6L6 tubes

[jestaudio]

anybody know of a good place to get some NOS 6l6,s for my rivera, very little in the uk at the moment and mostly a stupid money
Cheers

[martin manning]

You've got some very good options over there in current production, probably cheaper than here: SED (Winged C) 6L6GC, and TAD 6L6GC STR.

[rdjones]

When I think of a question like this I wonder "Vintage NOS", or NOS contemporary to the amp which is what, 90s or newer ?
So what came in the amp originally ?

rd

[Cygnus X1]

I've been satisfied with cheap Svetlana's recently, in both high gain and hi fi applications.

[jestaudio]

When I think of a question like this I wonder "Vintage NOS", or NOS contemporary to the amp which is what, 90s or newer ?
So what came in the amp originally ?

rd

I believe it may well have come with sovteks originally, the current set is Golden Dragon which are about due for a change and EH's in the preamp, the tube compliment is the same as when i aquired the amp as a non worker, i have some modern 6l6's kicking around but wanted to try some NOS stuff to see what if any difference it made, trouble being NOS tubes in the uk are very silly money

[grtamp]

SED Winged "C" are good but much expensive!!

[tubeswell]

I've bought a dozen or so 6P3Se (wafer base) lately. These are perfectly adequate "6L6s" - usually go for a song.

[jestaudio]

I've bought a dozen or so 6P3Se (wafer base) lately. These are perfectly adequate "6L6s" - usually go for a song.

Glad you chimed in with that, i pulled the trigger on a quad from germany to see if they were any good

[tubeswell]

Yeah they're fine. Just don't bother with the 6P3S. Completely different tube and real time waster if you're going to run them above 300V

[Structo]

Yeah, I'm afraid that NOS 6L6GC tubes are becoming about as rare as hen's teeth.

Or prohibitively expensive.

For good current production I have found the Winged C 6L6GC about the best although expensive.

And currently I am using TAD 6L6STR's.

The Tung Sol reissue 6L6GC's weren't bad as well.

[rdjones]

Yeah, I'm afraid that NOS 6L6GC tubes are becoming about as rare as hen's teeth.

Or prohibitively expensive.

For good current production I have found the Winged C 6L6GC about the best although expensive.

And currently I am using TAD 6L6STR's.

The Tung Sol reissue 6L6GC's weren't bad as well.

The last set of NOS I bought were Sylvania STRs and I was uncomfortable with the price I had to pay.


rd

[Firestorm]

Yeah, I'm afraid that NOS 6L6GC tubes are becoming about as rare as hen's teeth.

Or prohibitively expensive.

For good current production I have found the Winged C 6L6GC about the best although expensive.

And currently I am using TAD 6L6STR's.

The Tung Sol reissue 6L6GC's weren't bad as well.

The last set of NOS I bought were Sylvania STRs and I was uncomfortable with the price I had to pay.


rd

Worse yet, the majority of popular NOS tubes available today are "culls." Vendors who started with large inventories took the best tubes and sold them in matched pairs and quads. Now they sell what's left. There must still be really nice ones out there, but hard to be sure and typically very spendy.

[amplifiednation]

The JAN 6L6WGB tubes are a good alternative, although the WGB isn't normally rated for 400v+, the military version can do it; they are basically a 6L6GC in a shorter bottle. Still probably $200 for a quad.

The new production TAD GC's sound good for a lot less.

[Firestorm]

Yeah, I'm afraid that NOS 6L6GC tubes are becoming about as rare as hen's teeth.

Or prohibitively expensive.

For good current production I have found the Winged C 6L6GC about the best although expensive.

And currently I am using TAD 6L6STR's.

The Tung Sol reissue 6L6GC's weren't bad as well.

The last set of NOS I bought were Sylvania STRs and I was uncomfortable with the price I had to pay.


rd

Worse yet, the majority of popular NOS tubes available today are "culls." Vendors who started with large inventories took the best tubes and sold them in matched pairs and quads. Now they sell what's left. There must still be really nice ones out there, but hard to be sure and typically very spendy.

[Roe]

the russian tung-sol STRs are also nice