6DJ8 vs. 6922?

One great thing about tubes is you can use them to fine tune your system. If your phono cartridge is a tad bright, use softer sounding tubes. And visa versa. A tube pre-amp doesn’t have a fixed sound, it’s sound is changed by the tubes installed in it.

Speaking of phono tubes: has anyone tried 5751's in place of the 12AX7's in a Herron phono amp? I gotta give Keith a call, see what he thinks of the idea. The 5751 gives up gain to the 12AX7, but that works for me.

Not in a Herron phono stage, but for what it may be worth, yes I have tried GE 5751 black plates in place of Telefunken, Siemens, Raytheon and other 12AX7’s in an EAR phono stage that I used to have. Good tube with a distinctively different character than the various 12AX7’s as a group. Needless to say each other 12AX7 had its own signature. The Tele’s being my favorites by far. The GE 5751 gave me a very tightly organized sound, somewhat “gray” tone with a little less sparkle up top. Reminded me of the way Shure phono cartridges sound to me.

This brings up something that I don’t think has been stressed enough in the otherwise great commentary above. It should not be assumed that a 6922 (or 7308, or…) will always be better than the “lowly” 6DJ8. Depends on the particular tube and the circuit that it will be used in. Based on my experience, I would take a good vintage Telefunken ECC88/6DJ8 over many other brand 6922’s and 7308’s that I have tried without hesitation.

Good luck.

I recently got some new tubes for my Conrad Johnson Premier 17LS preamp. It uses four 6DJ8/6922 tubes.

I ordered a matched pair of Golden Dragon 6DJ8/ECC88 tubes (as listed on the vendor’s website).
When they arrived, I was surprisd to see that each tube was labeled “6DJ8/E88CC.”

I thought that 6DJ8 tubes are equal to ECC88 tubes (being the most common with lowest specs).
I thought that E88CC tubes are equal to 6922 tubes (being better with nicer sonics and tighter quality control).

But that a 6DJ8 (ECC88) tube does NOT EQUAL an E88CC (6922) because the 6DJ8 has a max voltage of 120-130 volts, and the 6922 has a max voltage of 220 volts.

I have been advised that in the CJ Premier 17LS pre, one can use either four 6DJ8 tubes or four 6922 tubes. BUT one should NOT mix them. All four tubes should be one grade or the other.

So these Golden Dragon tubes seem to be labeled as both 6DJ8 and E88CC.

I am thus confused: I don’t know whether I should use them with 6DJ8 tubes or with 6922 tubes.

I would use all 6922 tubes in your application.

c-j preamps are kind of hard on tubes.  The tubes get noisy more quickly.  You might want to research Russian 6N23P (their version of the 6922) or 7DJ8s.  Both are supposed to be a little sturdier than the 6DJ8 family.