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Tube recommendations for Quicksilver Horn Monos


ElJacobo

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Looking into trying some new tubes in my Horn Monos (driving Chorus speakers).  They came (used) with RSD EL34's but they will take almost anything from that family; EL34, KT90, KT88, KT77, KT66, 6550 or 6L6.  

Anyone have any opinions?  I listen to mostly lighter stuff; acoustic, jazz, classical, but some rock too.  I'm after a more "tubey" sound; rich, warm, liquid.  Bass isn't so important to me as detail in the mid and highs.  

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15 hours ago, ElJacobo said:

Looking into trying some new tubes in my Horn Monos (driving Chorus speakers).  They came (used) with RSD EL34's but they will take almost anything from that family; EL34, KT90, KT88, KT77, KT66, 6550 or 6L6.  

Anyone have any opinions?  I listen to mostly lighter stuff; acoustic, jazz, classical, but some rock too.  I'm after a more "tubey" sound; rich, warm, liquid.  Bass isn't so important to me as detail in the mid and highs.  

I'd suggest getting a pair of N.O.S. or lightly used G.E. or RCA ST-shaped 6L6g's. Either black-glass or grey-glass are fine... :)

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15 hours ago, ElJacobo said:

Looking into trying some new tubes in my Horn Monos (driving Chorus speakers).  They came (used) with RSD EL34's but they will take almost anything from that family; EL34, KT90, KT88, KT77, KT66, 6550 or 6L6.  

Anyone have any opinions?  I listen to mostly lighter stuff; acoustic, jazz, classical, but some rock too.  I'm after a more "tubey" sound; rich, warm, liquid.  Bass isn't so important to me as detail in the mid and highs.  

Where are you located?  I have both 6550 and 6L6.

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I'm in Los Angeles.  I've been reading and posting this question in other groups/forums and I'm getting so many different answers!  Maybe there is no "right" answer, maybe tube type in these amps is not so important as with a SET amp?  :-/

 

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Unless the El34's are worn out, start first with the 7247's.  Try getting a matched pair of GE's or Mullards.

 

IMO the small tubes in amps and preamps have the biggest effect on the sound.

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I run NOS ST shaped 6L6 tubes, as recommended by @ToolShedAmps , in my MAC30s and love them.

 

The Sovtek 5881 sounded good in the Horn Monos, to my ears at least. I've been told, by ears that hear somewhat similarly to mine, that the Gold Lion KT77 sounds great.

 

Also agree with @thebes that a nice set of 7247s are a good way to start.

 

Hope this helps.

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I run NOS ST shaped 6L6 tubes, as recommended by [mention=61896]ToolShedAmps[/mention] , in my MAC30s and love them.
 
The Sovtek 5881 sounded good in the Horn Monos, to my ears at least. I've been told, by ears that hear somewhat similarly to mine, that the Gold Lion KT77 sounds great.
 
Also agree with [mention=12696]thebes[/mention] that a nice set of 7247s are a good way to start.
 
Hope this helps.

6L6GC?
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Guest wdecho
19 hours ago, ToolShedAmps said:

I'd suggest getting a pair of N.O.S. or lightly used G.E. or RCA ST-shaped 6L6g's. Either black-glass or grey-glass are fine... :)

The NOS Russian 6P3S fits the bill nicely at a outstanding price. I prefer it's sound over the EL-34 and KT-77's I have tried. 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1311.R4.TR5.TRC1.A0.H2.TRS0.TSS0&_nkw=6p3s+tube&_sacat=0

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Send an inquiry to dougstubes@gmail.com   He steered me to some of his regular customers favorite tubes.  KT-77 the last time we chatted.  I usually buy new power tubes so nothing to say about N.O.S.  I do a bit of tube rolling with N.O.S in the Quicksilver pre amp and the Jolida CDP.

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Guest wdecho
On 7/29/2018 at 3:10 PM, richieb said:

 

---  or try the Russian 6n3c-e - the equivilant to the 6L6gc. Matter of fact I have a new, never used case (8x) of the buggers.

Horn monos were shipped with Tesla EL34 at one time, at least mine were.

The Russian NOS tubes are one of the best deals out there at the present time. Try to find those made for Military, better standards than consumer ones. Never tried the 6n3c-e you mentioned but the English translation for any of the 6n3s tubes will be 6P3S. Order 6P3S and on the tube will be 6n3s. All flavors are equivalent to 6L6. Many say 6L6 tubes have too much 2nd harmonic. What can I say, I like the family of 6L6 tubes over the EL34, KT-77 ones I have tried. I generally prefer the sound of the NOS tubes over the newer production ones. NOS made by big hitters vs small production facilities with new production ones. 

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  • 1 month later...

thebes is right. I swapped the russian signal tubes for nos GE & really made a good difference.

I am currently using tesla el34’s & swapped them for genuine winged c el34’s & it was horrible. the c’s collapsed the soundstage & the bottom end lost the thump & just became a bloated, muddy mess. 

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  • 2 months later...
On ‎7‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 4:09 AM, Guest wdecho said:

The Russian NOS tubes are one of the best deals out there at the present time. Try to find those made for Military, better standards than consumer ones. Never tried the 6n3c-e you mentioned but the English translation for any of the 6n3s tubes will be 6P3S. Order 6P3S and on the tube will be 6n3s. All flavors are equivalent to 6L6. Many say 6L6 tubes have too much 2nd harmonic. What can I say, I like the family of 6L6 tubes over the EL34, KT-77 ones I have tried. I generally prefer the sound of the NOS tubes over the newer production ones. NOS made by big hitters vs small production facilities with new production ones. 

I've had good results in the past with Reflector tubes. Because they were so highly rated I went ahead and purchased a quad of Reflector 6P3S on ebay for $27.95 including shipping from Moldova. I figured, what do I have to lose? After 20 hours these tubes sound really good! My Horn Mono's are powering individual K-402 & TAD 4002 drivers with passive crossovers via a JM Peach preamp. In this application these inexpensive tubes sound excellent and that's comparing them to Tesla EL34's, Gold Lions and KT88Z's. These are the less costly 6P3S tubes instead of the 6P3S-e. I like them so much that I went ahead and ordered a matched set of the "e" versions for $58.00 including shipping. They also produce a very pleasing blue fluorescent glow.

2PvwHHs.jpg1FE83ZC.jpg  

 

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On ‎07‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 8:04 PM, ElJacobo said:

Looking into trying some new tubes in my Horn Monos (driving Chorus speakers).  They came (used) with RSD EL34's but they will take almost anything from that family; EL34, KT90, KT88, KT77, KT66, 6550 or 6L6.  

Anyone have any opinions?  I listen to mostly lighter stuff; acoustic, jazz, classical, but some rock too.  I'm after a more "tubey" sound; rich, warm, liquid.  Bass isn't so important to me as detail in the mid and highs.  

I think you should try 6L6's. I just looked at the manual for you amp online. It states you should have matched pairs. 6L6G or GA's have the magic you are looking for but you need to call Quicksilver to see if they will work in you amp.

 

The Tube Store preferred series 6L6GC is a fine tube and are $29.95 each and they will match them. The large bottle TungSol is labeled 6L6G but electrically a 6L6GC. They are more $$ than the preferred series. I would look for a pair of RCA , Hammond etc. 7247's that say made in England. There are relabeled Mullards. Look for seams on the top of the tube. That tells you they are Mullards.

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