My homemade EL34 amp sounds better with 5881s

Tubes Asylum

Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ

I was a little apprehensive to put these old US Tung-Sol 5881-6L6WGB in this amplifier (based on the diyAudio "Ella" design). I thought the operating points would be wrong. But I can adjust each tube for current draw so thought it might be a worthwhile experiment. With 4.2 Kohm OPTs, 410V on plates, approx -42V bias, I wasn't sure what I'd get. (8 ohm speakers.)
But seems to be sounding very good at 39mA on each tube. Is it the inherent quality of the old (but still hi-testing) tubes, or the circumstances are right for this tube after all?
Thanks for illuminating insights.
Pete

Edits: 04/02/14

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Topic - My homemade EL34 amp sounds better with 5881s - PeterI 13:38:39 04/02/14 (6)

RE: My homemade EL34 amp sounds better with 5881s - Michael Samra 14:38:14 04/02/14 (2)

RE: My homemade EL34 amp sounds better with 5881s. Also... - PeterI 14:58:08 04/02/14 (1)

RE: My homemade EL34 amp sounds better with 5881s. Also... - Michael Samra 15:16:40 04/02/14 (0)

RE: My homemade EL34 amp sounds better with 5881s - Mendel 14:38:10 04/02/14 (2)

RE: My homemade EL34 amp sounds better with 5881s - Michael Samra 15:08:08 04/02/14 (1)

Me too (nt) - danlaudionut 20:41:17 04/02/14 (0)

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