#1 6L6 spells Music, Not Hi-Fi BS.
Posted: Sat May 06, 2017 6:36 pm
Hotrox have been loving me for a while.
Over the past 12 months, I've had quads of, 6CA7EH, TAD EL34B, Tung Sol EL34B and now a quad of Tung Sol reissue
7581-A, which is a modern version of the old mil spec version of the 6L6GC.
These 6L6s are superb in my Barbarik monoblocks. They are making the system sound more fluid and musical than ever. Right up there with the old grey glass KT66s I have been running, courtesy of Steve S.
The Tung-Sol 7581-A is surely one of the finest current production power valves available in 2017. It’s flawless. It is always in complete command of the music, being dynamic and crunchy like a KT120 or KT88 but with more warmth and depth. It has nice tonal saturation but it’s not excessively mid-rangy like the EL34s.
It can dig up micro-detail but it’s never bright. It’s in control of the music even at low volume levels. It can do romantic and can be luminous but it can rock like buggery. Surprisingly deep and powerful, it throws a deep, wide soundstage but it’s disciplined: images are stable, firmly locked in space.
The 7581-A is big, up front. It follows complex, aggressive beats without a drip of sweat. No other valve has given such a sense of strength and complete control to my Barbariks and I've used a lot of different power valves apart from the KT150, in them.
Nobody seems to use them in hi-fi valve amps; instead preferring the current high power KT150 fashion statement valves.
Their loss.
Over the past 12 months, I've had quads of, 6CA7EH, TAD EL34B, Tung Sol EL34B and now a quad of Tung Sol reissue
7581-A, which is a modern version of the old mil spec version of the 6L6GC.
These 6L6s are superb in my Barbarik monoblocks. They are making the system sound more fluid and musical than ever. Right up there with the old grey glass KT66s I have been running, courtesy of Steve S.
The Tung-Sol 7581-A is surely one of the finest current production power valves available in 2017. It’s flawless. It is always in complete command of the music, being dynamic and crunchy like a KT120 or KT88 but with more warmth and depth. It has nice tonal saturation but it’s not excessively mid-rangy like the EL34s.
It can dig up micro-detail but it’s never bright. It’s in control of the music even at low volume levels. It can do romantic and can be luminous but it can rock like buggery. Surprisingly deep and powerful, it throws a deep, wide soundstage but it’s disciplined: images are stable, firmly locked in space.
The 7581-A is big, up front. It follows complex, aggressive beats without a drip of sweat. No other valve has given such a sense of strength and complete control to my Barbariks and I've used a lot of different power valves apart from the KT150, in them.
Nobody seems to use them in hi-fi valve amps; instead preferring the current high power KT150 fashion statement valves.
Their loss.