking about going to a tube pre with a solid state amp.

I have a hybrid intergraded amp with small tubes in pre section, I am no expert in tubes, but know my way around the 6DJ8 / 6922 / ECC88 variants where I have preferred the Mullard tubes with my amp.

The pre amp that I have my eye on is the Don Sachs model 2, it uses bigger tubes and I am told that the bigger tubes have better sound than the 6922 variants I am used too.

Would appreciate if someone could enlighten me about the difference in sound signature between these tubes, I believe that Don uses 6SN7 tubes. http://www.dsachsconsulting.com/custom%20line%20stage.html

Thanks!



gryphongryph

Showing 7 responses by grey9hound

Any 6F8G with 6SN7 adapters beats all 6SN7s IMO.
I personally like 12volt  tubes like 12AX7,12AU7,12AT7,12BH7...etc. better than 6SN7 . Like Lowrider said ,many of the  6SN7s that have good balance and Bass are microphonic.. like Ken Rad or Tung Sol.
The  vintage Sylvania 6SN7s can be  magical in all areas , except , they do NOT have good Bass. None of the Sylvania 6SN7s have good bass It is very weak . My amps which are the Granite Audio 864SR use 6SN7 in both V1 and V2.As long as I use something with good bass in V1              ( I actually use 6F8G) then using the Sylvania 6SN7-GT  in V2 works great  for me.


I buy from Andy also.
Thanks for the compliment on the 864-SR
I also replaced the coupling caps on the 864-SR with Jupiter copper foil....
Not cheap , but Very Nice sounding. I have some JAN CHS-VT-231- 2 hole black plates that are my favorites , but still they lack bass
I like the JAN-CRP-6F8G-VT-99.
I think this is very close to my observations here
https://www.audioasylum.com/messages/tubes/221750/6f8g-vt99-observations

The 6SN7 Tung Sol and the Ken Rads , that Andy had, at least one of the tube in the pair , was somewhat .
microphonic in my system. If you can find those that are not microphonic, the Ken Rads and the Tung Sol are the 2 brands that actually have Bass that I can live with , most all of the other 6SN7s do not ...IMO
This is what they look like .. this is not my  amp . Scroll down a little bit 
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/wa22-lets-roll-some-tubes-done-mod-burnning-in.451678/page-27

Andy even said the Sylvanias don’t do bass. I do not know about the metal base 6SN7W. They are as Rare as Hen’s Teeth
Try taking out the Ken Rads or Tung sols and run just the Sylvania in both spots if you are talking about running both Sylvanias in V1 and V2, I’ll bet your bass will suffer .I know Ihave  tried a lot of different Sylvania 6SN7 and could never find one that had great bass
If the Metal base 6SN7w have good bass , then they would be the only Sylvania 6SN7s that do.IMO
Do your amps use one or two 6SN7 tubes ? I am confused about that
@rodman99999
My whole point is ,The Sylvanias don’t have near the bass of the Ken Rads or Tung Sol 6SN7. Also Andy with Vintage Tube Services confirmed this for me . He actually told me that any of the Sylvania 6SN7s do not do Bass well .I agree with the article about mixing them. The main problem is that a Very High percentage of Tung Sol and the Ken Rads are Micrphonic. these are the only two 6SN7s that have great Bass.I have tried many many different 6SN7s. SO using a 6F8G with the 6SN7 adapter in place of the Ken Rad or Tung Sol , works great and gives you way more options
@mulveling
I agree with you 100%
@rodman99999
My statement should have been that the Sylvania 6SN7 do no re-produce bass very well. They are fantastic at almost Everything else
I think you understood what I meant. Take techno music for example . Most of it has a lot a Bass. I also understand that a lot of tube amps are not heavy hitters in the Bass dept.
Some people may not notice it too much... ????
But below is the real problem with 6SN7s  IMO as well as Many other's opinions too 

The only one I really liked sonically was Tung-Sol black glass round plate VT-231, but they’re so hard to source with any decent life left - and again, good luck with noise


I actually use the Shuguang Black Treasure KT88-Z in my Granite 864-SR. I also have  a pair of the Sylvania 6SN7GTA Chrome dome 3 hole black plates and 2  pair of Jan CHS (sylvania) 6SN7GT-VT231..
If i try to use the SylavniaGTA  in V1 and Sylvania GT in V2  or any combination of these in V1 or V2 .. I lack BASS.
I had originally ask for and tried the Ken Rad 6SN7 with the Sylvanias V1,V2... kiler bass , but Ken Rads were Microphonic. I then tried some Tung Sol Round black plates . They were also microphonic. I asked Andy to send me another pair of Sylvanias that have good bass... to use with the other Sylvanias , his reply was that none of the Sylvanias can do Bass as well as the Ken Rad or the Tung Sol, (cause once i heard the bass with the Ken Rads and or Tung Sols .. i had to have it)  Andy actually said that the only 6SN7 tubes that can do Bass like I heard and wanted was the Ken Rad or the Tung Sol  

So if using two Sylvania 6SN7, one in V1 and the other in V2, and it did not matter which Sylvanias (i tried. I tried all but the Metal Base ones) the Bass was lacking .
As a matter of fact most of the combinations of 6SN7s in V1 and V2 in those amps, lacked Bass IMO. ...unless i had a Ken Rad or Tung sol in V1   That was my experience with 6SN7 tubes.
Therefore i know use a 6F8G in V1 with the 6SN7 adapter.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tube-adapter-6F8G-to-6SN7-1-pair-/153299100833?item=153299100833&ViewItem=&nma=true&si=apYGBdYiWyN493VkmTacst7L9wQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

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