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I have a ARC PH7 (phono preamp) and want to try other 6L6GC/5881's to get the desired sound.
I have tried:
SED "C" -my current fav. but getting expensive and looking for better.
Sovtek 5881- okay but not great.
Svetlana 6L6GC- Very close to SED, not too bad but still a bit too extended in HF.
JJ 6L6GC- Too warm and a bit too bloated sounding.
NOS Sylvania- A lean mid range and HF's a bit too HF extended.
I need something that has good bass and mid range and a bit more forgiving on top. How do the newer Mullard's or Tung-Sol's compare? I'm hoping to get some advice and save myself some $ and time rather than having to do a tube at a time. I'm willing to go for the older NOS seeing as SED "C"'s are $100 (for the moment).
Any help would be great.
Follow Ups:
I really like the Russian 6p3s-e. Some say that it is the same as the Sovtek 5881. They look the same, sure don't sound the same. Unfortunately Jim McShane is out of stock, so you'll probably have to get them on epay. I'd recommend getting some pre-Gorbachev era tubes if you can. Let them break in before making judgment.
Here's a link to some that show a date of April 75. If that's the date of manufacture of the actual tubes for sale, they should be great. I bought some years ago from the same factory that were mid '70s vintage, and they were really nice. Wish I would have bought a box of a 100 back then, they were really cheap. BTW, no affiliation with the seller.
twystd
75 on the tubes but how can you tell the date code? Also aren't 6P3s with the "e" or "ev" suffix the ones to look for?
Just asking because I can't recall. I bought a bunch of these from you some years back when times were not so good.
The Roman numerals before the 75 is the month, IV is 4, so that stands for the fourth month, April, and the 75 denotes 1975. There are other date codes used later such as 1092 which would be the 10th month (Oct.) of 1992. The link I posted was to the 6p3s-e, which is a much better sounding tube than the 6p3s. The 6p3s-e has the coin base, and the 6p3s has the regular octal base.
Are you sure you bought those tubes from me? I don't remember selling many, mostly put them in my bud's guitar amps and ST-70s.
twystd
"Are you sure you bought those tubes from me? I don't remember selling many, mostly put them in my bud's guitar amps and ST-70s."
It was an ST70 (and MK IV) that I got the tubes for. You emailed some mods/upgrades to tune the Dynacos for those tubes but I lost it by the time I got to them. I ended up using them for some time in a Citation V.
Hint...if you can dig back I would appreciate it.
Edits: 06/12/15
The only thing I can think of that is specific to those tubes, is to run them at 21 watts of dissipation. Of course there are many mods for those amps, really too much to get into here. At 21 watts dissipation, they sound very good, and is proven over time that the tubes hold up well. You might have trouble getting them to bias up that high with the stock resistors in the bias supply. I have been able to do it in the amps I've tried them with, but the adjustment was way at the end of travel.
twystd
Thanks or the tube ideas. It's true that the PH7 in addition to the 5881 uses 6922 (4) and a 6H30. All of which have been upgraded to NOS except for the 6H30 which is now the gold pinned/lettered ver. of their reg. 6H30. A much nicer tube it is. I found that playing with the 5881/6L6GC while not nearly as significant as the 6922's does make a difference, and it's cheaper to play with this single tube vs four 6922's.
As far as replacing the regulator tube(s) with a IRF720, that's a bit over my skill set.For me, using tubes is no different than using cables, to get the desired tonalities from voices, cymbals, acoustic instruments, etc., many times it's even easier and cheaper.
I'm into tonality, always was always will be (I had a great mentor). Tonality is what (most often) delivers goose bumps when listening. So if replacing a 5881/6L6GC gets me a more "golden" shimmer to the cymbals...I'm all in. I'm at the point where it's the small stuff that transforms good listening to great listening. The quest for more goose bumps never ends!
Edits: 06/09/15 06/09/15 06/09/15
In my book, messing with the pass element of a voltage regulator for sonic tweaking means that the regulator is grossly flawed. You would probably be blown away by replacing the pass element with a $0.99 IRF720 due to its lower impedance.
Edits: 06/09/15
The OP's experience strongly implies that the output Z of the regulator isn't low enough, or maybe isn't flat over frequency. I'd be looking for a way to fix that rather than having to hand-pick regulator tubes.
--------------------------
Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
+1
As output tubes, the RCA blackplate round side getter and GE greyplate round side getter are the best I have used in my amp. The new production Tung Sol STR black plate is also good but not as good as the other two.
The Russian 6P3S-E is also very good. The last two are cheap to try, the first two are 50 or 60 bucks a pop. Not sure how they would preform in your ARC phono stage. The only way to find out is to roll em.
Can you use KT66? If so, a GEC clear or grayglass might be killer there.
I'm confused.I thought the ARC PH7 used 6dj8's in the audio circuit and 6H30's as regulators?
Edit, I see now that the 6H30's were replaced with a 6L6 as a up-grade.
An RCA black plate 6L6gc should be good but I have no first hand experience with that preamp.
Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
Edits: 06/09/15 06/09/15
What you are describing is the
TungSol 6L6G (Coke Bottle 6L6GC).
One of my favs.
DanL
The "coke bottle TungSol ^l^G was on my short list to try. So, I did with your encouragement. Compared to the other Russian tubes, this one is much more even handed from top to bottom. The top end is relaxed a bit and the bass is not overly emphasized. So, far I am enjoying it quite a bit.
It is a nice tube.
Looks and Sound
DanL
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