As with my friends Phil and Ken, I too have acquired a rather extensive array of rectifier and signal tubes for my hyper modded MWTP. Each combination reveals compelling strengths and weaknesses. Typically, my ears seem to drift to a "thinness" or an "excess" in one or more characteristics of the sonic presentation of any given combo.
An inflection point for me came with the arrival of a Tung-Sol VT244 rectifier several months ago (based upon a recommendation from mikel51 for which I would like to say a hearty "Thanks!"). I very much enjoy the EML rectifier and the Tung-Sol 6SN7 round plate combo and feel that they owe no apology for their exquisite performance. Truly exceptional mids and soundstage but <in my system> a trifle lacking with bass drive and upper highs. With that said, the TS VT244 always seemed to have more drive, dynamics and contol over the EML. Unfortunately these qualities would shift unpredictably as new signal tubes were rolled.
Quite by chance, I would up with an inexpensive pair of NOS RCA 6SN7GTB's with the wafer bases. These are probably the last generation of the 6SN7 design and were made in the mid to late 60's. To my surprise, these signal tubes simply got along better with the TS VT244 than any of my tragically expensive, older issue 6SN7's. My subsequent best efforts with rolling the other tubes in my collection finally succumbed to this combination establishing itself as a mainstay.
Several posts back, our prez, Ted, recommended that "you don't mess with magic". I agree. While YMMV, this combo <in my system> really delivers the goods... solid image and excellent dyamics with nothing missing in the highs, mids or lows. For the first time there was nothing whatsoever to criticize as missing, excessive or negative.
If memory serves, I snagged my wafer based RCA 6SN7GTB's for ten bucks. A NOS TS VT244 is somewhat more rare and expensive, but when found, runs between $150-$200.
If Phil and Ken think that the Black Treasures rock, I'll probably have to buy a pair. These guys have great ears and know their stuff. Better than what I'm hearing right now would clearly put me over the top.
Nice to see activity in this valuable thread once again.