Aric Audio Super 2A3 owners - favorite tubes?

@alexberger said: "NOS 5U4G RCA is not something special. I like Ken-Ran 5u4G. But Linlai 5u4g are on the same level and very cheap. I had a U52 GEC/Brimar brown base. It was really great, better than other stuff I had but it is crazy expensive now. I bought it when it was already used, and after 3 years it died. But to buy one today is too expensive."

The GEC u-52 is my preferred rectifier for my Allnic phono stage. I too had a Brimar branded brown base in box, fresh old stock as far as I could tell. Still has some life in it, but I retubed the entire system a few years ago and found an earlier iteration- also a "cup base" but black. I've read various things about these- that they were the industrial version, that they were earlier than the brown bases, that they don't have the finesse of the brown base. My experience has been that the black base is comparable. The tube has far more air in my set up than the Mullard metal base, which is another "grail" rectifier. 

Mmcgill829 and all,

I recently received an Aric Audio Motherlode XL preamp, and an Aric Audio Transcend "Push Pull" amp.....they have only recently been installed and are breaking in. The Motherlode takes one 5U4G and two 6SN7s, the Transcend takes three 6SN7s and 4 EL34s.

The Motherlode XL preamp came with an RCA 5U4GB Tall bottle black plates, seem to be of nice quality...but obviously Aric likes them, so good with me. Additionally I spoke with Brent Jessee and he recommended the NOS 1943-1945 JAN military spec VT244 (5U4G equivalent) National Union black plates....not at all cheap at $200, but I trust Brent, so I bought it.

I had Aric upgrade to pair of NOS Sylvania 6SN7GT two rivet "Bad boy" tubes. For 6SN7s Brent recommended a matched set of the NOS 1950s 5692 JAN military spec CBS-Hytron. Here again they are not cheap at $350 for a matched pair, but I bought those as well. Damn this hobby is expensive!

Additionally I did quite a bit of research and bought some Chinese tubes as well: a matching quad PSVane EL34-PH (Philips reproduction) and matching quad of EL34-UK (Mullard reproduction) tubes. I also purchased a matching 3 tube set of Linlai E-6SN7 tubes.

I won't get around to tube rolling these in for a month or so, so can't give any impressions....other than the fact that they all seem to be well thought of for their respective categories.

@vthokie83 Congratulations! How are you liking them so far?

I just finished trying the Linlai e-6sn7 tubes vs my sylvania 6sn7GTs and I actually wound up preferring the Linlais, believe it or not. In my system, they just sounded more open and airy with a slightly larger sound stage. Pleasantly surprised and will likely pick up a couple more sets to have as backups.

Swapping from the 5U4GB to the 5U4G was an improvement for me - mostly better bass presence. I’ve yet to determine if there’s much sonic difference between brands of 5U4G just yet.

I’ve looked into PSVane tubes in the past, but have heard horror stories about the QC on them, with a large % being DOA or lasting not long at all before burning out. Grant Fidelity had big QC problems with them - even among their supposed pre-screened tubes - and ultimately stopped selling their tubes all together for a variety of reasons. Hopefully you have a better experience with them.

YMMV compared to my findings, but thought I’d share!

EDIT: should get some photos up on your virtual system page :)

mmcgill829,

I'm all out of superlatives for my latest purchases: CODA S5.5, Aric Audio Transcend "Push Pull", and Aric Audio Motherlode XL....I won't even try anymore, as I feel more like a fanboy that a reviewer. As Michael Jordan says "Just do it" if someone is considering CODA or Aric Audio equipment, they are ridiculously good.

Tube rolling is going to have to wait a month or so, so not much I can say other than the stock tubes for the Aric Audio stuff is really good.....but Brent Jessee always has a passion for NOS tubes, so I'm sure there is more to be gained there.

I did a LOT of research on the Chinese tubes, and I agree that there was a past issue with PSVane (and several brands of Chinese tubes), and it's been weird with the incestuous relationship between Shuguang, PSVane, and Linlai.

Most recent reviews for the PSVane El34s have been positive, especially the EL34-PH and EL34-UK tubes, but the 6SN7/CV181 lines appeared to have had quality issues. By all accounts the Linlai E-6SN7 is stellar, and happy to see your experience is the same. We'll see.

I found a reputable (by reviews) Chinese supplier who seems to take testing and matching seriously, but that's a leap of faith and only based on other's experience.

@vthokie83 haha! I totally get what you mean. Huge amount of value from Aric's gear.

Interesting notes re: chinese tubes. I know that Shuguang is basically gone since they had a plant fire or something, and Linlai folks left PSVane due to a dispute and they have a...not great relationship. Lot of drama in the tube world haha.

Have fun tube rolling! It's an expensive endeavor for a while until things get settled, for sure. I'm still not done trying things out myself, and have spent almost as much as an amp in tubes alone 🤪