Tubes for BAT vk3i

Hi! I've got a Batvk5i that I'm running 4 matched sets of 7308 tubes, which would work with your preamp as they're from the same family as the 6922. My tubes are 7308 Amperex PQ white label with shield- circa 1963 and 1964. These tubes are very reliable and sound great at the freqency extremes. The sound stage is also amazing. Unfortunitely, the 7308 is somewhat expensive, but they can be found if you look around enough. If you want to tone down the highs, you might try a Mullard. Mullard's are also good tubes with a nice midrange and good soundstage. Also, try: Joe's Tube Lore @ Audioasylum.com. Joe gives excellent discriptions of the differing sound of various tubes. You should be able to tune your system by reading Joe's Tube Lore and besides it's a great place to start. Best! Stan

First do some room treatments...check out realtraps.com to get some ideas how to tame the highs...it's pretty easy and not expensive...then try tube rolling. I have a VK 5i and use Amperex 7308 white label "usn"and Amperex 6922 white label made in "usa" the stock sovteks are ok but changing to these NOS tubes brought the pre to a whole new level..about $50 per tube. I wouldn't put 6DJ8 tubes in the pre because of noise and circuit matching problems...that was my experience. BAT makes nice products.

I will definitely look into the Amperex, and the room treatments as well. I didn't really care for the tweeter resistors on the maggies so if these other options work I will be very happy.