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Tubes in your system?

Your allright Keg :thmbsp: I sure didn't know the heater current was double. The data there sort of backs up what I was thinking about this tube. I would imagine that it was not manufactured with hi-fi in mind, rather some critical use like a bomb sight or lab equipment. So, with this in mind, maybe it is not a particullary "low noise" tube as much as it is super tuff. I don't know why it sounds so good, but I suspect the extra tall, thin black plates have something to do with it. You may well be on to something with the chassis vibration as this tube has solid looking internal structures with what appear to be fairly thick stainless steel rods top to bottom. Seems odd that after a couple hours warmup you can tap them pretty good with your fingernail and they are dead quite. At any rate, it will be interesting to experiment with different ideas on dampening. This has been a great thread, Jay

Hey, while I'm here, has anyone ever experimentd with an octal tube # 6AC5GT? I keep looking for tube #'s that may be useful in my pile of cast offs. I was thinking "maybe" headphone amp for these?
 
Had the day off today :banana: Goofed around with tubes all day. I got the microphonics issue solved on the 5691's with a couple of o-rings. I really don't understand why it works, but it sure did. Decided to do an all RCA setup for awhile. IMHO RCA can run with any of the higher priced tubes. Of course my ears aren't what they should be. I included a pic of the o-ring treated tubes and a couple just to show off my sweetheart. :D
 
Lookin good there JAY!

I really like the looks of those 5691's, :smoke:
Did yu just use standard orings from the hardware store?
 
They are actually left over from a Carrier chiller overhaul I did last winter. They are subjected to nearly 200degree oil in that application, so I figure they may hold up. The 5691's don't run real hot anyhow.
 
Actually Jay a lot of people use the standard Orings from the hardware store with no issues.

And yes Agreed! The RCA's are very underated, If someone wants NOS tubes and don't want to
spend an arm and a leg you can get great great sound from RCA, much better then any new tubes!
 
jaymanaa said:
IMHO RCA can run with any of the higher priced tubes.
Click to expand...

Hey!!!,
Ummmm...the Red-based RCA 5691 *IS* one of the more expensive tubes.

As to sound, that's more of a personal thing. I have a few ov them, and some round-plate Tung-Sol 6SU7GTY I like even better.
cheers,
Douglas
 
Now that you mention it, I guess that sounded odd. They are a bit pricey, maybe thats why I think they sound so good :scratch2: Funny you should mention round plates. I just got 1 JAN CKR Ken-Rad 6SL7GT with round plates totally by accident. It was with a lot of tubes I got off ebay but wasn't listed in the auction. The auction was for 31 tubes and I ended up with 38. Go figure? I will have to search out another. Good to see you around :thmbsp:
 
Well, I think I found a sleeper. :banana: I thought about posting how terrible this tube was so they would stay cheap. :D But seriously, I got a pair of GE 6SL7GTs that have silver colored round structures. They were advertised as nickel, but I wouldn't have a clue. They are far and away the "bassiest" 6SL7 I have tried. It sounded like I had switched the contour on. Does anyone have any thoughts on what would make one tube produce way more bass than another. I would really like to understand what makes tubes sound so different from one brand or style to the next. Anyway, if you are running 6SL7s and need a bass boost find a pair of these dudes. Jay
 
I had same result but with a 12AU7

jaymanaa said:
Well, I think I found a sleeper. :banana: I thought about posting how terrible this tube was so they would stay cheap. :D But seriously, I got a pair of GE 6SL7GTs that have silver colored round structures. They were advertised as nickel, but I wouldn't have a clue. They are far and away the "bassiest" 6SL7 I have tried. It sounded like I had switched the contour on. Does anyone have any thoughts on what would make one tube produce way more bass than another. I would really like to understand what makes tubes sound so different from one brand or style to the next. Anyway, if you are running 6SL7s and need a bass boost find a pair of these dudes. Jay
Click to expand...
Very interesting. I would like to know the answer too. I just installed a pair of RCA black plates and the increase in bass was very dramatic especially after I realized that I mistakenly left my subwoofer off. The most and tightest bass I have ever heard from my Heresies. :music:
 
ldatlof said:
Very interesting. I would like to know the answer too. I just installed a pair of RCA black plates and the increase in bass was very dramatic especially after I realized that I mistakenly left my subwoofer off. The most and tightest bass I have ever heard from my Heresies. :music:
Click to expand...

I'm currently using Heresys too, and it seems like they need a tad more bass going in, to get the sound I want coming out. Beleive it or not, my wife commented on the improved bass response. :smoke: I'm guessing that things like plate to cathode spacing, construction materials, and actual physical size of the inerds all have something to do with the end resulting sound. I guess we're just doomed to keep trying different tubes. :D All I know is that, it will be one happy tuber who stumbles onto the yard sale when I croke :yes:
 
Hey!!!.
That's interesting, as I also like the GE 6SN7. I have a few of those GE 6SL7 that look just as you describe. Good to know they work well.

Have you tried grey-glass RCA's? If you haven't, I found them to work well in my amp( at least before I abandoned high-mu ).

I also tried some adapters, so that I could try differnet tubes on the 8BD socket. 12AY7 will only cost you ~2.5 dB of system gain. Slightly different pin-out will allow trying the frame-grid 6BQ7 family. Rolling tubes takes on a whole 'nother dimension at that point. Drop me a note and I'll send some of those adapters along for a test drive...:)
cheers,
Douglas
 
Hey Douglas, how many of those adaptors you got? :D

I could use 2 octal to 9 pins for those hammand amps to do exactly as you
describe and I really didn't want to replace the octal sockets with a 9pin. :D
 
Ya know what, I think I may have some of those somewhere. It never dawned on me to use them for tube rolling.
 
OH YaH JAY,
The difference in the amount of tubes you can roll from octal to 9pin is staggering!
There just aren't that many octal dual triodes to try out but tons of 9pinners for sure!
 
I've recently purchased a pair of Conn Organ 6L6GC push pull monoblocks from a gentleman in Ann Arbor. Squidward picked them up for me and we played with them for a bit at his place last Saturday. I have had the chance to do a bit more listening since, and I have to say i'm more than pleased, but some obvious mods are in order. First and foremost, replacing all of the odd connections with modern connectors. Then getting rid of the volume/gain control and making them look nicer. Some after that, will be time to re-cap it and replace the resistors were recommended and possibly picking up some tubes to play with.
 
Stromberg Carlson ASR-444, it has:
4-Dumont 5881
2-RCA 6U8A
2-Dumont 7025
2-Stromberg 6AV6

Just got it and am looking for caps for it and extra tubes to try in it. The guy I bought it from had been using it so I tried it out-sound pretty good so far.
Upon picking it up out of the box- I see what they mean when they talk about "iron". It is not very big but it weighs a bunch, very suprising.
I am in the process of cleaning it up and will post some pic's later. It came with a small operating manual which explains all of it's features.
 
Picked up this little # on ebay a couple weeks ago. Its a 1 of a kind.
d2_3.JPG

I have it hooked up to one of those cheap chinese pre's and it sounds very nice. The base is 7 X 7 inches! It has 4-el84 and 2-12au7 tubes. The pre has 2-12au7 & 2-12ax7. I also have another of those preamps with 2-12ax7 and 1-12au7 that I'll use with a SS amp. I'm addicted to that sweet tube sound, haven't heard anything like it from SS, but I'm not saying it doesn't exist.
Edit: It puts out 20wpc
 
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