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Re: swapping 5881's into an el34 amp?

Posted by Steve O (A) on January 28, 2007 at 12:34:23

In Reply to: Re: swapping 5881's into an el34 amp? posted by stuck.wilson@gmail.com on January 28, 2007 at 07:59:51:

None of that info changes much.

However...if you want to use a beam tetrode the 6L6GC recommendation still stands. I wouldn't mess with NOS TS 5881s since they're becoming pricey and won't last in your amp. The strange looking Sovtek thing that goes as a 5881/6L6WGC will probably survive and it's certainly cheap. The TS reissue 5881 looks nice but I have no idea what its real ratings are and would tend to stick to original ratings for now. Also, since it's relatively new, it has no history that I can find (I'm evaluating a pair in a Pilot 410, so far so good). So no-go on the TS reissue 5881. The JJ KT77 might have been a possibility but it still seems to have major issues (see Jim McShane's eval in Tubes so forget this for now too. This leaves the various 6L6GCs as a reasonable choice. The SED =C= 6L6GC is my recommendation but there are others out there at good prices like EH. You might also consider the KT66 repros. GT/Saratov KT66 is out of production and getting more difficult to find but the Chinese version is still around and cheap relatively speaking. And dont forget the military 6L6GCs and 7581s dumped by the US govt in the early 90s. They're still around and decently priced.

OTOH, consider that you can pick up a quad of GE 6CA7 for about what a VT231 goes for these days. Why not scour that auction place for a NOS quad of GEs or Sylvanias and keep that HF87 proper and such? Actually, you just need two matched pairs and not a quad which increases your odds of success considerably.

As a sideline, I was surprised at how expensive and uncommon GE and Sylvania "fatbottle" 6CA7s have become at least on epay. When I began collecting tubes for my eqipment years ago, the GEs especially were loathed by the true believers and so were cheap and plentiful. I loaded up. Looks like it's time to unload.

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