I tried the new Tung-sol and didn't like it. Although others have and I know some high-end companies using it in very expensive amps. There is also one from Electro Harmonix, but I wonder if it is the same tube as it comes from the same Russian factory and they have been known to sell the same tubes under different labels.

There is a "platinum gold pin" version of the EH 6SN7, but outside of having different pins, I'm not sure there is any difference. Again, I've read positive opinions of the tube.

I've seen closely triode-matched pairs of 1950s Sylvania 6SN7GTB selling on that auction site for $55/pr. That's not bad and those are pretty decent tubes.

I've also seen good prices on green-labeled Baldwin-labeled 6SN7s, these were made by Sylvania. I have a pair and they sound just like my Sylvanias.

I occasionally run across the tall-bottle, yellow-labeled Westinghouse 6SN7GTB there at low prices. My favorite 6SN7. Westinghouse short-bottle 6SN7s are re-labeled Sylvania.

Of the new production tubes, the Psvane 181 Tii grey glass is probably the best I've heard. It's mislabeled - it's not actually a 181, it's really a plain old 6SN7. They are also expensive.

Agreed. The Shuguang and Psvane CV-181's are excellent and IMHO better NOS.

Anyone got a good source for the Shuguang and Psvane CV-181's

Don't count on one of them lasting forever. Some people get only 1-2 years from those tubes.

Ok in that case I retract my previous offer:thumbsup:

1-2yrs, at what frequency of usage (daily, weekends only, a few days a month)?

I have some that I have been using for 3 years. I bought them when I got the Inspire gear. The problem is that there are different grades and the premium grade are the better testing but they are more expensive. I have a lot of old stock 6SN7's and none are as good sonically in my rig.

Here's what I have read. Across multiple forums, I've read roughly 25 posts by people claiming to own one of the higher-end Chinese CV-181s. Their opinions have been very positive, all but one saying that they love the tubes, and other other one saying it is okay but nothing special. Five of them have reported that the tube went bad within 2 years. Not a terrible rate. And far from being a scientific study. Data from a tube reseller would be more valid.

I have no idea how many hours they put on them. I have no first hand experience with them.

The sellers of these tubes are a fragmented lot and I have read that there were tubes that did not make the grade smuggled out of the factory that are being sold. These tubes may have a shorter life. I have had good dealings with h_salience an auction site seller.

I would like to see a seller add descriptions of the basic sonic character of the many varients.

The issue with the coveted NOS/old production is that good examples are hard to find and they are close to or higher in price than the new production.

Just my two cents. I've tried the Psvane black and grey bottle, and many new production 6sn7, as well as a crap load of NOS 6sn7.

I think the very best new production tube out there is the Psvane grey bottle 6sn7. I do think good NOS is better, but the prices can get insane.

As far as reliability, I've personally had worse luck with new production tubes than NOS. I've had a psvane kt88 and psvane 12au7 fail on me. I've also had a pair of sovtek 2a3 that went bad on me.

I've only had one NOS tube ever go bad on me, and that was more because I was running it past spec in a high powered amp.

obviously ymmv