Tubes for Schiit Saga

not as much for me, though I clearly prefer the NOS tube to passive mode...

@jl35 ^^^

@jl35 when you click the button to switch from tube to SS do you notica a large change? mine went from nothing to amazing with a NOS tube

I have the original Saga

@jl35 i recently got the safa idk if you are talking about the vali2 or saga but the stock tubes schiit tends to use in the pre amps are VERY neutral . can barely tell a difference. but i just switched to a ken rad vt 231 smoked and the difference is huge. such an upgrade. im also getting the vali 2+ would the tung sol you got fit in the vali 2 or were you talking about the SAGA?

I ended up with a Tung-Sol from Upscale Audio, and am very happy with it ( under$50 )...I just went with their top recommendation...

I replaced the default tube in the Vali2 with a Telefunken Black Diamond from Tube Depot and even with this cheap headphone amp ($150) and Fiil headphones the improvement is very noticeable sounding smoother and more musical - more relaxing to listen to. 
Does anyone know who makes the $10 tubes that Schiit uses?

I have a Saga+ which, as you likely know, has a passive mode which only acts as a volume control, and an active mode which uses the tube as a unity gain buffer. The tube that came with my preamp is incredibly neutral. You have to listen very closely to spot a difference between the passive and active modes, though the active mode is very slightly smoother, though with no loss of highs or dynamics.  

Personally, I'm not going to spend any time tube rolling. I like the sound I'm getting from the Saga as-is.

Thanks. I like it with standard tube in current set up. Just curious if others have found some modest price tubes that work well 

Try it with the stock tube. You probably won’t hate it, but if you do I’m not sure another tube will fix it. I’ve seen several 6SN7 shootouts, one was even using several Sagas and blind. A NOS tube can sound better, but ask yourself how much you are willing to spend on a tube compared to the price of the preamp before getting sucked down that rabbit hole. There are tubes that sell for more than you paid for the Saga.
I put a Raytheon VT-231 in my Saga+. Mostly it was out of curiosity as I’m pretty new to tubes. Might try some others eventually to see if I can get a better feel for tube characteristics so I’m capable of describing differences with more detail than I like it. Even if it’s obviously better, it’s hard to describe in terms that aren’t a basic salad of audiophile buzzwords. 

It is probably worth it but I don't have any recs.  Do some research and join the Schitt group on fb.