Hiya, BFW. I have been playing with the tone control, and your suggestion (Bass around 5 to 12) seems to work best. Some content works better without the tone controls, but some things with heavy bass (also while listening later at night while my wife upstairs isn’t keen on hearing the thumping) do sound better with that slight tweak. I had tried plugging one or both of the speakers’ bass ports on occasion, but while that does reduce the bass output a bit, it also makes the sound a bit two-dimensional and flat. Using the tone controls doesn’t have this problem. Interestingly, when I set the controls after reading your post, I realized I had tried it in the past. Last year, when playing Kate Bush’s Director’s Cut, which is infamously sludgy, I had briefly tried increasing the treble to 5 after 12. That setting was still engaged, but the tone button was off. Now my only small complaint is that Vincent didn’t put the Tone button on the remote. But, as I’ve noted before, it’s easy to stand up (and better for us) and switch it when desired. Thanks again!
Hi Dougotte. Glad to hear this. My "5 to 12" bass setting is a set-and-forget. Default. I havent touched it for weeks. Like you , I have a rather live room which is also a living room. Compromise, i guess. But we can't all afford acoustically treated Man Caves.
Hey guys, thanks to Lake Mountain, been using Vincent’s DAC for a while now. I’m not much into the file streaming, just an internet-based radio and Amazon via my Bluesound Node 2, which was connected before to the Marantz 8004 sacd player’s DAC (Node’s DAC sucks, honestly). Vincent’s dac definitely sounds warmer, kinda more musical. I don’t know what to do now, since initially I’ve been thinking about removing the dac, and adding a set of xlr inputs and outputs for my balanced amps. Here’s the Latest info on the tubes, based on my long time listening to this unit - I won’t recommend changing the 6c3p-ev tubes. If you have to change them out of curiosity, then try their ‘DR’ version instead of ‘EV’. I have them on order. Do not try substitutes, as there is no DIRECT ones for that. I tried already, I should know, the western “almost “ same versions just sound wrong. They will not damage the preamp, though. 6SCH9P = E180F, I read the info myself in the Russian tube book (I’m fluent in Russian), released in 1981, probably the latest one from them about the tubes. Already tried them, definitely work. 6SCH51P = EF184, 6EJP, information from the same book. So far I tried quite a lot of them, still looking. There are some new tubes coming. I’ll update you about my final findings. Also, glad you found the right settings for your tone controls, guys, aren’t they good? The person who posted about damaged unit, I think he wasn’t truthful completely.
What’s up my brothers-in-audio ? Hope you’re all good! It’s been a while since my last report, got my final order from Russia, took 87 days, but I’m done finally, and going to close the lid for good. So I replaced 6C3P-EV tubes with 6C3P-DR version. This is the most reliable, ruggedized version of that tube. It’s been about 3 days in the system, and so far the most notable difference is in the bass, low bass got tighter. The stock 6SCH9P tubes I replaced with the vintage Soviet made, very rare 6SCH9P-E tubes from the Fryazino military factory (defunct). Mullards also work great in that position. Amperex 6EJ7 tubes, made in Holland, replaced the stock 6SCH51P tubes. I have to say for tube-rollers it’s a dream preamp, but the stock tubes perform very well. And, finally, as you can imagine, I have a few spare pairs, if you need something just let me know via messenger or email I don’t know how it’s done here. They’re going to be cheap (the regular ones). Then I’m going to list them on audioasylum since they don’t charge for that. Or send your units to Audio Advisor, and spent $100 for changing just one tube. Freaking ridiculous. Best of luck to you all.
Hiya. Thanks again for all your valuable input (and everyone else here, too!). I don't have a lot of rolling experience, and it's been fairly straightforward phono preamps that only have one or two clearly identified tubes. All the differences and misidentification for the SA-T7 makes me nervous. I did take the lid off my SA-T7 and found it has a different tube configuration than yours, but I got anxious and closed it up before documenting them. I'll probably try again, and will post what I have here. I believe it's: 4 x CV6189 (or the Russian equivalent); and 4 x 6S3P-EV. But let me confirm that and report back. What's the purpose of the 85A2 in front? Is it just for show, or is it a rectifier?
Hey there, you have the previous version. The CV6189 tubes are from Mullard, England. Radiomuseum, which is a very respectable source, listed 6688, e180f or Soviet 6j9p as their replacements. The front tube is a voltage regulator. Those are called VR tubes for short.
I understand your feelings about the wrong, incompetent and misleading designations. Its upsetting and inexcusable. But keep in mind that it still is a Chinese company, no matter what they write on the back, it’s still a Sheng-Ya just modified by Frank Blohbaum. The whole point of their “special” designations, special measurements, is to confuse the customer and make them send their units for repair. Imagine how much money they get. The mystery surrounding their “special pieces” is a usual schtick of more or less insignificant companies. Nothing new here. In your case it’s more simple, you still have 4 x 6S3P-EV (6C3П-ЕВ in Russian), it’s been in all of their versions, and 4 x CV6189. They started to run out of the Mullards and changed the circuit accordingly. Now, the CV6189 = 6Ж9П = 6688 = E180F. Plenty of replacements online. You know, it’s better to look what is written on the tube than on the PCB, much helpful and less confusing. Oh, one more thing - there is a 6189 tube without any letters, never use those, completely different.
Thanks, Jazzfan58. I hadn't responded because I haven't gotten around to looking under the hood again yet. Maybe I'll be motivated in a few days. I'll certainly post back later.
Are you referring to me? What’s wrong and why so aggressive? Do you have anything substantial to add to this matter?
"it still is a Chinese company, no matter what they write on the back, it’s still a Sheng-Ya just modified by Frank Blohbaum." Your statements above told me all I needed to know about your belief and that's why I said what I said.
So you didn’t like what I said, and instead of asking a direct question you decided to act like a child. That only shows the level of the maturity and intellect of a person behind the keyboard. Unbelievable.
Ok folks, everything has an end, and my time here is over, especially when the loyal members of Hit... sorry, Vincentjugend, are trying to sabotage the thread, and they don’t even have the piece in the question. I did everything in my power to identify the tubes, and their western equivalents, and shared my experience with the unit, I even asked if you guys wanted me here, and I got a sincere impression that nobody wants me out. So, I am not going to post here, but I’m more than willing to share my experience via email, if you’re interested. Sorry to say, but I have reconsidered selling the spare tubes. It was a pleasure to speak to you all. Be well everybody, and stay safe.
As the OP of this thread, I should respond here. I appreciate the input of everyone who has contributed. Jazzfan58, I learned a lot from your posts. However, it did seem odd that you suddenly repeated misinformation about Vincent that has been debunked elsewhere. I respect Slippers-on, and he has also given me a lot of helpful info. He responded in regard to that misinformation. I'm not knowledgeable enough about tube gear to weigh into these allegations. Nor do I care to continue it. I welcome everyone to continue discussing this wonderful gear on this thread. Please, let's keep it genial and fact-based. Thanks.
All good, valid points. Except for there is always another way to look at the things, than taking the easiest, the well-accepted party-line point of view. Usually at any forum it’s easy to judge those who have just a few posts, regardless their content. Soundwise It’s a good piece and I never doubted that, and never said otherwise, and was extremely ecstatic, BUT their customer service sucks, they’re not transparent (I have saved tons of correspondence between myself, Froehling and Blohbaum), and that’s very relevant to me, because I paid my hard-earned money for it, and expected answers to my questions. Whatever I asked the answer was usually like this - they didn’t have data on that or it’s their own proprietary thing. I even sent them my own basic drawing of the tube/socket configuration with channel indication, as you know it’s very confusing, asked if I got it right, but I never got any replies from them or Audio Advisor. Ridiculous, it’s so simple and can’t be related to their proprietary rights, they probably got embarrassed. I don’t know any tube gear manufacturer who does that to its legit customers. After talking with many dealers in Europe and Russia (retired or former dealers of the brand are the best), I came to conclusion the the Germans are not as open as I thought. Living in denial or having a lopsided opinion can be helpful in some cases, but I’m pragmatic and a realistic type of guy, I have no problem with the country of its origin, I just like transparency between manufacturers and customers. That’s what I was used to until now. Since you replied, I felt that I had to respond to you, after all you created this thread, to clarify my position. Honestly, I’m not here to denigrate any member or the gear that I own, now that would’ve been stupid really. Also, gotta thank LakeMountain for suggesting to pay closer attention to the DAC, the more I listen to it the more I like it. I have decided to keep it for good, it was more enjoyable for long listening sessions than the one I was using before. That’s all. No more words from me again.
Anyone know if the Vincent SA T7 will work well if paired with an old Audio Research VT100? Any suggestions on a good PreAmp to pair the AR VT100 I want to keep the cost under $2,000 (new or used)?
I picked up a beautiful used copy of the Vincent SA-T7 preamp. I'm running it with either a Bob Carver Crimson 275 or an Elekit 300B TU-8600 amp. This preamp is truly glorious in its low noise, massive soundstage, and clarity. I'll have to open it up to see what tube compliment mine has. I think there's no real true plug and play equivalent to the 6S3P-EV tubes.
Hey there, hope you’re all ok. Got a few developments I thought you guys will find interesting. Right before Christmas, after working almost one year, one of the Vimala resistors died. Now, that’s the part that Blohbaum in his private email said it’s actually made in Germany and is installed by him (hello Herr Blohbaum, lol). First you’ll hear loud distorted noise from the faulty resistor’s corresponding channel, which turns into loud permanent hiss. The good thing is mine was in warranty, and they have plenty of them in stock, it was fixed within a week. During that time we also found out from a different sales person, not the one who sold it originally, that even though they rarely get tube buying requests, they can manage to sell them for $25 each ($200 for a set of Soviet stuff). Now I have a proposition - if anybody in this thread could recommend a brand new, unquestionably German-made tubed preamplifier with tone controls and one set of balanced outputs, then you can have mine for $500, plus the greatest aftermarket tubes available (cost $1000). I’m willing to spend $6500. It has to be done within 3 days, as I have one Japanese one arranged for audition. So far the only one I was able to discover is Octave HP700, priced at $12500. And, finally, I just read a review by Vincent’s bell-boy Froehling with the Aussie audio magazine, where he was recommending using aftermarket tubes in their gear. That was very funny coming from him.
The ec86 or e86c tubes are replacements for the 6s3p-ev. Even though the pinouts are different, the way they wired the soviets (pins 2,3 and 9) makes it ready for the ec86 connection. Personally, I still think the soviets are very decent performers, if you want something different then try Telefunken e86c (not the ec86), they have the greatest tone to my ears, I have about 10 different ec86 quads, so I have some experience with them, and others too for that matter.
Hi Jazzfan58! I'm a little confused at what are truly proper drop in tube equivalents here. 1. 6S3P-EV. I thought the 6S3P is NOT pin compatible with the WE417 or the EC86 2. CV6189. Is it correct to say the CV6189 is equivalent and a drop in replacement for 6*9P/6J9P, E180F, and the 6688A ?
2. You’re correct 1. In the Vincent the way the sockets are wired allows them to accept the ec86 tube as a plug-in substitute. The “DR” version is just a more ruggedized, radiation-proof version of the “EV”, I have a set and in my system I get too much bass. I assume they worked better in the Soviet telecommunications equipment. But, honesty, I won’t recommend replacing the originals (I know it’s hard to resist).
Jazzfan58!, Yes, I love your candor here. If the sound is good, it is good. No need to force a tube roll. The good news is the 6S3p-EV is plentiful. I wish some US sellers would scoop up a box. Who wants to wait 8 weeks to get stuff from Russia!?
So, I have a ton of gain between my tube sources and tube preamp. By ton of gain, I mean I cannot get the volume pot above, say, 8 o’clock or 9 o’clock for casual listening, and 10 o’clock will blow me out of the room! Further, the situation makes it nearly impossible to use the remote volume control--unless one wants to go from quiet to bombast or the reverse. I’ll give my system and what I’m seeing as options. Then, I’d be super appreciative if folks chime in. Vinyl - Manley Chinook Phono Preamp (gain adjustable 40 or 60dB). Runs 4 6922 tubes. Digital - Doge Audio 7 Tube DAC. (the circuit uses 4 12 AT7s, and the other half uses 4 12AX7s). No internal gain adjustment Preamp - Vincent SA-T7 (uses 4 CV6189/E180F/6688A/Russian 6*39P), and 4 6S3p-EV/EC86). I’m not aware of harmless, drop in replacements that offer lower gain as subs for these tubes. Amp -- Carver Crimson 275 (uses 2 12AT7s and 1 12AX7) Option 1 - Live with it. This is the least desirable. Option 2 - Rothwell attenuators (or similar) running to amplifier. Option 3 - Move Chinook internal gain to lowest setting; Move the 4 12AX7s out of the Doge and put in 12AY7s or 12AT7s to lower gain. Option 4 - Change up tubes on the Carver-- likely start with subbing lower gain for the 12AX7. Thank you folks!!! Looking forward to your thoughts.
Hi Number 6 (). I had luck with Option 2, thanks to LakeMountain and BFW suggesting the Rothwells. The only small downside for me is: the dynamic range is sometimes now too great, where the opening ppp of Mahler or King Crimson then results in a sfz blast that wakes up the cats! But, I'd rather live with that than with the previous situation.
