Tube favorites for Modwright LS100?


Howdy Friends,
Are any of you having success with a little tube rolling for the Modwright LS100 preamp...either the 6SN7's or the 5AR4? And I am sorry, but I am not interested in anything costing dern near as much as the preamp itself...$500 or more for a pair of vintage 6SN7's? Not happening in my monetary (read "happily married") world.
Thanks to one and all for your kind input and experience!
bobup1998
Hi Bob,

I have used the Black Treasure KT-88's and I like them very much but never tried the CV 181. You might want to try the Chinese 6N8P-J military tube. They work well in my pre-amp and they are cheap.
I have received a pair of Shugang Black Treasures and put them in the LS100. Below is the email I just sent to Dan Wright and Grant Fidelity...

I received the Shuguang CV181-Z (6SN7) Treasures and a NOS 5AR4 and burned them in for a few hours yesterday. Even though the LS100 and the tubes have only a few hours on them, I was quite unprepared for the sounds I heard during my first listening session. For the first time in my audio life my speakers literally disappeared, and the imaging filling my room was almost palpable...very 3-D indeed, to the point of being almost scary-real. I sat in wonderment; left wanting for nothing with the music being produced with such crystal clarity and startling precision from top to bottom. I can only anticipate what further improvements may happen as both the preamp and tubes continue to settle in together.
To be brief, my searching for the next best preamp is over, as is my searching for the next best tubes to put in that preamp. This combination has taken my humble audio system from good to "wow"!
Thank you Dan for designing such a wonderful preamp at such a fair price, and thanks also to Shuguang for producing a pair of tubes that have taken that preamp way over the top in audio quality. Job well done!
I must add an addendum to my LS100 tube review above. After spending a good deal of time with the Black Treasures I decided to try the Sophia 6SN7's as suggested by Dan Wright on the Modwright website. I must concur with him (and others), that the Sophia tubes are absolutely wonderful in all respects, bettering even the very good Black Treasures. I must (somewhat sheepishly) now recommend that you try them in any piece of equipment that calls for the 6SN7 tube. They really are quite special, and reasonably priced to boot.
Happy listening!
I just received my LS100 installed NOS 1963 Tungsol 6sn7 and a NOS Sylvania GZ34. Down the road I'll try the BTs (have a quad of BT KT88s in my Ayon Spirit and really enjoy them) or the Sophias
I have about 100 hours on the LS100 which I understand requires at least 400 hours of break-in to reach their intended sound. Have liked the sound of the NOS Tungsol and Sylvania as they and the amp have been working themselves in, but decided to go ahead and pick up a pair of the Black Treasure CV181s. Will say that with only about an hour on these tubes they already offer more top to bottom detail than the Tungsol's. Will look forward to trying the Sophia's at some point.