Sophia Electric 6SN7 tubes

Ern Dog
Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
edited August 2011 in 2 Channel Audio
I want to start out by saying that I am very content with the NOS Sylvania
6SN7GTB's 1960 tubes in my Modwright Oppo 83. There was a couple posts over on the Audiogon forum that got my curiosity about the Sophia Electric tubes. These are new production tubes and have a coke bottle shape. They also offer three classes of this tube, which I thought was odd. They offer Class A, B and C ($100, $75 and $50 each). I decided to order a class A matched pair of these tubes and they arrived today.

So these are my initial impressions. This tube takes 300 hr. to fully break in. Right out of the box, I could tell these were something special. These are NOT euphonic tubes. They are totally neutral and linear. There is a slight increase in resolution from what I'm used to hearing. What strikes me most though is the wider soundstage and music sounds more 3D. There is also more separation between instruments. On the down side, there is a slight tilt towards the treble. This is subtle but noticeable. Reviews say this is normal and that it balances out as it breaks in. Bass is tight and extended.

I'm sold on these Sophia Electric 6SN7 tubes. :biggrin: Check out this review I found on them: http://www.avguide.com/blog/giant-killers-new-tubes-sophia-electric

I'll give an update after they are totally broken in.
Post edited by Ern Dog on
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Comments

  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited August 2011
    I use the Sophia Electric 300B tubes on my preamp and they are awesome!
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited August 2011
    What other 6SN7 tubes have you compared the Sophia's to?

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited August 2011
    I have watched the marketer's do what they do to fully exploit the vacumm tube resurgence into more mainstream audio enthusiast products. There are differences in tubes, however, this 100 percent mark-up in identical tubes seems over the top to me.

    Thanks for the review Ern and glad you are digging the gear.

    RT1
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited August 2011
    I've rolled in about a handful of different 6SN7 tubes into my Oppo. I found the nos Sylvania GTB's to have the best synergy with my rig- that is until yesterday.

    I am interested in trying out the Shuguang Treasures CV181's and hearing how those compare.

    Life is too short to not have great sounding tubes.
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited August 2011
    100+ hours break-in update: Well that tilt toward the treble is gone now. It sounds warmer now. There is noticeably more bass too.
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