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OK - so I decided to buy the NOS Tungsols. Couldn't resist the chance to buy them. Pictures attached. The single getter must be a black plate and it has a lighter brown base than the triple getter. There really isn't a great deal of difference in the colour between the two of them but the single getter is definitely a little darker. The date code is the same on both at 6235. Could they after all both be dark plates.
But what I dont know is whether a grey Tungsol is a light grey or a dark grey. Is it hard to tell them apart from black plates?
Follow Ups:
I just threw some of my loose KT88s GEC/Genelex and my Tungsol 6550 black plates togther.
Your tubes were made in the 35th week of 1962..Many people think that the only TS black plates are the single getter flasher with rectangular halos and this is clearly not the case. The double getter flasher TS 6550s are rectangular halo black plates as well...You also see the triple getter black plates which have the round halos.
GEC also followed this philosophy on their KT88 tubes.They used round getter halos and they used the rectangular halos on some of their early designs but only in the single and double flasher types on top..They used a combo of rectangular and round halos in the double flasher types.
I agree with you about the Genelex/GEC being forward and kind of sterile at times..I have several NOS/NIB Genelex/GEC as well Tungsol 6550 black plates but I'm using up my old ones before I use the new old stock ones...The NOS/NIB Genelex are in these bags and I don't want to tear them open because it hurts the value..I know I have matched pairs but I'm not sure about quads until I open them which I won't do.I can read the data on two pairs thru the package.
The Tungsol black plates are much more elegant in the way they present the music but don't make quite as much power as the Genelex/GEC.
Honest amplification is better than excessive 2nd order distortion anytime.
Edits: 09/28/14 09/28/14
You have a wonderful collection there. It puts my paltry few tubes into perspective -:)
If you look at Natubes, their ordering of the history of Tung-sol 6550s is as follows :
6550 Version 1 - TUNG-SOL (Original from Tung-Sol)
Solid black plates with Triple O-Getter (one on top and dual on one side).
6550 Version 2 - TUNG-SOL (Original from Tung-Sol)
Solid black plates with Single top Getter. Second version from Tung-Sol.
6550 Version 3 - Tung-Sol
Solid gray plate, no hole version with Triple O-Getter (one on top and two on each side).
6550 Version 4 - TUNG-SOL
Three holes on gray plate with Triple O-Getter. Last version from Tung-Sol ever made.
Today, I cranked up the volume for the first time, listening to MOFI's A night at the Opera by Queen. Wow, I really could't believe how good it sounded. Maybe the tubes are loosening up. Queen's music is pretty complex with lots going on whether it's guitar, piano, the chorus or Mercury's vocals - it all sounds so immediate, natural & like they were playing in the room!
Literally unbelievable.
Michael - do you have an opinion on whether I have two blacks or a black & a grey? Without having seen a grey one before, I can't be sure.
I actually have many more of those in amps as well as in boxes..I just put some loose ones I had up and took a photo for reference.
I'll be honest with you. Genelex KT88 reissues are dam good sounding tubes and they are very close to the originals and in many applications they are better.Yhe KT66 reissues are identical to the vintage gray glass and several people have said this as well.
My favorite 6550/KT88 is still the TungSol black plates but depending on which new production tubes you buy,they have come very close to them.
I also love the solid gray plates but not quite as much but very close.
Honest amplification is better than excessive 2nd order distortion anytime.
"I'll be honest with you. Genalex KT88 reissues are dam good sounding tubes and they are very close to the originals and in many applications they are better."My experience as well but it's funny with the original GEC/Genalux, sometimes they sounded kinda blah to me and other times, seemed to capture the essence of the music. And within the same application.
Tung-Sol black plate 6550s are my all time favorites as well although again, depending on the music, both the solid (black or grey) and three-hole grey plates each shine in their own way.
With all due respect to Natubes, they have the chronology incorrect. There are three types of Tung-Sol 6550s (not counting what they produced for RCA, Leslie, Carlsberg-Stromberg, etc.): black plate (always solid), grey plate solid and lastly three-hole grey plate. The black plates had three iterations: top getter only, top and side getter and finally three getter (top and two sides). Without looking through my collection, the top getter only and top and side used d-shaped sometime called horseshoe-shaped getter "rings" and then they moved to O-shaped getter rings.
Bottom line is that they invented the tube and got it right. Modern incarnations such as the New Sensor Tung-Sol 6550 are darn good tubes (as is their Genalex KT88) and other companies such as GE with their 6550A are worthy alternatives, but in my not humble opinion, the Tung-Sol black plate 6550 still takes the prize.
The fact that you're enjoying their smoothness, liquidity, natural sounding detail is a testament to them, I believe.
Enjoy!
Joe
Edits: 09/28/14
My experience as well but it's funny with the original GEC/Genalux, sometimes they sounded kinda blah to me and other times, seemed to capture the essence of the music. And within the same application.
Exactly Joe
They are extremely finicky but the longer they are on it does seem to help.
Everything else you said is exactly correct..The D getters are what I called rectangular but you get the drift..I also love the 3 holers as well.
Honest amplification is better than excessive 2nd order distortion anytime.
This pair of tubes in your photographs are unusual. First of all, Tung-Sol, as far as I know, made the black plate version from 1955 to 1960 and then production of the solid grey plates commenced through 1963. Second, I've never seen Tung-Sol date codes like the ones you've submitted. Tung-Sol branded tubes always start with their manufacturer prefix 322, followed by the year and week of production. Even their mixed alphanumeric coded tubes start with 322.
They certainly appear genuine and the top-getter only tube would have to be a black plate. But again, I've only seen black plate top getter Tung-Sols with dates ranging from 1955 to 1958.
The picture above shows these tubes with dates of 31st week of 1955, 12th week of 1956, 21st week of 1957 and 12th week of 1958.
Anyway, the most important part is how do you think they sound?
Joe
You had me worried but having done some more research - I saw a 4 digit date code on a Tung Sol Valve on page 4 of the old Tube Valley Magazine issue 19. This has the letters JAN - 6559 on top and 6528 underneath.
This also ties in with this comment from http://www.dannychesnut.com/Music/Hammond/HammondLeslieIdentifiers.htm
"Tung-Sol 6550 tubes have the following format: XXXYYWW, where XXX is the EIA manufacturer code, YY is the last two digits of the year and WW is the number of the week in that year. 3227204 is a Tung-Sol tube manufactured during the fonurth week of 1972. Tung-Sol 6550 tubes made for other companies (like RCA) have a four-digit date code only."
Attached is one of the boxes that they came in. So they could be JAN an ex-Military version, which presumably is a tougher version.
I have had a first listen to them.
Listening to Trevor Pinnock's the Vivaldi Concertos, the English Concert - Soaring violins , the music flows effortlessly, the highs just appear, liquid sounding like flowing water, the harp's strings sound so reallistic, the harpsichord sounds like it is playing live in front of me, with the natural string timbre when each key is played. Not as deep bass as the EI KT90s or as punchy. NOS GEC KT88s are more forward/ in your face, Mids & highs are great.
Natural sounding, (not over tubey or over warm), and not harsh in any way.
Very happy to have them. They are a welcome addition to the GEC KT88s, and more latterly the EIKT90s that I have only had a brief listen to.
It would seem that the three getter is a grey plate but when listening I can't detect any discernible difference between the two of them.
BTW they are true NOS - how long before they get broken in?
As I said in my response to your post, they ceratinly appear genuine. I do not doubt that they are actual Tung-Sol tubes just that in the dozens of TS 6550 that I own, I've never seen that date code scheme of tubes that are branded "Tung-Sol". Other companies such as Tung-Sol 6550s branded RCA? Yes.
Quite honestly I've never noticed a change in sound as NOS Tung-Sol 6550s have burned-in. Maybe I was just too happy with them to begin with.
Enjoy your Tung-Sols. Your description of how they sound versus old stock GEC KT88 and Ei-KT90 sounds pretty well identical to my own.
Joe
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