"
You’ll find countless forum threads on various sites dating back to
early to mid 2000s when good NOS 6SN7s were more readily available, more
affordable. And, more recent debates the past ten plus years on various
rebranded Chinese, Czhec, and Russian tubes. After trying some
unobtanium quads of 6SN7 NOS, a few different re-issues, and some higher
end boutique Chinese stuff made for resellers...
.. The more you’ll read the more confusing it gets..."
Yup.
Mr. decooney -
Thanks for posting. Nice to see you here...
Yes, I've read through those countless threads and concur with your comments. The challenge I find is that, because of their age, some of those threads have become very large and I find it tiring to read each and every post. And the Chinese tubes seem to have evolved significantly over the last decade and the earlier criticisms are no longer accurate. As some of the comments on this thread show, it appears that some folks are finding some of the new Chinese tubes to be worthy. The purpose of this thread is to provide a place in which those who are interested in this topic can post their experience.
The whole system dependency thing is really really true. I have no dissatisfaction with my current system. But I am curious about the other tubes out there. Seems like it will take several years before I fully explore this. The current pair I'm running - the Russian tubes - were the highest-measuring, most closely matched pair I've ever seen. And they were also the cheapest. Whether they've changed as they've burned in or whether my hearing/perceptions have adapted to their sound I can't say. The system sounds great!
Thanks again - ALL - for sharing your experience on this thread.
Here's a thought, intended to help others who might read this thread in the future - it might be helpful if we list the equipment and system setup we're running the tubes in -
Here's my summary;
6SN7s are in my Supratek Cortese, into a Quad 909 SS power amp and Quad ESL 2805 speakers. Soundstaging is superb, instrumental tonalities and the human voice are rendered in a realistic, true-to-my-life-experience-and-ears way. Timbres are neither euphonic or thin (excessively trebly). Leading edges and note decay seem spot-on.
.. The more you’ll read the more confusing it gets..."
Yup.
Mr. decooney -
Thanks for posting. Nice to see you here...
Yes, I've read through those countless threads and concur with your comments. The challenge I find is that, because of their age, some of those threads have become very large and I find it tiring to read each and every post. And the Chinese tubes seem to have evolved significantly over the last decade and the earlier criticisms are no longer accurate. As some of the comments on this thread show, it appears that some folks are finding some of the new Chinese tubes to be worthy. The purpose of this thread is to provide a place in which those who are interested in this topic can post their experience.
The whole system dependency thing is really really true. I have no dissatisfaction with my current system. But I am curious about the other tubes out there. Seems like it will take several years before I fully explore this. The current pair I'm running - the Russian tubes - were the highest-measuring, most closely matched pair I've ever seen. And they were also the cheapest. Whether they've changed as they've burned in or whether my hearing/perceptions have adapted to their sound I can't say. The system sounds great!
Thanks again - ALL - for sharing your experience on this thread.
Here's a thought, intended to help others who might read this thread in the future - it might be helpful if we list the equipment and system setup we're running the tubes in -
Here's my summary;
6SN7s are in my Supratek Cortese, into a Quad 909 SS power amp and Quad ESL 2805 speakers. Soundstaging is superb, instrumental tonalities and the human voice are rendered in a realistic, true-to-my-life-experience-and-ears way. Timbres are neither euphonic or thin (excessively trebly). Leading edges and note decay seem spot-on.