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  3. 149479-3923

Sofia Electric Blue 6SN7

Just received a pair of these this morning and to say I'm delighted is an understatement.At $99 per tube I was so hoping it wouldn't turn out to be a mistake.Big sigh of relief and a bigger smile.After fooling around with various tubes,footers,and cables trying to clear up what I was hearing as a congested midrange when there were multiple instruments,this tube has done it.

I replaced the Sylvania 'bad boy' driver tube in my Aric Audio Transcend amp just to get a feel for the sound before removing the bazillion tiny screws in the LTA MZ2 to try them there.Well it's staying right where it is in the amp.The mids cleaned up immediately and the entire presentation seems faster and even more dynamic.The vocals retain their sweetness with no excess sibilance.I recently tried a new EH in that position and also in the MZ2 which gave me the clarity but they were relentlessly hyper detailed.
I have read some cautionary tales about Sofia tube's reliability but they mostly involved power tubes, so fingers crossed.I'll update if any problems surface.So far my perfect tube compliment is one Sofia blue 6SN7,two Sylvania 6SN7,four (new)Tung Sol KT150 power tubes in the amp.The pre has two 12AT7 Sylvanias and two (new)Tung Sol 6SN7.
128x128jtcf

Showing 6 responses by brownsfan

brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
We are starting to hear some nice reports on these tubes.  I've toyed with the idea of giving a pair or two a try in my Atma-Sphere M60s.  Please keep us posted as they burn in.
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
Wig, thanks for the heads up on the Shuguang WE 6SN7s.  My M-60s  take a total of 8 6SN7s, which gets a bit painful at ~ $200/tube.  Fortunately, the tubes don't require matching and the amps seem to like a mixture of different tubes.  Right now I've got a mixture of RCA grey glass, Bad Boys, and old stock GE GTBs.  I ordered one pair of the new Sophias.  After those burn in, I will probably get a pair of the new Shuguangs.   It is really good to see some current production tubes that are equaling or surpassing the best tubes of the past. 
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
I received a pair of the Sophia blue 6sn7s yesterday.   Bottom line is they beat out a pair of RCA grey glass in my AtmaSphere M60s.   With no burn in, the Sophias were sweeter, smoother, and more detailed than the RCAs.  I find this remarkable given the fact that the RCAs are well regarded and that the M60s take 4 pairs of 6SN7s.  I'm not sure I expected such an improvement after replacing only one pair.  I will likely pick up one more pair soon.  Very nice tubes.   Kudos to Sophia.
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
@jtcf, I may well find the same thing when I pick up another pair.  It takes some patience in finding an optimal mixture of 6SN7s in my M-60s.  I'm going to leave everything as is for a couple of weeks to permit burn in before I make a final decision on buying more tubes.  
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
@jtcf  Thanks.  I've been through the drill before with the M-60s, and yes, it takes a bit of time, but I have a pretty good feel for what the amps like in terms of 6SN7 attributes at each of the 4 positions, so its not quite as bad as trying to work my way through all of the 256 possible variations.  In actual fact, this comes down to a yes/no on two of the 4 positions, with the new Sophias potentially replacing the RCA grey glass tubes.  Those two positions have the greatest impact on sonics.  The third position (back, center, one the MK 3.3s) really seems to benefit from the bad boys.  Assuming I like what I hear with Sophias in the two most impactful position, it really comes down to getting a quick A/B  on the bad boys vs. two other Sylvanias that I have on hand.  Tube rolling in the 4th position (front tube), which requires GTA or GTBs, has less impact on sonics.  I always roll that position after I have the other 3 established.  I can probably get this done in 3 or 4 listening sessions, so it is really not all that laborious.  
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
I bought a pair of the blue 6SN7 tubes to try in my M-60's which use a total of 4 6SN7s.  I went with the C grade tubes which were ~100 each.  One failed at about 6 months, but the other one is still going strong a year and a half later.  My tubes don't need to be matched, so I just bought a single tube to replace the one that failed.  This time I got a B grade with a 1 year warranty.   They are great sounding tubes, but reliability issues makes this a roll of the dice.  The Shuguang WE + tubes   or the Psvane globes may be a better choice if you can make them fit.  They are both large tubes. 
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