6SN7 tubes.Could you please put in order from best to worse these NOS tubes? (Pictures)

I have these five NOS and in their original boxes (except for the Philips) 6SN7 tubes I've been buying over the last three years and as I use them on a (ejem...) Yaqin SD-CD3 "tube buffer" the differences between them are subtle, they are there, but subtly.
Could you please order from best to worse these tubes for me please? I think the best are the large bottle Tung-Sol 6SN7 GTB and I guess the worse are the RCA 6SN7 GTB.
The General Electric have a peculiar arrangement with the heater put on a side instead of the usual on top configuration.
Regarding the Toshiba 6SN7 GTB I've been told they use a Telefunken design, and the Philips 6SN7 WGTA which are made for the military I think they are actually made by Sylvania.
Thanks in advance for your input.

 

Those Tung Sol are actually made by Sylvania and are great 6SN7s. The Jan Philips bought out Sylvania tooling thus are really Sylvania and the RCA are also late Sylvania manufacture. The earlier Tung Sol will outperform the later Sylvania. Never heard the other tubes.

 

Thank you for your reply. The ones I like the best in this order are the Tung-Sol, the Toshiba and the JAN Philips. The GE's are OK and the RCA just get the job done.
Do you know from what period the Tung-Sol may be? Are Sylvania tubes from that period good?

 

Just to complicate things get a tube adapter and try out some 7N7.

 

I think tall glass Sylvania ended in 1958 or 1959, but not sure.

 

This tube handily bettered all of my OS 6SN7 tubes - and I had about all of the heavy hitters including the expensive ones. Cleaner/clearer while maintaining musicality. None of the OS worries and much less expensive than most.
Highly recommended.
Psvane CV181-TII aka 6SN7 (pair or single) | Psvane & Treasure Audio Tubes
Buy direct via Aliexpress and save.

 

Thanks for the advice but the only new production tube I can live with are TJ Full Music, their 12AX7 and 12AU7 are outstanding.
Aliexpress.com: Comprar PAPRI tubos de vacío de alta fidelidad TJ la música para 6SN7/ECC32 tubo de reemplazo chapados en oro Pin DIY de Audio de preamplificador de vacuum tube fiable proveedores en PAPRI Audio Store

 

Thank you all for your replies.
Can anybody tell me something about the quality of the General Electric 6SN7's I own? What about the Philips JAN 6SN7 WGTA? Are these good?

 

Are you saying that you have used/heard the Psvane CV181?

 

I have, at a Hi Fi show in Spain where Psvane tubes are thought by Spanish to be the best of the best either old or good. They sounded great but not outstanding, the TJ Full Music were outstanding and cheaper.

 

I’ve done my fair share of rolling 6sn7 in the past. The black tungsol round plates were my favorite.

 

The GE 6SN7s are nice sleeper 6SN7s - still affordable and good sounding. Maybe not the best in the world but no slouches. I used them exclusively with my Eico HF-60 monoblocks since the previous owner said they were the best tube he heard for that -specific- application. He has a long history of tube rolling so I took his word; and getting two sleeves of them with the amps also helped with that decision!

Japanese tubes are underrated - I used Toshiba 5AR4s with good results; almost as good as old Mullards. And their 12AX7s are also very competent, Matsushita EL34s are also another favorite of mine.

 

I agree with you that Japanese tubes are underrated, I specially like Matsushita 12AX7 and 12AU7, Hitachi 12AX7, 7025 and 12AU7, and some NEC 12AX7 and 12AU7.

 

Tung Sol black round plate is the best 6SN7 ever made IMO. Another tube is the Russian 1578. Some state this is one of the best sounding 6SN7. The later 6N8 Russian tube is not the same as the 1578 and does not sound near as good. So, only order tubes with 1578 in title from ebay.

 

Those aren't heaters on the side of the GE tube but rather they are "getters". They are made of special metal that reacts with and absorbs leftover gases after the tube is vacuum sealed.

The leftover gases reacts with the getter material and leaves the silver colored flashing you see on the top or side of the tube glass. If the silver colored coating turns a milky white color that means the tube has an air leak and should be replaced.

 

Are Russian 1578 expensive and hard to find?

 

Thank you for your explanation. Between my so so English and my limited knowledge of tubes I thought those were the heaters. So these are the getters, do you find any special reason why GE put them on the side on these 6SN7 tubes instead of the more usual "on top" place or why Matsushita 12AX7/12AU7 angle the getters? Any benefit on that?

 

Available on ebay. Lowest price are these. The true 1578 are made in the Foton plant and made in the 1960s.

MATCHED PAIR 6N8S = 1578 = 6SN7 = TOP RUSSIAN Tubes FOTON NOS OTK 60s! | eBay

 

Getter location does not change the sound.

 

What about getting a pair of these? I'm curious about them. I've been looking at Russian 1578 and they all look the same to me. As they are dirty cheap, would you get a pair?
PAIR NEW 6SN7 1578 6N8S / Early Version FOTON / Jun 1965 / Rare Tubes | eBay

 

Yes, those are the good Russian tubes.

 

Do you think I'm set for life with the NOS tubes I have? I'm almost 45 and use 6SN7 on a Yaqin SD-CD3 "tube buffer".

 

If you want to dig into the back issues of Vacuum Tube Valley you will quickly find the issue where they rank what they thought (at the time) were the best 6SN7s

 

Agreed. I have the rare 1578’s as well, the ones with the multiple holes down the fold in the plates and metal base. I found them too agressive for my taste, the sound errs on the side hifi’ish rather than the organic sound of the tungsol round plates.