Which Brand of tube u prefer and why :)

1) Mullard
2) Sovtek/Electro Harmonix
3) Philips
4) GE
5) Tong-Sol
6) JJ
7) etc (RCA,BRIMAR etc)

This post has been edited by cuoreboy on March 31, 2008 11:21 pm

Pre-amp tubes, rectifier or power tubes?

Pre-AMP tubes

Telefunken
Siemens
JJ
Philips

Actually in MF X10-D i have NOS Siemens E88CC.

IMO, JJ E88CC and Sovtek 6H23p-EB are a great alternative to ECC88, 6922 and 6DJ8's if you are looking for a warmer, smoother sound at a low price.
For a muddy system you can check Philips PCC88.



This post has been edited by clint e. on April 02, 2008 06:00 am

i have some Mullard EL-34s matched quad. They sound great. The rest are chinese. I haven't gotten into rolling tubes yes. I need to understand it more before I start shelling out money.

This is like asking what type of coffee you prefer or what shade of green you like? This is probrably one of the oldest subjective questions in audio. I've done some tube rolling...one thing for certain is that cost is not always equal to performance. The second thing is that different tubes will sound different in different systems.

Really..................?!..........................................

Yes really.

One of a myriad of examples:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/tuberol...erolling_3.html

Tanx for sharing, it's really funny.
Even though, now you'd mention 6moons, i don't like many of their reviews. But, is just imho.

BTW, what's your favourite tubes? In your system, of course.

This post has been edited by clint e. on April 02, 2008 01:41 pm

I don't really like them either. I think they're mostly gloss supported by smaller manufacturers. I can't deny they had a big influence on my secnd system. I have a few russian and RCA 6SN7 tubes. Different sounds for different types of music for sure. Interestingly, some tubes work better in my bi-amped rig vs. when I run just the tube amp. Early sixmoons articles were really great in that they focused alot on things like tube rolling. Now, I feel like the brand is too well established to do things like that. It's lost its edge.

i second the idea that same tube sound different in 2 different system. this happen when we roll tube for yaqin buffer. my system with tube amp and pre has different sound compare to my friend system with ss amp and pre. so tube rolling is very subjective. need more info on which system the tube is rolling.

6N1P-EB also a good alternative for E88cc but 6N1P-EB filament voltage is higher if u want to use for X10-D u need to change ur wallmart adapter to 12vAC with 1000ma minimum if u du want to use for 6N1P-EB than go for 6N23P-EB quite nice now waiting for my 6N23P to arrived

My Rolling Tube
From Left : Russian 6N1P-EB, EH 6922 , Mullard EF95 , Mullard CV4010 (KQDD) x 4


This post has been edited by cuoreboy on April 18, 2008 10:50 am

Shuguang high-end, not the cheap ones for Chinese market amps etc. Sound great (neutral), last well beyond expectations and aren't expensive.

Basically I use the Shuguangs as a reference for rolling (that and they are stock on most of my amps). More times than not I end up back with the original Shuguangs.

The best tube rolling option I have witnessed is cryo treating the same tubes and doing lots of A/B. Cryo always wins. I like to describe the difference cryo gives as 'like having a blacker background to paint the soundstage on'.

Of course rolling tubes to tweak or match your system, especially at the pre-amp or driver tube stage has to be one of the better bang for the buck 'affordable' tweaks. Much bigger difference than trying to use cables for similar results.

And when you get your tubes matched, you now it and are in audio heaven.

Ian