Dude's 6SN7 replacements with Chinese CV-181/6SN7

I have not tried those, but use 1940's RCA smoked glass and love them. Andy at Vintage Tube Services is the place to buy NOS RCA's.

Let us know if you try those CV181 tubes!

I like the RCA VT 231 smoked glass tubes as they have a nice rich tone in the Dude. The 1940's RCA clear glass are also quite good.

I like RCA tubes from the 40's. The other 6sn7's I like are the black base Marconi's.

The Dude is really amazing sounding and takes about 200-300 hours to fully open up and settle into the sweet music it is capable of. Congrats on your Dude purchase!

I also purchased my tubes from Andy including the same od3 and 6080 tubes you have coming.

The first thing you must do is get a power cable from Paul. It will be the biggest improvement you will hear without a doubt. I use nothing but Paul wire.

I owned your speakers for a couple of years as well as the Bolero's. I love
Silverline speakers.

Yes I have and I did find they made a difference. I had Andy at Vintage Tube Services supply me with strong nos rca's for the 6080 and od3. Nice inprovement for me. I also use a good strong nos RCA 6sn7 from Andy.

Well worth the investment. I keep the original tubes as backup now.

Biggest improvement in the Dude by the proverbial mile is upgrading the two coupling caps. No other improvement comes close. No power cord etc...

Get the Duelund CAST caps 630V from Parts Connextion. They have a 70 percent off sale. Any value .47 uf and above. They will take your Dude to a level that will blow your musical senses folks. An absolute must if you can afford it. The CAST cap is pure music and transformational my Dude loving friends. The Dude's circuit deserves the very best and the CAST's are the very best.

Abruce,

Perhaps it would be a draw? Perhaps both are as good as it gets and it will come down to preferences? I do know the CAST cap upgrade mentioned above made my Dude all it could be.

I am in Southerm, MN if we wanted to compare.....

My rca tubes are a mix of the 40's and 50's. 6sn7's from the 50's? I am
pretty sure the 6080 and 0d3 is from the 40's.