Ezio Auditore Posted February 11 Posted February 11 Hello everyone! I have a tube amp for my headphone and have been wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade the current tubes on it. Currently the driver tubes are 6sn7 (psvane cv-181 mk2) and the power tubes are 6n13s I don’t have much knowledge on tubes and was wondering if anyone has more information or experience with this and could help provide any advice or recommendations for whether I should change or upgrade them at all and to which ones Any help is appreciated
aussievintage Posted February 11 Posted February 11 Are they the stock tubes it came with originally? You don't mention the type of 6n13s, but if it has Psvane's in the 6sn7 slot, either it came with better than normal tubes, or someone already upgraded them.
Ezio Auditore Posted February 11 Author Posted February 11 Yes they are the stock tubes it came with originally, I can’t find any more detail about what 6n13s it is other than it’s (nos).
aussievintage Posted February 11 Posted February 11 14 minutes ago, Ezio Auditore said: Yes they are the stock tubes it came with originally, I can’t find any more detail about what 6n13s it is other than it’s (nos). Strange that it has no brand name. Post a picture, there are some here who can probably identify them by the logo or other markings. 1
Dystoria Posted February 12 Posted February 12 (edited) 22 hours ago, Ezio Auditore said: Hello everyone! I have a tube amp for my headphone and have been wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade the current tubes on it. Currently the driver tubes are 6sn7 (psvane cv-181 mk2) and the power tubes are 6n13s I don’t have much knowledge on tubes and was wondering if anyone has more information or experience with this and could help provide any advice or recommendations for whether I should change or upgrade them at all and to which ones Any help is appreciated I have a Felix Euforia. The stock tubes were a pair of PSVane cv-181mk2 golds (6SN7s) and a pair of Feb 1990 Svetlana 6N13Ss (6AS7Ss). I kept the Svetlana's (Soviet stock) but rolled the PSVanes for Linlai Elite 6SN7s. I didn't break the PSVanes in so can't speak directly about them (they have less than 20hrs on them) but the Linlais do cast a wide soundstage and very firm base; they sound fantastic through Focal Utopia (22) - I don't regret rolling. What amp and headphones do you have? Edited February 12 by Dystoria typo
Ezio Auditore Posted February 12 Author Posted February 12 6 hours ago, Dystoria said: I have a Felix Euforia. The stock tubes were a pair of PSVane cv-181mk2 golds (6SN7s) and a pair of Feb 1990 Svetlana 6N13Ss (6AS7Ss). I kept the Svetlana's (Soviet stock) but rolled the PSVanes for Linlai Elite 6SN7s. I didn't break the PSVanes in so can't speak directly about them (they have less than 20hrs on them) but the Linlais do cast a wide soundstage and very firm base; they sound fantastic through Focal Utopia (22) - I don't regret rolling. What amp and headphones do you have? Hey thanks for the reply, I’ll take a look into the linlai elite, I have a feliks euforia and have it pared up with the focal clears . Do you think changing the Svetlanas would also make a difference?
Dystoria Posted February 12 Posted February 12 Firstly you need to determine If you have Svetlana's. Post a picture of them so we can confirm. Swapping the power tubes for something else will likely change the sound. I haven't done this. IMO the driver tubes, PSVanes, were the weak link in the chain. Svetlana's (soviet made) have a good reputation. It's also likely changing the driver tubes will make a larger change (depending of course on what you change them to). For me, I changed to the linlais elites as I wanted a more detailed and wider soundstage which the Linlais were supposed to provide (and do provide). So before you start rolling decide what is it about the audio you want to change? It might also be the focal clears are a bottleneck. I originally had a pair of focal elears and I found them underwhelming with the Euforia. As I understand it the developers at Focal used the Euforia during r&d for the Utopias so they have excellent synergy that's why I upgraded to the Utopias. Maybe you should take the amp into your local headphone dealer and try different headphone before you start rolling. This might provide you with some direction before you go down the rabbit hole.
Recommended Posts