Props to Apos. I had a problem with a select tube and they sent another one immediately.

I like your deep dive into this particular example of the question of tube quality and the difference it may make in sound quality. One thing, though, you said that "I think there may only be (tube) factories in China or Russia, these days." There may only be "general purpose" tube manufactories in those countries, there is a tiny factory in North Georgia, USA, just south of the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, that has bought the name, intellectual property, and some machines from Western Electric, and are making, right there, brand new, very high quality (and very high price) 300B vacuum tubes. Thanks for a bunch of very interesting work in the reviews and other videos you have made and shared here. All the best!

A couple of years ago I purchased a matched pair of NIB Mullard ECC32's, (6SN7 equivalents) they were over $1,000. Never been brave enough to use them!

I used a 'socket saver' to raise the tube out of the way from the power tubes.

I have two tube amps right now: The xDuoo TA-20 and TA-26. Even though I only have these two amps I started getting into purchasing tubes and now have a quite robust collection. While I do not possess any tubes above the 1,000 USD range I do have *a lot* of tubes below that mark. Many NOS, many used. There are many amps on the market I could buy *today* and put my own tubes into them. If you're in the EU or the US and would like to make an inquiry then by all means, do so. Note! I do not have a tube tester yet. It's on my to-do list. About my two xDuoo tube amps. The tubes with which these amps are delivered are only to send them to the customer in working order. That's it. These tubes are so bad that they don't even have a label or insignia on the glass so they're not even one of the better Chinese valves. The very first tube roll I ever performed was replacing the two 12AU7's in the TA-20 with a pair of 20 USD JJ Electronics tubes. The difference is night and day. Really. Currently I'm running a pair of NOS Siemens 12AU7's from the 1970's, Even better, yes, but not better than swapping out the Chinese stock tubes with the JJ's. In the TA-26 I have some Soviet NOS tubes which I have yet to roll again. I just got those Chinese tubes out of there ASAP. NOS tubes can be very, very expensive. My advice to anyone who wants to use tube amps and who is in the xDuoo spending category is to buy used tubes. Used doesn't mean bad especially if the seller is providing you with measurements. You can buy many pairs of used 12AU7's for the price of one pair of NOS. I supposed used should be called "UOS" for used old stock. Buy two or three different brands so that you can experiment with the sound signatures so that you have replacements if a tube craps out. Being the first person to turn a NOS tube into a "UOS" tube is a luxury as the NOS supply is finite. If you think about it, it's not like you get the best sound when you first start using the NOS tubes and then it's all down hill from there. Quite the opposite is true. Valves do burn in and get smoother. I have first-hand experience of this. Let someone else burn in the NOS tube and sell it to you for a tenth of the original NOS price. Being a tube amp owner does not need to be a rich man's hobby unless you opt to make it one. Many of the NOS tubes I currently own are either for a much nicer amplifier than the likes of xDuoo or for resale. I see no reason to spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of 12AU7's and immediately depreciate them, at least not for a cheap tube amplifier. One day when I spend a schiit-ton of money on an amp such as from Woo Audio then I will use NOS just for the luxury of it. Otherwise, no. I can tell you how crazy the vacuum tube market is. Go and look up how much both NOS and used old stock Western Electric 300B tubes cost. This is a tube used in many Woo Audio amps. Then go and look at the price for the new stock 300B valves Western Electric is producing. The used old stock costs more than the new stock by a large margin. Is the used old stock better than the new stock? I couldn't tell you but that's the nature of supply and demand. Of the three options I would go for the cheapest which immediately excludes NOS WE300B. I don't have ten grand to drop on a pair of tubes.

Black tubes are awesome. I own four Shuguang Black Treasure 12au7 tubes. Plus a Sophia Electric Aqua 5u4g to take care of my TA22 and TA30. I’ve also owned a PSVane Cossor black glass 5u4g. Good idea to put socket savers to add weight and height for vibration and coolness respectively. You may want to find ways to reduce the vibrations on your tube amps. Spring type iso feet are superior feet.

The Apos fits perfectly in the LYR3+.

I orderd the 6sn7 select for my Trafomatic Rhapsody 300B with Emission Labs 300b mesh tubes and the sound great (test 80 hours +). I am going to order the RAY reserve version.

I missed out on this video this was exactly what i was looking for :) thank you

I think that you are an under-appreciated audio reviewer. I follow a number of content creators in this genre and you are among the better but you're not getting the subs, the view counts or the likes I think you deserve. What should we do about this? I'm rather disinterested in social media but if I was more active I would spread the word. I mention this first because I don't know how active you are promoting yourself on the socials. If you already are active on the socials then keep on truckin'. To the subscribers and viewers, if you're active on the socials please help the channel and spread the word. And no - I have no relationship to this channel other than being a regular viewer. I'm shilling out of sincere altruism.

Have the 6SN7 Select in the LYR3 and it's definitely better than the Stock Tube Schiit includes. Worth it to pay 3X more for the Reserve for a LYR3?

i see a new Tubes for my Schiit Freya :) THX for the reveiew :)

There’s also tube factories in Slovakia (JJ), the US (Western Electric), Japan (Takatsuki), and I’m sure there’s a few more.

As is usual, the paradigm of how much feedback is used in a tube circuit is being ignored. In a circuit where little or no feedback is being used the sound of different tubes is likely to be quite different. However, in a circuit where there’s considerable feedback (20- 30db), such as cathode followers, it would be unlikely to hear much if any difference between high end select tubes and standard current production tubes being as feedback can minimize many tube nonlinearities including microphonics and noise. Tweaky single ended amps are more often than not designed with little feedback and tube upgrades can be worthwhile. Vintage tube gear, like your Dynaco’s, Heathkits, Scott, Fishers, etc., invariably use a ton of feedback, both locally and globally, and would generally not gain a significant benefit from high-end select tubes, except perhaps in the phono stage.

in my experience there is no downside to improving the tubes in a system. while you may not get the full effect on a "cheaper" amp, the improvement over something like new stock Sol's will be obvious. But of course their are limits, a $500 tube on a $199 amp is probably a waste of money but if you own a $1k or up pre or power amp, go crazy!

You need to get yourself a Feliks Euforia to test out those tubes.... Plus with the Atriums = wow!

Upgrades with 6SN7s? - Cayin HA-300 MK2 8W 19+10kg OTC SET (2x power Gold Lion Genelax PX300B, 2x driver Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB, 4x rectifier RCA 22DE4) - Feliks Audio Envy stan/perf 8W 15,1kg OTC SET (power stan. Electro Harmonix Gold / perf. Full Music 300B , driver PsVane CV181 mk2 6SN7) - Viva Egoista 845 15W 30kg SET (2x power Shuguang 845, drivers Tungsol 6SN7 + 6N1P, 2x rectifier 5U4G)

And last point: Rebranding an OEM tube doesn’t increase the tube supply. It simply relabels some of the already produced supply.

For those prices I would think NOS tubes would be as good if not better - would have to be listened to. My favorite is the RCA 5692 but it's getting rare.

current prioduction tube manufacturing: jj in slovak several in china electro harmonix/new sensor in russia western electric in the US theres one in germany, its a small outfit like WE in the US and another...i cant remember where.

Basically $500 for a pair. Thats a tough one as you can almost get any NOS pair for that price..other than the really rare ones. Apos has a 12 month warranty though..plus if its noisey or microphonic in any way one can return it. I wonder what the life expectancy is? 10,000 hours would be nice

Great review! VERY EXCITING!. ..I have a question about the tube, which I cannot seem to find on Ray's website, surprisingly? Tube dimensions. I want to try a pair of these in my Schiit Freya+. It sits in a cabinet and my headroom (height) is tight. Pretend that the pins are not there. I need a measurement from the bottom of the base to the top of the glass globe. Width is not a factor for me. 😀

Ok site says you have 12 ax7 and el34 both of those are in marshall dsl 40cr, yet its not lidted in compatible amps why?

That reserve looks a LOT like PSVANE CV 181 Tii., a 6SN7 equivalent. I'd like to know how those 2 compare against each other. I'm willing to bet they're twins

$184 for a tube is a reasonable look at the prices of NOW 6SN7.

Um, you rocked it 😎

I see a silver MJ3 back there.

the price gouging is out of control.

All these tubes are making me go inPSvane 🤪 Soz, couldn’t resist

What would you recommend for the new Schiit vali 3?

Could you advise best tube for slot at the back for ta 26?

Do you think i could get away with: 6N1P -> 6SN7 to 6922 Adapter -> insert 6SN7 in the Valhalla 2? to adapt one of these bad boys? I'd swap in an Electro Harmonix 12BH7 or JJ Gold ECC99 on the other end. For your upgrade! The Woo Audio WA33 might be able to work with a matched quad

Tubes can become a money pit, trust me I know, the upgrades your chasing never end . Eastern block counties like Russia have some of the best out there, for me the biggest difference in your audio, comes from the pre stage . Great fun but expensive .

Now if we could just get APOS to make 6922/7308 tubes so I can stop testing piles of Russian ones off an ancient tester.

LOL, 😂 no, the Ferrari / Fiat metaphor is wrong. You couldn’t get a Ferrari out of a Fiat assembly line. Here, the situation is entirely different. The specs of a 6SN7 were codified exactly by RCA/Sylvania in 1939; all parameters included. What Apos supposedly does is pick the best conforming units at the end of the assembly line. That, in itself, is a valuable QA service, but it’s still a 6SN7 that falls within the parameter ranges defined in 1939, not a Ferrari. And NOS tubes are still likely to be better.

Russian Tubes are the best