AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => Tube-o-phile Circle => Topic started by: jtsnead on 6 Mar 2010, 02:25 pm
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Has anyone tried these tubes, they are always on ebay
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Guess not
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let me know what you think, my Rogue 90 has them in the driver stage,
the bottle shape would cool with the other tubes
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Boy, I've seen pretty pictures lots of times but that is a notably pretty picture. Don't know anything bout these tubes, tho. Sorry. Hope they're wonderful.
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Sorry Zman,
I have Sylvania's not the Sophia's yet, been messing w/
all this class T & D stuff "Blasphemy I Know",
Still havent tried your battery supply yet, maybe tonight :oops:
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Those look more like a CV181 than a 6SN7 to me, even though it clearly says 6SN7 on the glass. Do you know if they are a true 6SN7, or an equivalent?
I also got confused with The Shuguang Treasure Series CV-181Z, which is said to be an actual 6SN7 and not a real CV-181 . . . . . :scratch:
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Maybe you're right zman. Here's where I got confused :
The CV-181 is not mentioned in the Duncan Amps pages as a close or identical substitute for the 6SN7 :
http://tdsl.duncanamps.com/show.php?des=6SN7
http://tdsl.duncanamps.com/show.php?des=6SN7GTB
Also, according to thetubestore, "The Shuguang Treasure Series CV-181Z tube is a unique take on the 6SN7 tube. Unlike a NOS CV-181 tube, the Shuguang CV-181-Z tube is a safe replacement in any 6SN7 circuit."
That sounds to me like a CV181 was not intended to directly replace the 6SN7. Not that it matters, but it still makes me wonder if the circuit requirements are identical. I have no proof, just curiosity.
Does someone have a data sheet?
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A set of the 6SN7's are on their way to me as I type so will let folks know what I think of them....
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They are garbage. If the tubes are not "JAN" designated, than they are pure trash. And all new production tubes are horrendous. If any serious person here were to test them, they would see that new production is 100% crap.
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Nagy's
So all those folks who like the tubes aren't "serious"?? And you have tested every single one of the new production tubes in every possible unit?? Wow, you have more time on your hands than I do!!
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Actually I've designed 300B amps in the past, with 6SN7 tubes. I've used them quite a bit. If the tube is not JAN designated, it is garbage, pure and simple. It's not living in the past. New production 6SN7 tubes are noisy trash that fail prematurely. Considering that NOS JAN tubes can be found everywhere, it is extremely upsetting that so many audiophiles fall for this Chinese/Russian new production garbage.
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Considering that NOS JAN tubes can be found everywhere,
That philosophy only helps the sellers on ebay. I have an awful lot of other peoples garbage that I purchased as NOS JAN from dudes with 100 percent feed back.
Audiogon too.
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Plenty of online suppliers have JAN tubes consistently, angela.com, triodeelectronics, partsconnexion.com, etc. Yup, sometimes you can get ripped off on eBay, but sometimes you can get pretty good deals. Test your tubes when you receive them, if they measure poor, send them back, or file a complaint with eBay, or PayPal if that's how you payed. They're pretty good at refunding money.
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They are garbage. If the tubes are not "JAN" designated, than they are pure trash. And all new production tubes are horrendous. If any serious person here were to test them, they would see that new production is 100% crap.
I'm serious and I test modern production Chinese tubes with an Amplitrex AT-1000 tube tester. We grade them A and B and rejects, the A and B grade Chinese tubes, TJ FullMusic (who make Sophia tubes) and the Shuguang Treasure tubes are premium tubes that equal or exceed anything in current or past production. We have the professional reviews, forum reviews, customer feedback and test results to back up this statement. Over 4000 of these tubes have been sold in the past year and a half since we received our Amplitrex and the premature failure rate is almost zero, much less than 1%. Every customer I have communicated with is thrilled with their tubes and many have now abandoned NOS tube searches.
zmanastronomy I use the TJ 6SN7 and 6SL7 tubes as stock now in our RITA amps, they are great tubes, they need about 100 hours to open up, enjoy your tubes and happy listening.
Ian
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My TJ FullMusic 300B SE matched pair only lasted 6 months. They were the grade A balloon shape, special edition, and best of the best. About 700 dollars for the pair. :bawl:
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My TJ FullMusic 300B SE matched pair only lasted 6 months. They were the grade A balloon shape, special edition, and best of the best. About 700 dollars for the pair. :bawl:
Grade A from us, we never rated the TJ SE as graded, they were either to spec or rejected? We offered an optional 1 year warranty on ours, don't remember a pair ever going south, had a couple of singles go.
Our Grade A testing only came into effect for the Treasure tubes, we never offered Grade A TJ 300B/SE
Cheers,
Ian
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Thank's for the correction Ian. Yep, only one 300B failed and I don't remember which "method" qualified them for the premium price. Since they were purchased as a matched pair, they both had to go back to GF to get a match for the one that survived. Rachael said that you guys were getting too many failures with the TJs and there were none left to match at that time. I really liked the sound of my TJ ballons while I had them. Very, very good sound from that tube. I got the Treasure 'Black Bottle' 300B-Z as replacements and they don't have quite the magic. But still, I appreciate the fact that the warranty was honored even if the replacement tubes had to be different. It was a fair deal. It looks like the TJs are back in stock now and at a lower price too. It's all a little bit too confusing for me to keep track of. :scratch:
Anyway, back to 6SN7s, it's just my long winded way of saying that I'm leery of spending big money on Chinese tubes because mine didn't last very long. I probably need a larger sample size to make a fair judgement. I'll man up and try again.
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I have 26 hrs on my Sophias and they sound very good. About another 25hrs and I'll chime in on what there doing. So far so good.
Just wondering if you have an update on the Sophia 6SN7? How is it sounding in your system?
Thanks,
Gary
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Will have a pair of Sophia Electric 6SN7 tubes in the classifieds pretty quick. No hours on them at all. Original boxes of course :)
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well, the deal fell through with what they were going to be used in so i went to the SS route which is a conrad-johnson, thus I will not be using them :(
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I've got 80+ hrs. so far and I feel they are pretty well burt in.
I've always bought and looked for the holy grail through NOS and old post war tubes be it RCA, Sylvania,etc,etc. My journey is over.
I generaly use RCA 5691 for the 6SL7 and either a Sylvania 6SN7 GTB and sometimes GTA as my phase splitter.
In my system (Almarro A318B) the RCA 6SN7s always sounded very lush but a little rolled off on the top end and a little bloated on the bottom end. The Sylvanias always sounded a little edgy on the top end and not as rich in the mids. The Sophia's have a very lush midrange and a very controled lower end, and the highs are well extended and very silky. They seem to do everything right and nothing neg. stands out. The sound stage is very open and 3D. To the point of effortless depth. Imaging is very precise. I can locate the instument exactly where it is. I don't think I will be looking for NOS perfection any more. I am very satisfied with the Sophia's. I am on a tight budget, and though there are probably better sounding tubes out there, I wont be able to afford them at the moment. I hear the Black Treasure's are very good but they cross over the budget I can afford. Maybe one day.
If you're looking for a beautiful sounding tube at the price of a good NOS, this could be the one to buy. Hope this helps anyone looking for something different. John
Hi John,
So,ytel
me where you got those Sophia tubes and how much? If you don't want to comment here, then PM me.
Ray Bronk
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Can anyone comment on the sonic difference between the Sophia Electric 6sn7 vs Shuguang Treasure cv181? I'm looking to upgrade the tubes in my Modwright Oppo 83. Thanks
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Well, I'm like 8 years behind times with respect to this column here.
I just listened with my Sophia Electric 6SN7 tubes again. I believe when I bought them they were Grade B rated. Regardless, I've always likes/used Shuguant 6SN7s 'cos when I was in China way back like 10 years ago, I bought a dozen pairs of Shuguang's 6SN7s at like $11 a pair. When I bought the SE tubes like 5 years ago I thought I DISLIKED it. The Shuguangs beat the SE's HANDS DOWN, WAY DOWN. Tonight, it's like the 3rd time I had the SE's in my system, TRYING TO justify the prices I paid (I think I paid like $100 a pair!). I STILL, STILL "HATED" them. The "TONALITY" of the SEs is just lousy, while the Shuguangs always give me pleasure. I'd say the $100+ spent on the SEs were pretty much a waste. :duh:
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Thanks for your first hand impressions Goldlizsts.
Anyone can compair these two modern brands to RCA NOS 6SN7/6SL7?
Thanks
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RCA I only have the VT231's, which I like also, tho with the RCA VT231s in my opinion the tonality of the Shuguang is warmer. A long while ago, I was fortunate that some very experienced audiophile told me about the various 6SN7's, and I got a pair each of the better, if not the best, 6SN7s, TungSol, Sylvania, RCA, etc. I think I have like a dozen pairs of them.... Here and there I tube-roll. Well.... in recent years, like most of the audio fanatics in my circle, somehow we all sloooowed down a lot. Only here and there I turn on the system to play a little.... :bawl:
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Thanks bro, hope this help:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-reference-6sn7-thread.117677/
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I have tried a ton of 6SN7's ( Modwright Oppo 105 ) and found the Sophia's light years ahead of all the other 6SN7's I tired......Tried Bad Boys, Tungsol, Chrome tops, GTB and GTA and Sophia's are way ahead of all others......I gues it depends on the equipment there going into....The pair I use now are 3 Years old ( knock wood ) and still sound terrific..........