New High-end 6SN7 Tubes

[Bigfish8]

Guys:

I have a friend that is waiting for a pair of these:  http://grantfidelity.com/site/Shuguang+Treasure+CV181-Z  He plans to compare them to a pair of 6SN7 Tung Sol Round Plates.  Do any of you have any experience with these tubes?  While expensive it would be nice to find a quality new 6SN7 tube to at least rival the Tung Sol Round Plates.  They are becoming more difficult to find and are very, very expensive!

Ken

[richidoo]

I ordered some Treasures at the time I ordered the 300Bs. After a few months of delays and failed inspection I got sick of waiting and cancelled them. I have some great vintage tubes in there already, so I will try the Treasures later. I would be confident in buying them, even at the high price. Good stuff.

[Rob S.]

Ken,
    Where do you stand on this tube purchase?   did you buy these?   

Rob S>

[Bigfish8]

Ken,
    Where do you stand on this tube purchase?   did you buy these?   

Rob S>

Hi Rob:

No, I have not taken the plunge!  My friend has not yet received his pair but he told me he is expecting them this week.  He plans to evaluate them in his gear versus Tung-Sol Round Plates.  If he tells me they are on par then I will want to take the plunge.

Ken

[philotechnic]

I'm the friend Ken is referring to:

I've been curious about these tubes for use in the Modwright Transporter, as they could represent a viable alternative to NOS 6SN7's.  I bought a pair a few weeks ago and had them sent to MW for Dan to check over and confirm that they were compatible tubes for the TP.  Dan received them just over a week ago and gave the green light to use them .  He likes them so much that he listened in his home system over a weekend and they're now doing the rounds with the MW guys!  Guess I'll see them one day

I'll compare them with my TSRP 6SN7's, along with the 7N7's, 6F8G's............etc, etc and report back.

Phil

[Triode Pete]

Gentlemen,
My $0.02... I highly encourage all of you to try some of the great, USA-made tubes froms the 40's, 50's & 60's. Over the last 10 years, I've collected quite a few (all different brands) & they're terrific sounding. I've found many of them at garage sales (pennies per tube) & actually eBay at bargain prices. Take note on the off brands (Hammond / Baldwin, etc. that have been pre-screened for musicality!!!)

Here's a link (no affliation) on descriptions as well as three YouTube Videos on the 6SN7's... great stuff!!! Scroll all the way down for videos.

http://www.audiotubes.com/6sn7.htm

Audios,
Pete

[rollo]

Thanks Pete. I'm a Sylvania, Tungsol, kinda guy. Love that tube. I'm thinking of modding the amp to use a 6SN7 instead of the 5687 for the driver tube. The new Sophia 211s have opened up finally. In the beginning say first 100 hours I was beginning to think they were a bit soft and mushy like your experience with their 300B Meshplate, after 200 hours BINGO!
   I was using GE211s before as well as RCAs 211s, before the Sophia arrived. The input tube and driver tubes were selected for those tubes. The setup I used for the RCA seems to work out best. A Mullard 1950s blackplate 188cc [ input] and a Tungsol round plate 5687 [driver]. With the RCA 211 a Siemens NOS 6DJ8  [input]and the same Tungsol 5687.
   For my Loesch Preamp the output tube makes all the difference. For phono a Tungsol 5687 is the clear winner. When listening to Cd's an Amperex Orange Globe 6DJ8 or Phillips Mini watt [ RCA 211] takes it a Mullard 6DJ8 [ GE 211] takes it. Love dem tubes.


charles

[Tdangelo]

Hmm, I thought these weren't compatible with the MW Transporter. See this thread:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=56360.msg642779#msg642779

am I missing something? 

Tony

[Bigfish8]

Hmm, I thought these weren't compatible with the MW Transporter. See this thread:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=56360.msg642779#msg642779

am I missing something? 

Tony

Tony,

I know that Phil will respond.  Phil has had the tubes shipped directly to Dan Wright for his approval to use in the Transporter.  Apparently, Dan has given his approval and eventually Phil will compare them to Vintage Tubes to include the TungSol Round Plates.  Based on the tube rolling that many of us have conducted with the Transporter the TungSol Round Plates currently are considered the best of the best for the Transporter.  Hopefully, Phil will tell us that these new production tubes are as good in his system.

Ken

[richidoo]

There was some confusion because this review:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/shuguang_treasures_cv181_e.html
claims the tube's specs are different than the spec sheet published on grantfidelity's website:
http://grantfidelity.com/site/files/shuguang%20treasure%20tube%20spec%20cv-181.pdf

Apparently old vintage CV181 have lower max plate and higher filament current than 6sn7 spec, limiting their use as 6sn7 replacement to circuits that can handle the higher filament and which don't push the plate voltage too high.

It could be that the filament was changed in response to the tnt-audio.com review's warning, and Phil's conversation with Ian predates the change.

[philotechnic]

Ken's correct - Dan tested these under load in the TP and they hit the 6SN7 spec right in the middle.  I made the AC post, as philistine, based on another TP owner on AC having an issue.  A few weeks ago I took a fresh look at the Treasure spec on the Grant website, and compared it against the 6SN7 spec on the Duncan Amps website.  The spec looked identical and Dan's confirmed this in situ.

The rationale beyond this is to find an available 6SN7 that is as good as or, hopefully better than, the best of the NOS tubes that are available (such as the Tung Sol Round Plate).

I managed to wrestle them out of Dan's hands, he's impressed with them, and they're currently on their way to me.  I'll update the progress on these.

[richidoo]

Awesome! Can't wait to hear your impression Phil. Then Ken will want to get some, and then I can try them in my amps!    

[Tdangelo]

thanks for the update

Tony

[philotechnic]

They've arrived.
Here are a few photos to get Ken's juices flowing:

[smg id=343width=600]Black Treasure Case

[smg id=344width=600]Black Treasure Case Detail

[smg id=345width=600]

[smg id=347width=600]Audio Porn For Ken - EML 5U4G and Black Treasures

A teaser - these tubes are something special

Happy Thanksgiving

[Rob S.]

Love it.  Box, packing, tubes.