audio tube list

[ceylon]

NOS GZ34/5AR4 are worth their weight in gold. As long as you have units that use them, NEVER sell them.

By the way, Philips-ECG (USA) made several batches of 5AR4, "5V4GA" labeled rectifiers for the military. Philips-ECG made the tubes using Sylvania 5AR4 jigs.

Sylvania 5AR4. Philips-ECG "5V4GA." GE 5V4GA.

I've used these Philips-ECG rectifiers in several of my amps and in fixes for others. They test like strong 5AR4. The red arrow points to the 525-volt-rated cap can that I used to replace the OEM 475-volt-rated one.

There was this seller who would occasionally put these tubes up on eBay. He bought a pallet of them from a military surplus site. They were quite the deal for those in the know. I haven't seen his eBay postings in several years, but I keep looking.

my word @Mr Boochie you have some fantastic tubes. what a collection.

i would luv some big bottle 5AR4, but theyre just too expensive--worth their weight in gold is right!

"philips ecg"= 80s sylvania USA. parent company and branding changed but not manufacture. theyre made by sylvania at sylvania.

 

[PakProtector]

I bought quite a few 12 volt tubes before prices shot up, back when a sleeve of identical 12SN7 or12V6 could be had for $20 or $25. A search of eBay completed listings indicates most of these are selling now for $20 to $30 each. That's much less than their 6 volt counterparts, but more than I would spend today if I was still collecting.

Jack

Don't forget the 7AF7/14AF7 types. IME, they do better for line stage work than the 6SN7 types by more than a small margin. Whilst on the 'Philips ECG' topic, don't forget the 7581A disguised as 6BG6's...

Douglas

 

[ceylon]

Don't forget the 7AF7/14AF7 types. IME, they do better for line stage work than the 6SN7 types by more than a small margin.

Douglas

im not familiar with these
are there octal or 9-pin equivalents?

 

[peterh]

https://mkratz.pt/
Caution: extra slow site. Let each page load before doing multiple clicks.

My favorite reference is Ludwell Sibley's Tube Lore II.

Impessing compilation. In my "tube-list" now.

I have a question about tubes :
Someone creates a tube ( demands from vendors or any other reason), then asks one or two of the librarians
for a "name" ( ECCxx or 6xx8 ) . This is clear to me. But how comes several tube mfg starts produing this
tube, is there some licensing procedure ? Will licensee pay some amount ? How is the specification
of a tube done, is it only electrical parameters or is plate design etc also in the licensing ?

If there has been patents or other ip they sure has timed out by now. Does that mean that anyone
can product some well-known tube without any licenses ?

 

[Musictubes]

asking prices for 12SN7, 7N7 and 14N7 have gone thru the roof. some are asking sky high prices for 12SL7 as well. dont know if any are selling at obscene prices the asking has gone koo koo. ugh.

I think eBay sellers lurk on places like head-fi and see what the latest chatter has been and mark up the tubes that get talked about the most. I’ve found that tube dealers still consider the likes of the 7n7 and especially the 12sn7 and 14n7 as little more than junk. They sell those tubes for very little. Granted, they won‘t take pictures of the plate structure, micas, and getter flash for you to show you what you’re getting. On the other hand most are happy to get you specific brands. 7n7 and 14n7 Tubes are mostly all made by Sylvania regardless of the brand but there were quite a few variations of the 7n7. I did a bulk order of 7n7 and asked for tall bottle and black glass if they had it and got a bunch of great tubes including the rare National Union round plate 7n7. The 14n7 supplies are drying up and you have to look more carefully to find deals but they are out there at the dealers.

Some of the 12n7 prices have gotten higher but they are still quite a bit less expensive than the 6v versions. You might spend $100 on a round plate Tung Sol 12sl7 but the same 6sn7 will run you 2-3 times that. The GEC b36 has started to get over my purchase limit but the b65 sells for absolutely absurd prices. You can still get great prices on 12j5gt tubes from dealers as they are still seen as unsellable. Called up tube depot looking for some Raytheon 12j5wgt. “Don’t have any of those but I have some from a company I’ve never heard of, Adzam?” Yeah? How many you got? My hunch was right, they were 1955 Mullard cv535. Bought all 8 they had for $8 a piece. Finally found my Raytheon 12j5wgt sold by a guy that catered to radio restorers and hams. I think they were $12 a piece. He retired shortly afterwards. Those guys are the best because they don’t keep track of what audiophools are looking for lol.

 

[Musictubes]

im not familiar with these
are there octal or 9-pin equivalents?

The octal equivalent is the 6/12ah7 and the 9 pin version is the good old 12au7. As far as I can tell there are only two versions made of the 6/12ah7 and 7/14af7 one with black plates and one with grey plates. I don‘t think they were made for very long as the industry was moving towards smaller tubes and so the 12au7 took over. The 6v versions are quite a bit rarer than the 12v versions. Also be aware that while they are octal twin triode tubes they do not have the same pin out as the 6sn7/6sl7/6bx7/6as7, etc.

 

[Musictubes]

Don't forget the 7AF7/14AF7 types. IME, they do better for line stage work than the 6SN7 types by more than a small margin. Whilst on the 'Philips ECG' topic, don't forget the 7581A disguised as 6BG6's...

Douglas

I tried some 14af7 tubes in my Dennis Had amp. I thought the grey plate sounded noticeably better than the black plate but I only had one of each to compare.

Those Philips 6bg6ga are amazing! Bought several sleeves of them for cheap. Are they 7t81a or 7027a? I thought they were the latter. In any case, they are amazing.

 

[PakProtector]

Not sure about 7027's, but those late-model 6BG6GA's are 35W plates. That is 7581A numbers... and what a shock, they no doubt decided to build one 6L6-ish thing and bottle it as requested.

Douglas

 

[Mr Boochie]

Not sure about 7027's, but those late-model 6BG6GA's are 35W plates. That is 7581A numbers... and what a shock, they no doubt decided to build one 6L6-ish thing and bottle it as requested.

Douglas

I liked the GE 7027. I biased them like 7581A. Same with the UK GEC/MOV KT-66.

 

[Musictubes]

Not sure about 7027's, but those late-model 6BG6GA's are 35W plates. That is 7581A numbers... and what a shock, they no doubt decided to build one 6L6-ish thing and bottle it as requested.

Douglas

There were also some 807 that got the same treatment. The 7581a can handle anything an 807/6gb6 could do why spin up a new production run. Just slap the guts in a new bottle and rewire. The Philips JAN 6j5gt is hilarious. They took a 6sn7 and rewired the base so that only one of the triodes was used.

 

[tubelectron]

is there a list of all the tubes most commonly used in amplifiers? meaning a list of tubes people want that aren't for weird old outdated tabletop radio's and such?

Yes indeed ! These below are the most common of the common ones, at least here in Europe :

12AX7/ECC83
12AT7/ECC81
12AU7/ECC82
6L6
6V6
EL84
EL34
6550
KT88
5Y3
GZ34/5AR4

All those are found in guitar amps or Hi-Fi amps.

T

 

[Mr Boochie]

Yes indeed ! These below are the most common of the common ones, at least here in Europe :

12AX7/ECC83
12AT7/ECC81
12AU7/ECC82
6L6
6V6
EL84
EL34
6550
KT88
5Y3
GZ34/5AR4

All those are found in guitar amps or Hi-Fi amps.

T

6DJ8/ECC88, too!

 

[TriodeLuvr]

The Philips JAN 6j5gt is hilarious. They took a 6sn7 and rewired the base so that only one of the triodes was used.

I have a few of those somewhere, and you're correct about the unused section. However, can this be done by simply rewiring the base? Haven't looked at them lately, but I thought the parallel filament wiring of the 6SN7 was done inside the envelope. That would prevent simply rewiring the base, because the resulting "6J5" would still have two filaments active and would draw twice the rated current.

Jack

 

[Mr Boochie]

is there a list of all the tubes most commonly used in amplifiers? meaning a list of tubes people want that aren't for weird old outdated tabletop radio's and such?

A partial list I found on the Web.


For vintage table-top radios:

"Pulling the first tube out, look for its part number. The part number will consist of a number or numbers, a letter or letters, and a number all grouped. An example of a tube part number can be 50L6, 12SK7, 35Z5, or 7C7. Write down the tube number in its respective place on your sketch."

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-fix-a-classic-American-AM-tube-radio/

 

[ceylon]

I think eBay sellers lurk on places like head-fi and see what the latest chatter has been and mark up the tubes that get talked about the most.

oh yea, definitely, and head fi itself plays a big part.

I’ve found that tube dealers still consider the likes of the 7n7 and especially the 12sn7 and 14n7 as little more than junk.

legit dealers, some dont even bother with em.

They sell those tubes for very little. Granted, they won‘t take pictures of the plate structure, micas, and getter flash for you to show you what you’re getting. On the other hand most are happy to get you specific brands. 7n7 and 14n7 Tubes are mostly all made by Sylvania regardless of the brand but there were quite a few variations of the 7n7. I did a bulk order of 7n7 and asked for tall bottle and black glass if they had it and got a bunch of great tubes including the rare National Union round plate 7n7. The 14n7 supplies are drying up and you have to look more carefully to find deals but they are out there at the dealers.

Some of the 12n7 prices have gotten higher but they are still quite a bit less expensive than the 6v versions. You might spend $100 on a round plate Tung Sol 12sl7 but the same 6sn7 will run you 2-3 times that. The GEC b36 has started to get over my purchase limit but the b65 sells for absolutely absurd prices.

oh yea

You can still get great prices on 12j5gt tubes from dealers as they are still seen as unsellable.

i dont know these at all

Called up tube depot looking for some Raytheon 12j5wgt. “Don’t have any of those but I have some from a company I’ve never heard of, Adzam?” Yeah? How many you got? My hunch was right, they were 1955 Mullard cv535. Bought all 8 they had for $8 a piece. Finally found my Raytheon 12j5wgt sold by a guy that catered to radio restorers and hams. I think they were $12 a piece. He retired shortly afterwards. Those guys are the best because they don’t keep track of what audiophools are looking for lol.

yeah i can dig that. all the best buddy.

 

[Musictubes]

I have a few of those somewhere, and you're correct about the unused section. However, can this be done by simply rewiring the base? Haven't looked at them lately, but I thought the parallel filament wiring of the 6SN7 was done inside the envelope. That would prevent simply rewiring the base, because the resulting "6J5" would still have two filaments active and would draw twice the rated current.

Jack

I’m not actually sure how they did it. Didn’t realize that the heater wiring was inside the glass. What I do know is that the blue labeled version is notorious for sounding bad. The late power tubes were quite good but the Philips/sylvania small signal tubes from the 80s have a terrible reputation.

 

[Musictubes]

oh yea, definitely, and head fi itself plays a big part.

legit dealers, some dont even bother with em.

oh yea

i dont know these at all

yeah i can dig that. all the best buddy.

The 12j5gt is the 12v version of the 6j5. Using dual single triodes instead of a twin triode often sounds better. In theory a pair of 6j5 should be exactly the same as a 6sn7. There are some brands like Sylvania that made different plate structures for their 6j5 so maybe that has something to do with it. I first started to use single triodes because it was cheaper than chasing the crazy 6sn7 market but now I use them for the sound. The 12v versions are even cheaper. Even the metal 6j5 and 6c5 sound great and are still real cheap. Currently using Cossor branded 6c5g (6j5 equivalent) driving vt60 (an Ediswan equivalent to the 807).