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My ears are telling me that this tube deserves better than the label "The Guitar Tube". I think the tube has all the benefits of a 6550 without the well-known midrange problems. The highs are quite smooth and the bottom is tight. I can understand why Ampeg uses them in their bass amps.
David Manley had it right when he said that the tube was good, but it is not widely used in hi-fi because it has the reputation of being a workhorse guitar tube. But the features that make it good for that benefit the audiophile too. It's very vibration resistant. They have a very long life as tubes go, too.
$50-$60 for a quality matched quad is a bonus too.
Follow Ups:
In total agreement with most positive comments of this under-appreciated power tube.I'm using RCA black-plate 6L6GCs in my Harmon Kardon A260 "Chorale" and am totally impressed with it's wide open spacious sound with detailed highs and impressive bass (even through my Lascalas)
Personally I think the EL-34 is over-rated
I love it when so called aficianados of the el34 always spout off about how the el34 has the sweetest midrange and its much better than the 6L6 and this was said by a couple fly by night reviewers also..
They never mention which version of the 6L6 they mean whether it be a 6L6g or 6L6gc or 6L6gc black plate not to mention all the varieties of the 6L6 family of tubes such as the WE 350b, 5881,the kt66,the el37,the 807,and many others.
I find many times when they compare an el34 to a 6L6gc,its done in an amp that had tranformers optimized for the el34 and not the 6L6gc.Thats not a fair test.
Now if you take a heath w5m with the peerless 16309 trannies,that would be a good test for a 6L6gc tube type.The citation five would be another good one not to mention an upgraded mac 240 or knight KB-85.
The el34 only has two versions that I know of and thats the el34 and the american 6CA7 which to me is more like a kt88 as far as sonics but not quite.
Some audiophiles have programmed their minds to sucuum to the thinking that since guitar players are always tooting the 6L6,it couldn't possibly be a true audiophile purist tube..WRONG!!!
That tube has been around since the 30s and used longer than any beam tube and it has 70 plus years of refinement with no interuption of production since its inception.I dont know of any semiconductor or tube that holds that record.
The curves are extremely linear and although its harder to drive than an el34,it also produces more power than an el34 with a lower B+ to boot.
The black plate type 6L6g or 6L6gc to me sound best..THe el37 and kt66 and WE350b can also be had in black plates.I find the mids and highs to be much more elegant and luscious when in the right application.
I too have heard many audiophile types dismiss the 6L6 because it's a "guitar" tube. They seem to forget Marshall who used/uses EL34s extenively.Turns out that a lot of tube types have been used in musical instrument amps over the years. My favorite is the first issue of the Ampeg SVT. It used 6x6146 in PPP. I wonder how well this scheme held up in the world of live performance?
Steve
Being an amateur radio operator and I also use tubes on all my AM stations,i can appreciate the 6146 more than others..The altec 1530s kicked ass with them and basically they did the correct electrical config for a typical pentode and that was running the screen grid at half the plate voltage and regulating the screens.
On my RCA 6146 amps I did convert those to 6550s and they seem to have a little more high end definition.
Speaking of guitar amps companies take a look at mesa baron with dual potted power trannies and potted outputs and six 6l6gcs side.You can use kt88s as well as el34s in it and it got one hell of a nice writeup.
I very much enjoy & use 6l6 amps in hi-fi..great stuff
I have a lovely Altec 353A integrated amp with RCA black plate 6L6GC output tubes and Peerless output trannies. It has a nice solid, beefy tone, characteristic of the 6L6. I am enjoying it powering some vintage JBL Century L-100s.I also look forward to restoring my vintage Heath W-1 amps, using 807 outputs, a close cousin of the 6L6.
I recently heard a Shindo 6L6 amp, and it was simply magnificent. And, as I recently posted here, the pedestrian Philips ECG 5881 is my favorite tube in my Quicksilver rig, out-pointing various KT-88s and EL-34s.
I'm using the 6l6gc in the TAD-60 in class A mode. It is outstanding!
Hi,They are great tubes - full stop.
I'm still using the Audio Note P2 SE (single ended pentode - 18 wpc) that uses 6L6/5881 tubes that I bought in 1995. I haven't felt compelled to replace it after hearing some other amps with more exotic tubes. A good, solid performer with no problems in twelve years of use.
for a variety of reasons, only some of which are objective. But I will say that I do like the sound of the original G version, particulary when run class A. I really like the 350B and have run amps using 5881's and 6L6GC's (RCA black plates) in triode.
I think the bum rap came from the Kink in the load line. Fender used the kink to make "tone", kind of an in-your-face sound. The 6L6 kink is what prompted MO to produce the "KT" tubes or Kinkless Tetrodes. Frankly, in a well designed audio amp I have a hard time picking out the kink. The AES Sixpack has recieved good reviews with the 6L6. I happen to like 6L6s.
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Long Live Dr.Gizmo
Not sure of the etymology but I believe Kinkless Tetrode is a British term for beam tetrode...and the 6L6 is most certainly beam tetrode.The beam tetrode is another way to get around the nasty kink in the plate curves of a "real" tetrode, the pentode being the other means. See the image below (a 24A) and notice the region below about 100V where g2 voltage is greater than plate. It's a region of negative plate resistance. Maybe OK for RF but not so good for audio.
Compare this to the 6L6 below and notice almost complete absence of the "kink". At very low plate current there is some waviness in the curve but nothing like the real tetrode. I think some see the waviness and think it's the kink...but it really isn't.
Now compare to the KT66 below.
Pretty much the same thing EXCEPT,...notice how GEC conveniently chose not to plot the curves below 50V, the very region where the faint waviness of the 6L6 shows up. The waviness is there in the KT66 curve if the plot is continued.One may prefer the KT66 over the 6L6 but it's not because the KT66 is kinkless and the 6L6 is kinky.
This was how the "KT" tubes were marketed. They still gave the 6L6 a bum rap, deserved or not.
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Long Live Dr.Gizmo
nightdoggy, hi. I think you have tapped the zeitgeist of the 6L6 - first cousin to the 807, sibling of the 6BG6. The 6L6 suffers a bit for simply being rugged and versatile and hence the tube of choice for lots of musical instrument amplifiers. I think the 6L6 was the pathfinder for all beam power tubes. For whatever reason the 6L6G may be the best sounding - but most builders will opt for the later versions with much higher plate dissipation. The TungSol 5881 also is a great 6L6 variant. It seems to be to be almost in a class by itself. I tend to favor the 807. I don't know if its the geometry of the anode, more vacuum "space" before the glass barrier or what, but the 807 edges out many other 6L6 types. The RCA black plate versions are particularly dear to 6L6 afficianados. I'll bet Mikey Samra will want to join in on this topic when he can. :)
> > I think the 6L6 was the pathfinder for all beam power tubes. < <Correct. The 6L6 is the 1st beam power tetrode. It was developed by RCA in the 1930s and has been in production (SIC) continuously since introduction. Metal envelopes were employed initially.
Eli D.
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