Sovtek 6H30Pi Gold Grade / No Cryo Reviews

4.7 Rating 12 Reviews

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Phone:

909.931.9686

Email:

joel.m@upscaleaudio.com

Location:

2058 Wright Avenue,
2058 Wright Avenue
California
91750

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Albi Villaverde

Verified Reviewer

“Fixed the problem with my VK31se where it was noisy”

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Posted 2 years ago

“Best preamplifier”

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Posted 2 years ago

Tim Mccreash

Verified Reviewer

“As always , you can trust Kevin with his wares .. he works hard to provide the best product possible. I have never had an issue with anything he sells.. I personally believe he is the best in the business Thank you , Kevin”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Bought 2 6H30 ARC select for my LS27, out of box sounds flat with no bass. My 4000 hours old tubes sounds a lot better. Breakin them for up to 400 hours and have no better result. Email them 2-3 times to ask about my issue and have never been answered. With a so bad after sale service I will never get tubes here again...”

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Posted 6 years ago

“I use two matching tubes (Platinum grade, no cryo) in my modest Little Dot MKII (quite pricey for the amp, but I had the extra cash and figured, why not!), not a HUGE difference in sound quality, however the gain is much higher, as in I usually had the volume knob at 40 for a comfortable level with my old stock tubes (cheap chinese 6N6's), but now music plays LOUD at 20, using HiFiMan HE4XX's. The power draw is slightly higher too, at 30 watts vs 25 watts with the stock tubes, and the amp gets a bit hotter. I chose these over the gold-plated Electro-Harmonix because of people saying the sound is clearer with these Sovtek's, and I see gold-plating the pins as kinda gimmicky anyways. I am also very impressed with Upscale Audio, I found them when googling these tubes, I had an option between paying ~80 for a pair, or ~65 on Ebay. I watched a few of Kevin Deal's youtube videos and it's obvious he has a lot of passion for what he does, is very thorough with his testing, and only wants the utmost quality for his customers. I'm not a high roller and can't spend thousands on an amp, but I feel just as much care was put into my comparatively modest order as the big ones. I will be sure to purchase my future equipment from Kevin and happily pay the slightly higher price, for the peace of mind of getting the highest quality possible. Thank you, Kevin, for you've made a happy and loyal customer!”

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Posted 6 years ago

Bradley Bishop

Unverified Reviewer

“I have been searching a while for some decent 6H30Pi's & finally broke down & reached out to the folks at Upscale Audio. I sprung for the Cryo'd ARC Selects having already amassed a small stockpile of other tubes from other folks. My goal has been to find closely matched low noise quad for my heavily modified BC AG3000 preamp. Out of the box I was stunned by the reduced noise floor of these tubes. They are seriously the vacuum tube equivalent of vantablack paint. Awesome stuff & a steal at this price.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“I purchased both the EH 6H30 and Sovtek 6H30's. Compared to the Sovtek, the EH tubes have almost a sheen of warmth over them that obscures transparency, presents details in a fuzzed up manner and has a rolled off top end compared to the Sovteks. Bass seems more with the EH tubes but on closer look it is only an artificial enhancement because of the warm sound. Can a layer of gold plating on the pins make so much difference? I don't know. I do know that the Sovtek 6H30s are super linear in my system - with a top to bottom coherence that I have found in the Reflektor Silver Shield 1975 6h23p's from my collection. Both these tubes are super quiet, present a wide and deep soundstage, and are very very detailed. However the detail is never presented out of proportion. Both tubes are very musical and the sound is never dry. The difference is that the reflektors have that slight tube delicacy which can be very addictive while the Sovtek's present music in a extremely realistic manner. Bass is fantastic (vibrant, tight, pliant etc) with both tubes but has more slam with the Sovteks. I think I have found my favorite tube in the Sovtek 6H30.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“I just installed five of these 6H30pi gold pin tubes along with a Sovtek 6550WE in my ARC REF-3 and had a long listening session last night. Very quiet tubes with increased dynamic range, silent background and more transparency. They take up to 100 hours to sound their best, but my initial reaction right out of the box was ... WOW! Highly recommended.”

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Posted 9 years ago