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Today's 6SN7 Tubes - comparison test

From left to right: Ray Tubes Select, Pavane Summit, Sophia Electric, Ray Tubes Reserve

Ray Tubes selection process

[Italian Version Here]

Product: Ray Tubes Reserve 6SN7 Quad: Can$1499 - Ray Tubes Select 6SN7 Quad: Can$499 - Website: Raytubes
Pavane Summit 6SN7 Quad: Can$1000 - Website: Psvane
Sophia Electric 6SN7 Quad: Can$768 -Can$1100 - Website: Sophia Electric
Reviewer: Henry Venema - TNT-Audio Canada
Reviewed: June, 2026

Introduction

About 20 years ago I received a bucket of used 6SN7 tubes from an old-time radio repair shop in Dillsburg Pennsylvania. The owner explained to me that they were pulled from radios that had one or more bad tubes, he would replace them all of them with new tubes and dump the old ones, even if they tested good, in the bucket. I tested the entire collection with my military tube tester and sorted them into pairs and quads. I was lucky to find a quad of Sylvania Tall Boys among the bunch that still tested good, along with Sylvania chrome top short bottles, several quads of RCA tubes including gray glass tubes.

The problem was that I didn't have any audio equipment to use this fine collection. I waited several years before I found an Arte Forma Audio Thalia 6SN7 preamp. This company is no longer in business, which is a shame because this preamp is fantastic. Now I could finally hear what the big deal was with my old stock tubes. The preamp came with a quad of newer looking Tung-Sol tubes. These sounded bad, perhaps they would be better for a guitar amplifier than hi-fi. I switched these out right away and never tried them again. After going through a dozen different tube sets, the Sylvania Tall boys stood out as superior to the others. I loved these tubes and used them for 8 years before one of them died and the others just measured too low. I ended up using the next best set of tubes, RCA clear glass. They were good in the midrange, but the top end was a little rolled off, which was a good choice for bright recordings. I needed a replacement as good as the Tall Boys. I checked Ebay for several months. Good quality NOS Tall Boys are expensive, and the reliability is always a question for NOS and used tubes. So perhaps I should check out some new tubes.

I had heard all kinds of good things about Ray Tubes. So, I asked to review both their Select and Reserve 6SN7 sets of tubes. Nelson Wu was gracious to send me the two tube sets. The Ray Tube Select 6SN7 are Can$499 a quad, the Ray Tube Reserve 6SN7 are Can$1499 CND for a quad. The Reserve are rumored to be the very best. Are they worth it? Yes, and then so! However, I also wanted to compare the Ray Tubes with its competition. I acquired a quad of Psvane Summit 6SN7 tubes at Can$1000 CND, and a quad of Sophia Electric Blue 6SN7 glass tubes at Can$1000 CND.

This review took me a lot longer than I thought. All these tubes needed a much longer burn in time than I expected. After the first 100 hours of run time the tubes sounded good. However, each set of tubes changed a lot with more time. At the 300 hour burn in mark, the sound finally stabilized. Until then, I listened intermittently between teaching my philosophy classes. But once fully burned in I started listening intently, switching tube sets in and out of my preamp, waiting for them to warm up, repeating sound tracks over and over again, and then do it all over again from the start with different music.

Ray tube selection process

All four sets of new tubes sound very good. The differences between these tubes are very minor and of course totally dependent on my current audio system. I could live with any one these tube sets, but the Ray Reserve 6SN7 stood out from the rest. On several occasions I emailed Nelson, simply to say how good these tubes were, so much better than the Tall Boys in every parameter. Nelson explained that Ray Tube uses a multistep quality control process.

• First, “In this phase, we verify that each tube is structurally sound. These steps expose manufacturing defects and reveal faulty tubes early. These are the sorts of problems that cause unwanted background noise, popping, and even damage to your audio equipment.”

• Second: “We inspect the soldering of each pin under a microscope. Imperfect soldering leads to broken seals in the vacuum or outright failure. If the soldering isn't right, the tube doesn't make the cut.”

• Third: “Each tube undergoes a 24-hour burn-in period. This stabilizes the components and exposes early failures. You can think of it as a sort of early detection test, uncovering symptoms that are harmless now but will cause problems further down the line. If a tube fails, it doesn't make the cut.”

• Forth: “Using industrial-grade instruments, we measure current draw to ensure accurate matching. Each channel has to deliver consistent sound quality and volume. If it doesn't, the tube doesn't make the cut.”

• Fifth: “We subject the tubes to physical stress to check for microphonics. This confirms they maintain low noise levels, even in tough conditions. If they don't, they don't make the cut.

• Sixth: “Tubes are installed in two-channel speaker amplifiers to assess real-world performance. Our sound engineers listen to them using calibrated audio equipment to ensure they meet our standards. If they don't, the don't make the cut.”

• Seventh: “Finally, we randomly select tubes that have passed all tests for targeted listening sessions. If the tubes doesn't meet our expectations? You know what happens.”

Now with regard to the 6SN7 tubes, Ray Tube has two different sets: Select and Reserve. The Reserve is a very special set of tubes. “Hand selected and tested, the Ray Tubes Reserve 6SN7 is designed specifically for hi-fi audio applications. Featuring gold-plated pins and our monocrystalline carbon Magic Coating, the RESERVE collection easily outperforms NOS and new production alike. Fewer than 5% of production meets our standards.” The new production line has silicone damping material at the bottom of the tube to reduce possible vibrations. The Psvane tubes have them as well.

Warranty

• Ray Tubes Reseve and Select: 1 year warranty
• Psvane Summit: 2 year warranty
• Sophia Electric: 1 year warranty

6SN7 Tube Comparison

To compare these tubes, I used a large number of LPs; but four stood out as exemplars for a good review. Rotating tubes takes time for them to warm up; I usually let them warm up for 10 minutes. The results were remarkably similar for each LP. The differences between tube sets were minor.

My first LP was Dark Side of the Moon, particularly the intro drum play of “Time.” This is such a beautiful piece of music, with the left/right back and forth of the deep powerful impact of the bass guitar and drums, and a great bass test track.

I started with the Ray Tubes Reserve 6SN7. The first thing I noticed was the treble energy and extension without being bright, opening a wide and deep three-dimensional soundstage. Bass was tight with great articulation and definition. The timing between the juxtaposing drum notes had great musical play and flow. Clarity without fatigue, these tubes were a revelation as compared to my RCA set, which sounds dark and rolled off by comparison.

The Sophia Electric tubes have lovely thick blue glass bulbs. These tubes had thunderous bass but sounded more forward with a little more attack. With a bold presentation the Sophia had a fullness to bass that I could feel as much as hear it. However, the bass lacked a little of the tight focus as the Reserve. The edges of the image were a bit fuzzy and had too much reverb or intermodulation.

The Pavane Summit tubes surprised me. They had a clarity about them that was particularly evident in its ability to articulate bass notes without fuzzy reverb. Deep full bass without confusion, the Summit tubes sound cleaner than the Sophie Electric tubes. The Ray Reserve 6SN7 tubes had great bass control, but not as much control over the bass as the Summit. The Ray Tubes Select 6SN7 was very similar to the Summit. Both tubes sets were nice sounding with an involving presentation, a bit warmer, a tiny bit rolled off at the top, a little less detail than the Ray Tubes Reserve. All four sets have a wonderful soundstage, open, deep, and extending at times outside the speaker boundaries.

My next test was for clarity of complex musical passages. For this I used My Morning Jacket “Z.” This is a fantastic recording; the LP is so much better than the CD. The interesting thing about this comparison was the ability of these tube sets to reveal inner detail of orchestral background music without confusion. “Z” is a full-bodied dense, complicated musical composition. From top to bottom the orchestral background is easily confused. Once again, the Ray Tubes Reserve came out on top for its clarity and control. The music never got confused. The Summit came in very closely to the Ray Tubes Select 6SN7. The Select had a just a touch more bass, yet neither tube sets confused the music. The Reserve held the music in tight control beautifully resolving the complexities, giving great resolution and musical flow. The Sophia Electric tubes sounded a bit more forward with more power and sharp transitions between notes.

For midrange testing I used my favorite late-night music Gerry Mulligan Night Lights. I love the smooth trumpet and trombone; it resonates down to my bones. This is a perfect LP for testing midrange quality of tone. Here all four tubes set worked wonders, rendering the music in with a beautiful musical flow. The Sophia tubes were slightly louder sounding, with a little more harmonic intermodulation distortion and sharper sound. With a warmth the Sophia still sounded inviting, drawing me into the music. The Ray Tubes Reserve had more presence and gave a sense that the musicians were in the room. The Summit had more bass but at times it was a bit too much. The Ray Tubes Select performed better than the Summit in terms of smoothness making for long unfatiguing listening sessions. The Ray Tubes Select had bigger images with great tonal balance form top to bottom, more layered back to front, the Ray Tubes Reserve were vivid, more detailed, better bass articulation.

For Male voice I choice Bob Dylan 45 rpm “Oh Mercy.” This is an odd mix. Dylan's voice on some tracks sounds harsh, and on others like “The Man in the long Black Coat” his voice is smooth and beautiful (sounds like an oxymoron for Dylan). This is a song I have listen to hundreds of times. I love the back and forth of the guitar and the odd story he tells. The pattern of tube characteristics was the same. The Ray Tubes Reserve had control top to bottom, clarity of voice, involving, and musical. The sound stage was large and deep with a precision of image placement. Dylan's voice was full. The texture of his voice was rich and rough at the same time. The Sophia tubes were more dynamic with sharper transients. Dylan's voice was bold and had a larger space in the soundstage. The Summit and Select were similar. A little softer around the edges, warmer, and with great musical flow.

For female voice I used Famous Blue Raincoat and Patricia Barber Café Blue, and several other recordings, with similar results. While these recordings have been played to death, I still enjoy them. Patricia Barber's voice is so beautiful and extended. Her voice sores to extraordinary heights with elegance and power, and all four tubes sets handled her voice with amazing clarity. In particular, the Ray Tubes Reserve held her voice in precise space, letting it bloom to fill my listening room with the most wonderful high notes that elevate my soul every time I listen to her. The Sophia Electric tubes pulled her voice further forward into the room with a slightly sharper edge to her voice. The Ray Tubes Select and the Psvane Summit tubes were very similar. However, I preferred the Select over the Summit.

After the exhaustive process of tube rolling and confirmation of findings through endless repetition, I tried the gray glass and clear glass RCA tubes again. Both gave a fuller sweet midrange, a slightly rolled off top end, but lacked some control on the bottom end (they could be too old).

Conclusion

This evaluation is not claiming that one tube set is better than the other, rather each tube set needs to be matched with one's audio system and one's audio preferences.

The Ray Reserve: these tubes are best for a finely tuned audiophile system. They offer clarity, precision of image placement, extended top end without brightness, a controlled bottom end, a warm rich midrange, and the tonal balance is spot on.

Sophia Electric: these tubes are best for a dull system that needs some sparkle and power. They have a bold sound, with slightly forward rich midrange, full bass, with a toe tapping rhythm.

The Summit: if your system is a bit on the bright side, these tubes will smooth things out. A warm full sound with a slight roll off on the top end. The Ray Tubes Select: these tubes are the bargain of the bunch. While these are the lowest price tubes, they offer the best performance for the dollar. Very similar to the Summit, the Select tubes are a warm invitation into the music. When listening to recordings on the bright side I preferred these tubes over the Reserve. They have exceptional musicality and flow without harshness.

In summary, the Ray Tube 6SN7 Reserve stood out as significantly better than the rest, but then again, I have a finely tuned system, and these tubes are a wonderful match in my system. However, I believe that these tubes could contribute to building a finely tuned audio system. I'm lucky that I could review these tubes and provide an evaluation that takes some of the guess work out buying a set of expensive modern tubes.

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© Copyright 2026 Henry Venema - henry@tnt-audio.com - www.tnt-audio.com

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