Linlai E 6sn7 tubes

Hi,  I just stumbled upon this interesting thread.   Does anyone here know if either the Linlai E 6sn7 or Psvane CV181-T MKII will fit the Cary Audio SLP-05 preamp without having to use a socket saver?

Thanks very much.

Hey Ray,  I guess as long as you're happy with the sound.  That's all that matters.  I was doing it for my own curiosity.   

Anyway, these Linlai might just be a tad too tall for my setup, so I haven't really decided whether to go ahead and purchase them yet.   But I'm definitely interested in looking for good sounding new production tubes and not relying on NOS tubes.  Who knows when the supply of NOS tubes will eventually dry up.

Thanks @danmar123,  that's very helpful.  Sorry, just to confirm, the tubes that you got from @bugredmachine are the "Global Linlai" tubes, correct?

Hey @lowrider57,  Linlai Global does publish their authorized dealers here.   Right now there is only one listed, which is Grand Fidelity.

OK, I see.  Thanks @danmar123.    

Hey @ram18,  if you go back a few pages in this thread,  I posted my email conversation with Global Lanlai about the 2 different looking 6SN7 elite tubes currently available in the US market.   They would not acknowledge the ones with the horizontal letterings are their tubes or counterfeits.  They simply told me to buy at my own risk if I don't buy from their global official retailer, which Grand Fidelity is the only one so far.

Here's the reply I got:

"We do not do forensic investigation of other online sellers. This is stated on our website if you read all contents - it is particularly not possible in China for Chinese sellers. Anyone proceed at their own risk."

Hi, I've been following this thread and do have an interest in the Linlai E 6SN7.

From what I read do far I see a few options to purchase these tubes:

• Grand Fidelity
• Viva Tubes
• eBay
• jjyaudio.com
• mableaudio.com

Looks like Grand Fidelity is the "official" authorized dealer, and their price seems to be the highest.   Viva Tubes seems to be questionable.   I'm a little bit uneasy with buying from eBay, but I guess most sellers are legit.  I believe the last 2 that I listed are Chinese retailers, and they seem to have the best price.   I wonder if they are genuine Linlai dealers.   I'm leaning towards the Chinese dealers because of the price.

Can anyone share their experience with the Chinese dealers?  Are the tubes in good quality in terms of noise and matching etc.?

I'm not in a hurry to buy yet.  I'm still researching and reading up on these tubes, but so far most people seem to be happy with them.

Thanks!

Hey @vivatubes, thanks for clarifying.  Can you let us know why your company is not listed in this Reseller Locator page at the Linlai Global website?

Hi @vivatubes, that's great.  That would definitely help erasing some doubts and speculations for many of us here.   Thanks!

Hey @decooney, great observation there.   I guess the mystery continues...

Maybe the best thing to do is the send a message to Linlai Global and ask them if both are authentic Linlai tubes.

After re-reading their Buyer Beware page.  I'm beginning to think the lower picture posted by @twoleftears might be a copy.

Maybe @vivatubes can clarify why there are physical differences beyond just a branding issue.  

Hey @audioquest4life, your guess is as good as mine.  😀

Hey guys, I had decided to send en email to Linlai Global to ask about the 2 different looking Elite 6SN7 tubes that can be purchased in the US market today. I sent them the same 2 pictures that @twoleftears posted earlier in this thread. I specifically asked if the 2nd one in the picture (the one with the horizontal labelling) is fake or not.

They actually got back to me rather quickly. They pointed me to their website which I went ahead and read it carefully. It mentions that the "Linlai Global" tubes with the vertical label are designed and manufactured for the western markets specifically for western music.

The website also mentioned that tubes manufactured for the Asian/Chinese markets are tuned to Asian music and has a different logo, written in Chinese. These Asian market tubes will not have warranty outside of their Asian market.

They wouldn’t answer my question of whether the tube in the 2nd photo is fake or not.

Here’s my thought from reading that web page carefully. The tubes that are sold by Vivatubes and some eBay sellers are either fake (logo not written in Chinese), or made by Linlai specifically for the Asian markets. According to what’s explained on their website, the tubes for global markest and the ones for the Asian markets should sound differently.

I guess the only way to find out is to do a shoot out between the two.

I just went back and reread some comments on this thread and found this from @danmar123 

I been buying from Viva for years, that's why I went & purchased the 6sn7 from them. The tubes they sent me, did not look, or have the same sound signature like the one's from Grant Fidelity or China. ''First hand experience''. Viva received them today & refunded my monies in full. I'm sure I'll be dealing with them again, unless I'm on their BLACK LIST....

That sounds consistent to what I read on the Global Linlai website.   Since Grand Fidelity is the only authorized 'global' retailer,  then probably the tubes from Vivatubes are sourced from tubes made for the Asian market.

Hey @danmar123, question for you.  Which tubes sound better to you?  My guess is you probably like the GF tubes better?  

Hey @rocray,  I'm very glad that you're liking the sound.  Like I said earlier, that's all that matters.   So my guess is that your tubes might be authentic Linlai tubes manufactured for the Asian markets.

I also think that the reason why Linlai Global wouldn't answer my question whether the tubes with the horizontal labelling is fake is that they are probably indeed manufactured by them for the Asian markets, but they wouldn't want to disclose that to their global customers outside of Asia.   Just a guess!

Another thing I forgot to mentioned is that if you read the Lanlai Global website carefully, it mentions the tubes that are designed for the Asian market have different logo written in Chinese on them.   So the authenticity of the tubes sold by Vivatubes and Chinese retailers with horizontal letterings are still a mystery.   I think as a group, our best guess is that they are probably manufactured by Linlai for the Chinese market, although it does not fit the description written on their website, and they would not acknowledge it.

Hey @danmar123, thanks for your feedback and the pictures you posted.   What I found interesting from your pictures is that they look different than the picture posted from the "official" dealer Grand Fidelity.   Yours has the vertical letterings but the base of the tube has a very noticeable groove on it.   Here's the link to the Grand Fidelity tube.  The base is all smooth without the groove.

Where as the ones from Vivatubes have the horizontal letterings and the base have similar groove like yours.  We have assumed the ones sold by Vivatubes and many Chinese retailers are designed for Asian markets.   I now wonder if tubes supposedly designed for Western markets and those for Asian markets are actually the same tubes.   They are made to look different for marketing purpose and of course for higher profits.

These are not cheap tubes, and it's interesting to hear your feedback.  Thanks!

Hi @danmar123, my point was that the ones you bought from Grant Fidelity has the ringed base, but the one that is pictured on the Grand Fidelity doesn't.   The fact the base of the tubes you got from GF look identical to the ones sold by Viva might suggest that they are both manufactured by Linlai but with different letterings.  But as I mentioned earlier, Linlai would not acknowledge the ones with the horizontal letterings.

It's good to know that you do hear differences between the ones from Viva and Grand Fidelity.  I wonder if the ones sold by Viva and other Chinese retailers are rejects that didn't meet the tight QC requirement, and hence sold at a lower price.  Just another guess.  The mystery continues...

Hi @ram18,  I went back and read the Lanlai Global website again.  Although they didn’t explicitly say where the Chinese logo are printed, but from the context of the writing, I take that it means the logo is on the tube itself. 

You are right about not seeing any Chinese writings on the tube itself, and I guess none of us has either   The fact that those tubes with the horizontal letterings are manufactured for the Asian markets is just a best guess, since Linlai Global would not acknowledge them  

@ram18 Yes, I couldn’t agree more. At the end of the day, it’s what sounds good to you that matters most.

Kudos to @rocray that started this thread. I’ve been thinking about getting some good sounding new production tubes and not relying on the NOS market. Who knows how long the NOS supplies are going to last.

Perhaps Grant Fidelity adds a separate testing step but the idea that they are getting superior tubes seems ridiculous.  If it helps you sleep at night and you are willing to pay more then buy from them.  Or assume the risk of a more difficult  return and buy from an eBay or Aliexpress seller.  But the idea that tubes that are internally identical but have different lettering are functionally different seems ludicrous.

Hey @pinwa, no need to get all fired up on this.  You're certainly entitled to your opinion, and thanks for sharing your thoughts!  

Some people, including myself, just like to make an informed buying decision.   I want to know what I am paying for, and I don't like to pay more than I have to.   Since the manufacturer would not acknowledge those tubes with a different logo, hands on experiences shared by members like @danmar123 ​​​​and @rocray are very valuable.  Isn't that what most members are here for?

Anyway, it's all good. It's part of the fun of this hobby 😀

Cheers!

Hi @danmar123,  thanks for the info.  Very helpful.

Just curious, did you get the 'Global' tubes from Linlai directly or Grand Fidelity?  If they're from Grand Fidelity, did you get their "Top 10% Ultra Low Noise" ones for $40 extra?

Thanks.

Hi folks, I finally purchased a pair of the Linlai E 6SN7 tubes a couple of months ago from Grand Fidelity. I probably have about 150 hours on it now. I thought I would share my experience with my dear fellow members.

I have the Cary SLP-05 preamp. It uses 2 pairs of 6SN7 for the gain stage, and 1 pair of 6SN7 for the balanced input buffer stage. I have already changed out the 2 pairs of the gain stage tubes from the stock EH tubes to some NOS RCA. The stock EH tubes sounded a little bit bright to me. The RCA took the edge off a bit, and sounded warmer which I like. So the new Linlai replaced the pair for the balanced input buffer stage.

So far, I’m really liking these new Linlai tubes. 2 things that stand out are deeper and tighter bass, and a beautiful 3D-ish and spacious sound stage. There seems to be more space between instruments. I might consider buying 2 more pairs of Linlai for the gain stage in the future, but I’m enjoying my current set up right now. Linlai sells a cheaper version of 6SN7 called the Global HiFi. Has anyone here tried them and can you share your experience?

I am currently using 3 pairs of Socket Savers that I bought from amazon, so I can do some A/B testing without putting too much wear and tear on the sockets of my preamp. After I had decided the Linlai will be my choice, I removed the socket savers and inserted the Linlai directly into the socket of my preamp, and something unexpected happened.

Without the socket saver, the 3D and spacious sound stage seemed to have shrunk, and deep bass seemed to have lessened. Also the top end seemed to be a little brighter. I have always assumed the socket saver would either lower the overall SQ or at best leaving the SQ unchanged. I never expected them to improve the SQ.

I wouldn’t say this is a pleasant surprise, because I actually did want to remove the socket saver to lower the height on the tubes. I have a TV mounted on the wall behind my components cabinet. The Cary sits on the top of the cabinet. With the Linlai tube + socket saver, it blocks the bottom of the TV screen by an inch or so. It’s not a big deal. I don’t even notice it while I’m watching TV. Anyhow, aesthetically I do like the look without the socket saver better.

Anyway, for the benefit of better SQ, I’m now leaving the Linlai on the socket saver. For those of you who use socket savers, what is your experience regarding the SQ with and without the socket savers? I’ll be curious to know.

Thanks for reading. Cheers!

AFAIK, Linlai Global and Grand Fidelity are the only "official" retailer.   Other members here gotten them from some Chinese Retailers or eBay at a lower price and had good results.

@invalid, interesting observation.  From what I remember, the connections between the tubes and the socket savers do seem pretty tight.   Whereas the connection between the socket savers and the sockets on my preamp feel about the same in tightness.