Citation 5 tubes

[wdecho]

Anyone interested in 6L6's should grab some of the 6N3C NOS tubes. The Russian made 6L6. I just finished building a SE 6L6 amplifier using the 6N3C tube. Good for around 18watts dissipation. My experience with them any more than 18 and they red plate so must be just plain 6L6's and not the 6L6GC' clones. Running mine at 14 watts with no problem. Still reasonably priced on Ebay. I have a number of them and just bought some more last month. Reasonable priced NOS Russian tubes are getting scarce. Especially since covid. The word is out. The ones I bought last month have a cosmetic flaw. Frosted on the outside but supposedly still NOS with no internal flaws. The seller has clear glass ones at a higher price. The ones I bought a decade ago were really cheap.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/398276900492

The Russians made some really good tubes decades ago. Good as European and American ones in my opinion.

 

[Palustris]

That reminds me of the Citation V I found used in 1982. It was a tough time for tubes with the advent of transistors for audio and guitar amps. I went to my local electronic supply house and asked for 7581A tubes. I received four crisp International Service Master boxes marked 7581A. I was thrilled and couldn't wait to get home and try out the amp with new tubes of the correct type. Imagine my surprise when opening the boxes revealed Russian 6P3S. I put them in the amp anyway and immediately the plates turned a dull orange. I knew they could damage the amp when they would inevitably fail, so I powered it down and continued my search.

Eventually, I found Ned Carlson of Triode Electronics in Chicago through his advertisements in Audio Amateur magazine and he became my tube supplier and advisor in all things tubes.

 

[wdecho]

6P3S and 6n3c are the same tube. Cryptic to English glitch. Would not hurt the amp but definitely shorten the tube life if you kept running them that way. Probably real short. The amp could have been re-biased and worked just fine. I have played with them for awhile and 18 watts dispassion is all they are good for. Probably not appropriate to mention them on this Citation thread because they will most likely red plate if someone tried to run the without debiasing the amp.

 

[maxhifi]

6P3S mislabled labeled 6L6GC probably did more to damage the reputation of Russian and Chinese tubes in the 80s and 90s, than any other single factor. Unwary buyers would put them into amplifiers which would exceed the Pd and G2 ratings, causing early failure and condemnation of commie junk.

Thing is they are good tubes, just not suitable for high power applications.

 

[Mr Boochie]

6P3S mislabled labeled 6L6GC probably did more to damage the reputation of Russian and Chinese tubes in the 80s and 90s, than any other single factor. Unwary buyers would put them into amplifiers which would exceed the Pd and G2 ratings, causing early failure and condemnation of commie junk.

Thing is they are good tubes, just not suitable for high power applications.

I bias them to 5881 (23 watts) max, not 6L6GC (30 watts). In the long run, they are happier.

Actually, there have been posts where people have opened the outer envelope and inspected the inner plate structure of the 6P3S-E. They claim that the Reflector-made 6P3S-E looks very much like (maybe identical to) the Sovtek 6L6WGB/5881.

 

[wdecho]

The 6n3c's sound really good when used correctly. Being old school tubes they should last a long time. No question they made better tubes when tubes ruled. That and they are still relatively cheap still. And yes I am a cheap diy'er. I built this SE 6L6 amplifier without purchasing a thing. Everything came from what I had laying around for years. Getting off the topic again because they are not suitable for the Citation without some changes. Sorry.

 

[maxhifi]

I bias them to 5881 (23 watts) max, not 6L6GC (30 watts). In the long run, they are happier.

Actually, there have been posts where people have opened the outer envelope and inspected the inner plate structure of the 6P3S-E. They claim that the Reflector-made 6P3S-E looks very much like (maybe identical to) the Sovtek 6L6WGB/5881.

6P3S-E is the coin base Sovtek 5881. It is close enough to a 6L6GC, and was successfully operated at almost 600V in the Mesa Baron hifi amp its a great tube.


6P3S is basically a 6L6G, spec wise. It is the One which will get you into trouble if you don't respect the ratings, and is the tube which was often labeled 6L6GC Made in England, Germany, etc during the 80s and 90s. It's a narrower tube with a normal black tube base. SOVTEK sold it as the 6L6GT in the 90s.

I bias them to 5881 (23 watts) max, not 6L6GC (30 watts). In the long run, they are happier.

Actually, there have been posts where people have opened the outer envelope and inspected the inner plate structure of the 6P3S-E. They claim that the Reflector-made 6P3S-E looks very much like (maybe identical to) the Sovtek 6L6WGB/5881.