Wanted: Best buy 6L6GC/KT66 Options

[dragonfyr]

While I realize this is not as exciting as trashing someone else,

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for the 'best buys' in 6L6GCs or KT66s.

I am looking for a 'Consumer's Best Buy' source for 8 matched or 2 matched quartets.

And with all due respect, I am not looking for exotic options such as rare 1843 Zimbabwean limited editions for $3,723 each! Even if they are a steal at that price![]

Thanks!

[Allan Songer]

\

Kevin Deal has these late production Philips 7581A tubes in stock at $45 ea.

http://www.upscaleaudio.com/product.asp?itemid=66&catid=39

Chinese KT-66 copy. Never heard them--but people I trust say they're a great deal at $24 ea

http://www.upscaleaudio.com/product.asp?itemid=280&catid=39

The old reliabe Svetlana 6L6GC. One of the best tubes the Russians ever made. A great deal at $20 ea.

http://www.upscaleaudio.com/product.asp?itemid=65&catid=39

[DRBILL]

Check Michael Marx's website, opening page at the bottom (www.vacuumtubes.com).

He has NOS Phillips 6BG6GA's for $6! They are a heavy duty 6L6 with a slightly different pinout. He offers a conversion kit that you plug in the amplifier and then plug the 6BG6 into the kit. No need to mod the amp.

I have used them for years with nothing but praise.

DRBILL

[Daddy Dee]

DrBill,

Thanks for the tip. This looks like a fabulous option for a 6L6 equivalent.

In reading Michael's FAQ on the adapter kits, he estimates it would

take about 40 minutes to assemble the kit, which only requires some

soldering of wires to build.

Does that amount of time sound right to you. In what I imagine the

adapter to be, that sounds like a fairly long time to build. What's

your take on that?

Do you recall if these were the tubes you were running in your Heathkit

monoblocks when I visited in your home? They sounded very good.

Also, in the pics on Michael's website show a plate cap. Is this a sort of jumper from the adapter to the top of the tube?

Any thoughts appreciated.

[Mick Bell]

I'm using Russian 6L6GC (SED). They're $28. per and yield 50 watts per channel in my MC240. Sound terrific.

Mick

[DRBILL]

DD

As for the time it took to build the adaptors, I remember doing six at a time in an assembly-line, so I'm not sure how long it would take per each. I think the suggested 40 minutes would be very generous.

It consists of a tube socket and a tube base. You solder wires to the socket and then route them to the proper pinouts on the base. That sounds fairly simple, but it requires considerable concentration.

The plate cap exits the tube socket on the side. The hole is already drilled for you.

The amplifiers you heard at my house all had 6BG6's in the final. My present center channel Heath/Williamson has them, also. My son-in-law also uses them driving three Cornwalls. He has stopped using them in the band because they are unwieldy on the road because of a tendency to drop out of the amplifier socket when mounted upside down! In stationary installations, they are hard to beat at $6 a pop for a high quality, American -made, NOS, 6L6 equivalent!

There is one step in the instructions that I highly recommend that you do. Test each adaptor by putting a 6BG6 in it and testing it on a tube tester set up for a 6L6. This will assure that you have no wiring mistakes.

DRBILL

[Daddy Dee]

Thanks Bill.