Which tubes to purchase

J

JohnnyBoy83

Active Member
Im admittedly a novice when it comes to tube stuff...in this case a mini tube pre amp. It sounds great but I hear different tubes sound much different. Long story short..
6j1
6j2
6J4
GE5654
6AK5
6*1
Here are the model of tubes apparently.that will fit my unit. Which would potentially be the best or that I should try? Links to where to buy them (if possible in canada) ? And its a newer unit will old tubes like telefunken and rca fit it ?
 
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The GE5654 was a big improvement over the 6J1 for me. No more microphonics for one. Also the 6J1 sounded rather thin compared to the 5654. Much better bottom end with the 6554 for one. When I bought mine they were only a couple bucks each. I see they have jumped up in price now.
 
JohnnyBoy83 said:
Its a suca audio tube T1 ...but basically the same
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Looking at picture below, I would say neither of tubes from above list. Picture shows mid-power pentode tube like 6p1p or EL84. They have very different electrode structure.

61m%2BZcRPAsL._AC_SL1200_.jpg



And here is 6AK5 from your list:

aaa0122.jpg


And 6J4 from your list:

6j4_a.jpg
 
JohnnyBoy83 said:
Here are the model of tubes apparently.that will fit my unit. Which would potentially be the best or that I should try? Links to where to buy them (if possible in canada) ? And its a newer unit will old tubes like telefunken and rca fit it ?
Click to expand...
for_p1 said:
Looking at picture below, I would say neither of tubes from above list. Picture shows mid-power pentode tube like 6p1p or EL84. They have very different electrode structure.
Click to expand...

According to the listing on Amazon, the tube it ships with is a 6K4 which does use a taller bottle but it's not a power tube. The listing says you can also use the tubes he listed.
https://www.amazon.com/SUCA-AUDIO-Tube-T1-Preamplifier-Amplifier-Control/dp/B07Q656449

The data sheets seem to show that the tubes listed as subs have the same pinout as the 6K4 even though the specs are not exactly the same. Of course, these preamps don't run the the tube anywhere near to what the data sheets suggest so I guess having the same pinout is close enough. Read the massive thread I linked earlier for more details.

And, to clarify, the Chinese 6K4 is NOT the same as an American 6K4. Like many Chinese tubes, it seems to be a copy of a Russian tube, the 6K4P.

I would definitely suggest changing the original tube though because its heater apparently draws 300mA vs ~175 for the others. So it puts more stress on the heater circuit. If the circuit is designed (and I use that term loosely given the operating points they've chosen) for lower current it might create problems. I suspect they just dropped the 6K4 into the same circuit because they could source the 6K4 cheaper and/or more easily.
 
6AK5's for me, the TOPL are the Ericsson's with gold pins and nickel plates.
You can find RCA's without the gold pins, but with nickel plates, I can't tell the difference, except in my wallet.
Remember the magic comes from wiring RF pentodes in triode mode.
 
Lavane said:
The GE5654 was a big improvement over the 6J1 for me. No more microphonics for one. Also the 6J1 sounded rather thin compared to the 5654. Much better bottom end with the 6554 for one. When I bought mine they were only a couple bucks each. I see they have jumped up in price now.
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I have 2 new GE5654 that I bought over a year ago that I found again recently.... I don't remember why i bought them but it must of been for my chifi preamp... I can't wait to try them now.
 
tonyg88 said:
I have 2 new GE5654 that I bought over a year ago that I found again recently.... I don't remember why i bought them but it must of been for my chifi preamp... I can't wait to try them now.
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They did make a difference for the better for me. Even just touching the volume knob and the Chinese tubes would ring.
 
So I replaced my chinese tubes with the jan 5654w that I have and there was no difference in audio volume or quality. I have the ZhizaiAudio d2 model.

I am curious if some of these models really don't use the tubes for anything other than show.... When I take a tube out from one channel one channel instantly goes out and then the other channel slowly gets quiter and quiter until i put the tube back in the other channel. I am guessing this means its atleast using the tube heaters for something.
 
If the signal drops out they must be doing something. A lot of those little preamps and headphone amps use a tube front end and SS for the output.
I am surprised there was no difference. Every 6j1 I've ran across rang like a bell and sounded thin and tinny.
 
Lavane said:
If the signal drops out they must be doing something. A lot of those little preamps and headphone amps use a tube front end and SS for the output.
I am surprised there was no difference. Every 6j1 I've ran across rang like a bell and sounded thin and tinny.
Click to expand...
I even had the 6j1 in one channel and the Jan in the other both perfectly even and balanced.
 
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