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6L6GC for Hi-Fi


Bonzo

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I picked up a pair of awesome VRD’s not long ago. I worked a trade for a pair of Quicksilver Mini-Mites and ModWright preamp. Having plenty of tubes I had the seller just send some Ruby EL-34’s with them. I will say I am not the biggest fan of EL-34’s for Hi-Fi.

 

I initially used new Mullard KT-88’s which work and sound great. A friend of mine who has thousands of tubes gave me quite a few used Russian 6L6GC’s of various brands to try for S&G’s. He tested them and found a couple strong and fairly well matched pairs. 

 

I took an educated guess and biased them at .40. I was very surprised how warm they sounded with great bass and overall detail. Went back and fourth with the 88’s and decided I was liking the sound of the 6L6GC better overall and, hey, new ones are about $100 cheaper per quad! I bought a quad of Tung-Sol 6L6GC’s and couldn’t be happier. In talking with Craig, he said I could run them up to .45 without a problem. They sure generate less heat than the 88’s.

 

This is just my “novice tube guy” experience. I’m sure others use or have tried 6L6’s in their rigs, I would love to hear other members expenses and opinions, thanks.

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14 minutes ago, Bonzo said:

Thanks Rich, Craig mentioned those and said at one time they were dirt cheap. He did say the secret’s out so to speak.

 

9 minutes ago, oldtimer said:

Except they will influence your hearing and report back to the Commissars.  

 

=== appears you are correct. The “secrets out” — and I thought I was the only one who knew — 

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Craig said up to .45mA?

Did you get the manual that came with those wonderful amplifiers?

 

--------------------------

 

Adjust the Bias control in front of the tube to be biased with the supplied screw driver to .55 VDC 
for each KT88 output tube the actual bias setting can be varied to taste between .50 and 
.65 VDC, I personally run mine at .55 VDC. As you adjust each output tube go back and 
recheck the other until they both settle at your final adjustment. This should be done 
immediately when new output tubes are installed and every 6 months at the minimum.

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One of my projects is the replacing of the front end of my Dynaco st70. I had put in a curcio board around 2004-2005, and even though it worked pretty well, I wasn't really happy with the board quality. I have a new one from Roy Mottram (tubes4hifi.com). Much better board quality. Anyway, I'm planning to set it up with 6L6 tubes instead on EL34s. Still have a few parts to get it finished but looking forward to giving a listen.

 

Bruce

 

 

 

 

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I've wanted to try some el34's so I ordered a quad of psvane el34ph

 

s-l1600.jpg

 

I also ordered a quad of shuguang wekt88plus tubes...

s-l1600.jpg

 

 

 

By the way... I've used psvane kt88 treasure II's with your amp, it sounded quite nice. (This is what I am using currently).

 

44072664062_b62ef327ae_k.jpg

 

I'm constantly keeping my eyes open for someone that wants to sell a quad of we350b's for less than 700$ a piece... but that's wishful thinking.

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Hey Schu, I generally listen to them in ultra linear. I’m waiting for my new pair of Heresy III’s to arrive, hopefully this week. I will definitely be doing some experimentation with the VRD’s. Yes, I did get the manual, thanks. 

 

Hey jimjimbo, my friend has a large box of vintage 6L6 tube pulls of various types including RCA Black Plates. Hopefully he will get to testing them and find me a good quad. 

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I'm running a pair of black plate RCA 6L6's that I got from Jimjimbo, and they are the best I've heard from that family. They even beat out a pair of super rare Mullard metal base EL-34's. I have some vintage Tung-Sol 6550's which are probably my next best sounding tube.

  Going to try some 6F6's in the near future (Dennis Had loves them).

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2 hours ago, kevinmi said:

I'm running a pair of black plate RCA 6L6's that I got from Jimjimbo, and they are the best I've heard from that family. They even beat out a pair of super rare Mullard metal base EL-34's. I have some vintage Tung-Sol 6550's which are probably my next best sounding tube.

  Going to try some 6F6's in the near future (Dennis Had loves them).

Hi Kevin, glad you like those RCAs.  I will take a look for any 6F6 I might have.

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3 hours ago, jimjimbo said:

Hi Kevin, glad you like those RCAs.  I will take a look for any 6F6 I might have.

Thanks Jim. While you are looking thru your stash, keep an eye out for a pair of 6V6 or any other tubes I might be able to run. It's great to have an amp that I can roll so many different tubes in!

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8 minutes ago, kevinmi said:

Thanks Jim. While you are looking thru your stash, keep an eye out for a pair of 6V6 or any other tubes I might be able to run. It's great to have an amp that I can roll so many different tubes in!

Ha!  I have a ton of 6V6s....I will check them out for you.

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6L6GC is my favorite output tube.  I run them in my McIntosh MC240, two Scott 296, two McIntosh MC30, Altec 353A, Fisher TA-500, and Inspire “Fire Bottle” SE Stereo Tube Amplifier HO.  (Also, I have two Pilot HF-56 running KT-66.)   I am currently using GE and RCA vintage 6L6GC, new “big bottle” Tung-Sol 6L6 G, and Russian 6P3S-E (6П3С-E).  

 

I think that 6CA7 / EL34 can sound very good.   My amps:  Fisher X-1000, Pilot SA-260, and Scott 272.

 

I think that 7189 / EL84 have a pleasant sound for smaller scale music (e.g., chamber music).   I have several Scott amps running 7189.

 

I generally find KT88s to be too bright without tone controls.   I use McIntosh MX110Z tone controls with my McIntosh MC275 and Scott LK150 to attenuate the treble and achieve a natural sound.  In this configuration, they sound great.

 

My Fire Bottle SEP amp can run a variety of tubes (which is not the case with most amps).   Here’s the output tubes that I’ve tried (all approved by the designer, based on using a specific rectifier):

  • Zenith 6V6G (vintage)
  • Sylvania 6L6GA (vintage)
  • Sylvania 7408 (vintage, 6V6 variant)
  • Mullard EL34
  • Bugle Boy EL34 (vintage)
  • Russian 6P3S-E (Russian military surplus 1980s 6L6GC equivalent)
  • Groove Tube Gold Series GT6L6GE (6L6GC)
  • McIntosh branded GE 6L6GC (vintage)
  • GE 6L6GC (vintage)
  • Tung-Sol 7581A (6L6GC variant)
  • Tung-Sol 6L6G (6L6GC in a big bottle)
  • Gold Lion KT88
  • Tung-Sol KT150
  • Gold Lion KT66
  • Sylvania 5881

Rectifiers that I’ve tried in my Fire Bottle amp:  5Y3, 5U4, 5U4GB, 5V4, 5V4GA, 5AR4 (multiple manufacturers of each)

 

Specific favorites in my Fire Bottle amp:

  • Output: 
    • Best overall sound:  Groove Tube Gold Series GT6L6GE Performance Rating 5 (#2: Russian military 6P3S-E, Honorable mention: Tung-Sol 6L6G (coke bottle 6L6GC), Tung-Sol KT150, Gold Lion KT66, vintage Sylvania 5881)
    • Best Value:  6P3S-E
    • Best combination of sound and aesthetics:  Tung-Sol 6L6G, Gold Lion KT66
  • Rectifier:  Sylvania JAN 5V4G  (#2 : various 5V4G & 5V4GA, #3 Mullard 5AR4)
  • Input:  Amperex 6DJ8 (Holland)

 

Of course your mileage will vary, depending on your speakers, your music, your ears, and your preferences.

 

 

 

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On 1/20/2019 at 10:23 AM, Bonzo said:

I picked up a pair of awesome VRD’s not long ago. I worked a trade for a pair of Quicksilver Mini-Mites and ModWright preamp. Having plenty of tubes I had the seller just send some Ruby EL-34’s with them. I will say I am not the biggest fan of EL-34’s for Hi-Fi.

 

I initially used new Mullard KT-88’s which work and sound great. A friend of mine who has thousands of tubes gave me quite a few used Russian 6L6GC’s of various brands to try for S&G’s. He tested them and found a couple strong and fairly well matched pairs. 

 

I took an educated guess and biased them at .40. I was very surprised how warm they sounded with great bass and overall detail. Went back and fourth with the 88’s and decided I was liking the sound of the 6L6GC better overall and, hey, new ones are about $100 cheaper per quad! I bought a quad of Tung-Sol 6L6GC’s and couldn’t be happier. In talking with Craig, he said I could run them up to .45 without a problem. They sure generate less heat than the 88’s.

 

This is just my “novice tube guy” experience. I’m sure others use or have tried 6L6’s in their rigs, I would love to hear other members expenses and opinions, thanks.

I'm running these... With my dared vp-20....

 

https://www.thetubestore.com/winged-c-sed-6l6gc

SED Factory Closure


We’re fairly certain production of the SED Winged “C” tubes has come to an end. We have purchased as much stock as available from them that was not factory seconds. We were offered factory seconds at a lower cost however we declined. We do know these factory seconds have entered the marketplace.Stock is limited and our price has been raised to reflect the higher purchase cost of this final product. SED Winged "C" tubes should now be considered NOS (New Old Stock).
our review of the Winged "C" 6L6GC tube: "This may be the closest thing available if you really want the vintage sound of the large bottle Sylvania and RCA tubes of yesterday. Tremendous harmonic content and an overall depth in sound make these another excellent choice for the purist. They can handle solid plate voltages and are very well constructed. Consider these 6L6 tubes as an excellent choice for any type of music, delivering crystal cleans and smooth breakup with plenty of punch."

Unequaled clarity and complex harmonics

 

 

And I have a dynaco st-70 series 11

 

With the fake el34's seds

 

No comparison.... The vp-20 benched @ 14watts...

 

Not sure what the St70 bench's @

But it rated @ 35 watts...

 

 

and it does not have the nuts ...

As the vp-20....

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/21/2019 at 7:25 AM, kevinmi said:

I'm running a pair of black plate RCA 6L6's that I got from Jimjimbo, and they are the best I've heard from that family. They even beat out a pair of super rare Mullard metal base EL-34's. I have some vintage Tung-Sol 6550's which are probably my next best sounding tube.

  Going to try some 6F6's in the near future (Dennis Had loves them).

 

 Try a pair of  NOS 6L6G/GA tubes with a 5Y3 rectifier in your amp. These are the original 6L6's and you must use a 5Y3. I have had my Inspire for about 4 years driving Heresy III's and the 6L6G/GA sound wonderful. I tried 6F6's but prefer the 6L6G/GA. YMMV.

Inspire amp.jpg

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1 hour ago, Les Lammers said:

 

 Try a pair of  NOS 6L6G/GA tubes with a 5Y3 rectifier in your amp. These are the original 6L6's and you must use a 5Y3. I have had my Inspire for about 4 years driving Heresy III's and the 6L6G/GA sound wonderful. I tried 6F6's but prefer the 6L6G/GA. YMMV.

Inspire amp.jpg

Thanks. I always like to hear what other people are liking.

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