I keep hoping that Ralph and crew will follow thru one day on the oft hinted at 6AS7G tube tester that they were going to build. A lot of us would really like to put to bed once and for all the issue of whether or not our various testers are up to the task of RELIABLY evaluating our power tubes or not. A purpose built unit would be a godsend.
Atma-sphere amps best power tubes
This question has been debated before on A-gon but without a clear onclusion. I wonder, is it worth it, to upgrade from stock Russian or China output tubes (6as7g), to American NOS tubes?
It seems that everyone agrees that upgrading the Atma-sphere driver tubes from stock Russian/Chinese to NOS is well worth it. This is my experience also.
I am wondering about changing the output / power tubes too. I wonder if a change to NOS is well worth it also in the output case.
It seems likely, judging from my other equipment testing.
My Audiotailor Jade OTL headphone amp uses 1 6asg7 and 1 12ax7. No surprise - it sounds better with a good NOS 12ax7 compared to Russian/Chinese stock 12ax7.
More surprisingly, it also sounds clearly better with a NOS 6as7g output tube (General Electric US NOS). The improvement is largest with the driver tube but not so much behind with the output tube. Almost 50 50.
A lot of output tubes are involved - 28 tubes in my MA-1 amps. Changing them all is costly, and so I would like to know some user experience before I go into this.
It seems that everyone agrees that upgrading the Atma-sphere driver tubes from stock Russian/Chinese to NOS is well worth it. This is my experience also.
I am wondering about changing the output / power tubes too. I wonder if a change to NOS is well worth it also in the output case.
It seems likely, judging from my other equipment testing.
My Audiotailor Jade OTL headphone amp uses 1 6asg7 and 1 12ax7. No surprise - it sounds better with a good NOS 12ax7 compared to Russian/Chinese stock 12ax7.
More surprisingly, it also sounds clearly better with a NOS 6as7g output tube (General Electric US NOS). The improvement is largest with the driver tube but not so much behind with the output tube. Almost 50 50.
A lot of output tubes are involved - 28 tubes in my MA-1 amps. Changing them all is costly, and so I would like to know some user experience before I go into this.