Atma-Sphere Music Systems! !

[tima]

It looks like a Shuguang (sp?) 6SN7. Or perhaps some other varietal 6SN7 from China.

The Shuguang came in a nice box at a fairly high price. If I recall it sounded overly warm and a wee touch dark.

[ACHiPo]

Originally Posted by tima

It looks like a Shuguang (sp?) 6SN7. Or perhaps some other varietal 6SN7 from China.

The Shuguang came in a nice box at a fairly high price. If I recall it sounded overly warm and a wee touch dark.

Tim,
I contacted the seller. They are PSVane CV-181 Type II. He raves about them in the most critical driver location (V1 on an M60, but not sure which position in an MA1?) He uses Sylvania 231s in the other 4 locations.

I feel like I've been living under a rock for 20 years, as I didn't know about these Chinese tubes for 6SN7s. I'd heard of PSVane 300B and other SETs, but didn't pay much attention as that's not my jam.

The Linlai brand was formed by former PSVane (the same as Shuguang?) employees and seem to get good reviews. I first got sticker shock--$130 for a matched pair--then I priced NOS. Wholly cow I need to go through my inventory more carefully! The larger bottle CV-181 looks like it will fit in the driver position in front. The seller said this isn't V1, but is the most sonically critical position in the MA1.

Evan

[tima]

Originally Posted by ACHiPo

...
The Linlai brand was formed by former PSVane (the same as Shuguang?) employees and seem to get good reviews. I first got sticker shock--$130 for a matched pair--then I priced NOS.
...
Evan

Heh. I haven't shopped for 6SN7s in a few years, but the good ones from 1940s - 1950s were hard to find and pricey back then. Thanks for the follow-up.

[ACHiPo]

After 150 hours of burn in on the amps plus another 24 hours on the tubes I swapped in my stash of NOS 6SN7s: KenRad VT-231s in V1a, Sylvania VT-231s in V1b, Sylvania 6SN7GTA/B in V1c, V2, and V4. Wow that really livened things up with no downside of grain, grit, glare. Should get even better overnight as the new Shunyata Alpha NR V2 PCs break in.

[GeAllan70]

Sexy!!