Well, a few months ago I bought a pair of TUNG-SOL 6SN7s from Cryoset. I'm not really hip to the whole Cryo-scene, but it seemed like a sweet deal to get my tubes stressed, burned in, and matched for nearly the same price as getting them anywhere else. I have no idea if the Cryo-thing makes a real improvement to the tube but I certainly appreciate the attention to detail in preparing a matched pair of tubes for the customer.
The tubes are used in my Audio Note Quest Silver Sigs., which is a 6SN7 driving a 300B, both powered by a 5U4GB rectifier. For the first 50+ hours of use the TungSols sounded very lively and dynamic. They were a little too lively and downright aggressive, or so I thought at the time. After another 100+ hours of listening things settled down nicely but they retained what I would consider a very spirited sense of drive. I went back to my trusty NOS stash for a memory refreshor and grabbed a set of Sylvanias. Hmmmm........ a little too laid back and slow. I don't remember these being that way. I used the old Sylvanias for a few weeks just to recalibrate my senses. But instead of trying some of my CBS or KenRad brands in search of the holy grail I decided to pop the Tung-Sols back in. I think I like these.
Yes, I like them very much, especially considering their cost and availability. I'm going to pick up another set before I explore some of the other choices mentioned in this thread. Synergy/Create sounds like my next stop.
Train kept a rollin' . . . . . .
