[mcullinan]

These are the best tubes Ive heard so far...

The 1578 Russian electron tube is a metal based octal tube manufactured for the Russian military and used in radar gear as well as electonic scopes etc

I purchased them from Paul Lindemann over on Audiogon. His prices are some of the best I could find. I thought he was a nice guy beyond the great tube find. His email is chowbeardog@sbcglobal.net I am not affiliated in any way.

Anyways I also purchased a pair of Sylvanias Jan 1940s bottom flashing.. very nice/ Maybe a tad too bloomy in the mids for me.
The 1578s are lean mean music machines! Extended quiet and neutral. They have a metal base and 1578 printed on them. Very nice!
Mike 

[zybar]

Mike,

Have you tried any of the other usual suspects?

VT-231 Tung-Sol, round black plates - Clean, fast, the best in everything, wide bandwidth, great resolution. If you can’t find the Music, it’s not the tube’s fault.

VT-231 RCA, black plates, rich harmonic structure, beautiful timbre and voicing, wide soundstage

6SN7W Sylvania (Mislabeled by me as the 6SN7WGT), black plates – Tied for second and came in first if your system sounds a little laid back, especially some single ended amplifiers – Excellent low level detail resolution, very immediate sounding with a lot of Slam. There are three types of these tubes, two large bottle types, one has a metal ring and one smaller bottle with s smaller plate structure. The smaller one has better low level detail and the larger ones have more slam.

VT-231 Raytheon, black flat plates - like the Tungsol a little sweeter, nice balance of detail and timbre

VT-231 Ken-Rad, flat black plates - Great Bass, drive, sweet midrange, good bandwidth and

VT-231 Sylvania, black plates, wide bandwidth, well balanced, excellent sound stage and air


Also, what type of equipment are you using the tubes in?

I am using my 6SN7's in Atma-Sphere MA1's and Audio Mirror SET amps.

I have all of the above tubes outside of the VT-231 Tung-Sol, round black plates.  The Tung-Sol's run $400 or more a pair and are just too pricey to play with.

In both sets of amps, tube rolling is clearly audible and definitely influences the sound.

George

[mcullinan]

I think the Sylvania I bought was the VT-231s. These
I am using the 1578s in my Supratek Sauvignon preamp...
Sorry to be so nondescript. The 1578s might be worth checking out. Paul thinks they are on par with the Tung Sols and are half the price.
Mike

[Pondfish]

I'm a fan of the Ken-Rad VT231 with the staggered plates...clear and dark glass sound the same to me.
LarryK

[arthurs]

I'm a fan of the Ken-Rad VT231 with the staggered plates...clear and dark glass sound the same to me.
LarryK

+1   

[jbtrio]

 I have all those tubes Zybar listed. All are very good to excellent depending on your equipment.

Mike, I too have the Supratek Sauvignon and love it. IMS the Russian 1578 had great clarity but was a little thin in the midrange.

My 3 favorites are the Tung-sol RP, Sylvania 6sn7w, and 52 Sylvania bad boy's (3 hole plates with copper post) these are always in heavy rotation.

If you can , try the 52 Syl. not as expensive as the TS or W's. Vocals are very natural with great bass,detail,and a nice airy treble.
They are a little fuller sounding then the other two.

Andy at VTS has nice quiet ones which we need for our Supratek.

 When funds permitting, I think if you change the regulators and rectifier also, to NOS tubes your sound will improve even farther.

Joe

[goldlizsts]

Mike,

Have you tried any of the other usual suspects?

VT-231 Tung-Sol, round black plates - Clean, fast, the best in everything, wide bandwidth, great resolution. If you can’t find the Music, it’s not the tube’s fault.

VT-231 RCA, black plates, rich harmonic structure, beautiful timbre and voicing, wide soundstage

6SN7W Sylvania (Mislabeled by me as the 6SN7WGT), black plates – Tied for second and came in first if your system sounds a little laid back, especially some single ended amplifiers – Excellent low level detail resolution, very immediate sounding with a lot of Slam. There are three types of these tubes, two large bottle types, one has a metal ring and one smaller bottle with s smaller plate structure. The smaller one has better low level detail and the larger ones have more slam.

VT-231 Raytheon, black flat plates - like the Tungsol a little sweeter, nice balance of detail and timbre

VT-231 Ken-Rad, flat black plates - Great Bass, drive, sweet midrange, good bandwidth and

VT-231 Sylvania, black plates, wide bandwidth, well balanced, excellent sound stage and air


Also, what type of equipment are you using the tubes in?

I am using my 6SN7's in Atma-Sphere MA1's and Audio Mirror SET amps.

I have all of the above tubes outside of the VT-231 Tung-Sol, round black plates.  The Tung-Sol's run $400 or more a pair and are just too pricey to play with.

In both sets of amps, tube rolling is clearly audible and definitely influences the sound.

George

Tung-Sol VT-231s are the best in my 6SN7 book.  Ken-Rad VT 231s 2nd.  RCA VT-231s are fast and good, but less warm than the other 2.  The others may be good, but probably that depends on application.  I was surprised to come across the Chinese Shuguant 6SN7s several years ago when I made my preamp.  It's a very desirable, less expensive all-arounder.  While I kept my Tung-Sols under wraps, I use the Shuguang as my everyday 6SN7 tube. I presume 6SN7 tubes are good for preamp applications. 

Shek

[topround]

I am using TungSol 12sn7 GT round plates, best tube yet I have heard in my Mapletree preamp.
I liked the Sylvania's but just love these music making pieces of glass and metal!!
But they ain't cheap

[jhm731]

RCA 5692s always sounded best in my MFA preamps.

[mcullinan]

I have all those tubes Zybar listed. All are very good to excellent depending on your equipment.

Mike, I too have the Supratek Sauvignon and love it. IMS the Russian 1578 had great clarity but was a little thin in the midrange.

My 3 favorites are the Tung-sol RP, Sylvania 6sn7w, and 52 Sylvania bad boy's (3 hole plates with copper post) these are always in heavy rotation.

If you can , try the 52 Syl. not as expensive as the TS or W's. Vocals are very natural with great bass,detail,and a nice airy treble.
They are a little fuller sounding then the other two.

Andy at VTS has nice quiet ones which we need for our Supratek.

 When funds permitting, I think if you change the regulators and rectifier also, to NOS tubes your sound will improve even farther.

Joe

Thats funny ... from my impression the Sylvanias were bowed out in the midrange and not even top to bottom. The 1578s seem natural, extended, airy but with a tad less warmth than the Sylvanias. For me the mids were a tad too hot or as I said bowed out. The 1578s seemed much more blanced, with better bass too! We do have different ears! I am using A 1950s Mullard 5ar4 rectifier, and hand selected Shuang KT66 from TAD.
I could use some KT66 suggestions ... though these change the sound less.
I  think I will try those bad boys, as Ive heard good things...
Mike

[BlkNotes]

Hello;

    Interesteing discussion. I was just thinking about this topic. Is the 12sn a direct interchangeable with the 6sn7?

I was just going to ask if anyone has heard or compared the Russian 6n8s NOS tubes. I see that someone has posted that the 1578 is the only good variant in that series.


As an aside---does anyone have any suggestions for the best 2A3 tubes?

Cheers;
BN

[Frihed91]

Hello;

    Interesteing discussion. I was just thinking about this topic. Is the 12sn a direct interchangeable with the 6sn7?

I was just going to ask if anyone has heard or compared the Russian 6n8s NOS tubes. I see that someone has posted that the 1578 is the only good variant in that series.

No, they are not interchangeable. You need a 12 volt heater.

The 6n8s is a lousy tube, except in its 1578 configuration.  Ask Paul Lindemann.  Be very careful about what you buy because many sites are misrepresenting awful sounding 6n8s as a 1578.

[mcullinan]

Hello;

    Interesteing discussion. I was just thinking about this topic. Is the 12sn a direct interchangeable with the 6sn7?

I was just going to ask if anyone has heard or compared the Russian 6n8s NOS tubes. I see that someone has posted that the 1578 is the only good variant in that series.

No, they are not interchangeable. You need a 12 volt heater.

The 6n8s is a lousy tube, except in its 1578 configuration.  Ask Paul Lindemann.  Be very careful about what you buy because many sites are misrepresenting awful sounding 6n8s as a 1578.

The internal construction of the 1578 is totally different than the 6n8s and I read they sounded bad and also found some dishonest people selling the non-1578 for uber expensive prices.
Mike

[tanchiro58]

Hello;

    Interesteing discussion. I was just thinking about this topic. Is the 12sn a direct interchangeable with the 6sn7?

I was just going to ask if anyone has heard or compared the Russian 6n8s NOS tubes. I see that someone has posted that the 1578 is the only good variant in that series.


As an aside---does anyone have any suggestions for the best 2A3 tubes?

Cheers;
BN


I have heard the Raytheon 2C50 12.3V heater sounds much better than top of the line 6SN7 (round plate) if you use with a certain design with R-cores output transformers.

http://www.wps.com/archives/tube-datasheets/Datasheets/Raytheon-DL-Q-7101-11-56-40M/12.JPG

[jbtrio]

Hey Mike,

For the regulators try Sylvania 6F6g. The right ones have round plates and come either in clear or grey glass not the metal ones.
They do make a difference especially in the bass.

The GEC Kt-66 are also very nice but are expensive.

Your rectifier choice is very good.The older ones with double -d getters are better then the newer single halo-getter.
Alot of Supratek owners also like the Bendix 6106 for rectifier duty. IMHO, I like the GZ34 better.

Joe

[JoshK]

Just a friendly FYI.  A 6H8C/6N8S with a metal base is not necessarily a 1578.  1578s have 1578 written on them.  1578s go for a lot of money these days as the cat is out of the bag.  There are a lot of 6H8Cs with metal bases going for big money, because people think they are 1578s.  Caveat emptor.

[Berndt]

i thought the 1578 was a metal base 6sl7?

[JoshK]

1579 is the military version of the 6SL7, the 1578 is the military version of the 6SN7.  Usually the 1579 isn't a metal base, atleast most of the ones I've come across.

[aerius]

My personal favourite is the RCA VT-231, but in the 12SN7 version since I'm a cheapskate DIY person.  Problem is it ends up sounding too warm & fuzzy with many tube amps, which for whatever reason are already balanced to the warm side.  If the tube gear is designed for neutrality then this tube works great.

[Berndt]

My personal favourite is the RCA VT-231, but in the 12SN7 version since I'm a cheapskate DIY person.  Problem is it ends up sounding too warm & fuzzy with many tube amps, which for whatever reason are already balanced to the warm side.  If the tube gear is designed for neutrality then this tube works great.

Have you tried the 12sx7?