2. amps-preamps
  3. 1027876189

What's so bad about Sovtek 6922s?

I've seen lots of preamp reviews and remarks where people say they replaced their "hard sounding stock sovteks" with "brand X".

I have an Anthem Pre 2L, and the first thing I tried to do was get rid of the "nasty Sovtek 6922s". I tried the Teslas (new and cheap) and a used set of Amperex Bugleboys. I rotated between the two - very hard to A/B of course. Was not satisfied. The Amperex seem to be allergic to bass (I guess it's possible that these are forgeries - bought off ebay). The Teslas seem like "ok" replacements, but nothing special happens with them.

For the heck of it, I put back in the Sovteks (after many months), and abracadabra - the system sounds its best. Nice microdynamics. Very clean and not the least bit harsh. No unwanted noise. Just sounds very good.

Is anyone else living happily with the "hard sounding stock sovtek 6922s"? Just curious. I am not going to take a stab at some megabuck Telefunkens based on the lack of improvement trying more moderate tube "upgrades".

Are Sovteks underrated?
dozer

Showing 1 response by dozer

dozer OP
15 posts
 
I'm going to put the BugleBoys back in there and try to play them longer. They were freshly swapped in when I noticed the lack of bass, so maybe that was part of it. I can't tell from Joe's Tube Lore if they're genuine. They do have the four partitions at the top.

I have to go back in there with an open mind I guess. Maybe tubes just aren't for me period, I'll see. The Anthem was such a good buy that I hate to give it up (it'll be for SS if I do) - but I don't know that there's any "tube magic" going on. It just seems to be a good preamp.

Where can I get ELECTRO-HARMONIX? I browsed everywhere I could think of on line (all the audioasylum links). Didn't see any 6dj8/6922s of that brand.

Thanks.
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