Best tube manufacturers?

GroupDIY Audio Forum

Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Svart

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
5,134
Location
Atlanta GA USA
Since now I'm using a tube guitar amp, I have some 6l6 tubes that are mismatched and one seems flaky.  I was looking to replace them with something but I don't know what.  How about some ideas?

And what's with the prices on tubes on Ebay?  those are insane.  I see pairs of tubes going for 50-100$ but I can get the same ones from online tube stores for 30$ a pair.

 
Don't get JJ's. their dependability sucks.  On several occasions I have ordered quads of tubes and had one or more bad right out of the box.  I usually get Groove Tubes.  Some people don't like the sound (like any tube) but I have found them to last the longest.
 
The pre-matched Tube Amp Doctor (TAD) stuff seems pretty well regarded.  I've used a few sets with no problems.  One dealer thought they were the right combo of sonic value and dependability. 
 
I've had good success with both Electro Harmonix 6L6EH and Sovtek 6L6WXT+, in fact I believe these are essentially the same tube. The TungSol 6L6GC STR is getting good reviews. These are all New Sensor offerings made in Russia. Another highly touted brand is the Winged C SED (formerly Svetlana) 6L6GC also made in Russia, but by a different manufacturer. I haven't tried any of the Chinese offerings, so I can't comment on those. Note that neither Groove Tubes nor TAD manufacture tubes, they order to spec from New Sensor and others, and test/grade for quality.
 
I got Sovteks in my Rectifier and they are pretty cool. No idea how the Winged C Svetlana 6L6's are but they make the absolute best EL34's of new production so the 6L6's might be worth a shot. Although Winged C's aren't that cheap.

Flo
 
Are those TADs rebrands-or what factory do they come from?  Wow it looks like you can't ship the New Sensor stuff to the EU is that because of ROHS?
 
I thought the TAD stuff was all clearly ID'ed, and that they gave you several matching specs.  I don't think there is any mystery about what their tubes are. 
 
If you just want good-working tubes, in the USA, order from Hoffman Amps. He's a real player and builder, he sells parts too. His stocked brands vary because if a batch gives trouble for his customers he gets something else. Every tube I've gotten from him worked perfectly, at normal conditions and also pushing past specs. And he ships quick: post your order before morning coffee, he hands it to the route-truck at lunchtime, and in many cases you got it next-day.

> what's with the prices on tubes on Ebay?  those are insane.

Just so. There are a few old-stock batches with high sex-appeal. Whether deserved or not, high prices encourage mis-marking and outright fraud. If a 1957 Ken-Rad with Z-shaped support wires creams your jeans, you can place your bets and maybe get lucky. If you just want to rock, do what we did all through the 1960s and 1970s: get better-grade current-production tubes and just beat it. The better Russian, Yugo, and Chinese tubes CAN be as good as 95% of anything that came out of Kentucky.

Be sure you order gitar-amp power tubes from a guitar-amp specialist. There are many 6L6 applications which can be filled with any old 6L6-ish junk. Guitar amps tend to work tubes HARD, and need the better grades of 6L6. Someone who sells to stage-amp players and stands behind the sale will probably be selling the good stuff that won't explode in the middle of your best solo.

$30 is too cheap for guitar-amp grade 6L6. EL34 should run over $30/pair, the trickier 6L6 should run over $40/pair.

And don't whine about the price. When I used to pay $7 for 6550-size tubes, gasoline was $0.34/gallon, Camels $0.50/pack in a machine. All things considered, vacuum tubes are CHEAP today.
 
Mbira said:
Wow it looks like you can't ship the New Sensor stuff to the EU is that because of ROHS?

I think it only affects all the "fakes" they have started making recently (Mullard, Golden Lion etc.). They probably don't have permission to use those brands in Europe.

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen
 
I like Electro Harmonix tubes for live situations (and some recording situations).  Reliable, sound good, and inexpensive.
 
Mbira said:
didn't realize they were fakes...The tube business is a strange one!

Legally they aren't (in the US at least). But Mullard EL34s not made by Mullard and Golden Lion KT88s not made by GEC are fakes in my book :)

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen
 
I believe New Sensor bought some of those NAMES
and the degree to which the repros are made is not
necessarily 100 %
With experience  , some tube ARE better than others
but as i had found with tele 12 ax some applications
make less of a difference

Still one can see how it is more labour intensive to
manufacture , no smd here

As with many things though the mind can fool ,
best to record an example to take the real time element out of the equation , as i did for myself  playing a repetitive riff on gtr
with Groove tubes and randomly punching in with a different set
of tubes , without looking it was tough to tell where the punch was
the slight varience of playing feel negated the tone difference

of course that says nothing about relaiability




 
That's why to me-as a guitar player-reliability is the most important factor.  I have had the best luck with Groove Tubes in that regard...
 
I've also had good luck with Electro-Harmionix tubes; never had one go bad on me. That's more than I can say for Sovtek; I had a 7199 that was bad out of the box, and 6SN7s which died quickly. The Electro-Harmonix 6SN7s I've used are much higher quality, and last a lot longer. Good results on 12AT7s and EL84 too.

Peace,
Paul
 
Frankly, I have to call BS on that JJ Electronics comment. I have had great results,and have purchased lots of tube sets from Eurotubes.com who is a distributer in Oregon. The owner Bob does a great job matching tubes and I recomend them without reservation. I believe that having someone who knows how to grade and match tube sets is worth the additional cost. FWIW it cost less at Eurotubes then buying them from GC!


Wilebee
 
Maybe some of the JJ's that found their way into Banjo Center in Austin were duds.  Joel and I both are in Austin.  I bought a pair of 5Y3's that went up like the 4th of July immediately, thank goodness before I hit the standby switch.  Upon closer inspection, the anode pins were noticeably smaller.

-Richard
 
That was certainly not a BS statement.  This was over the last two years while I was doing amp tech work. Replacing tubes on a daily basis.  Bad tubes out of the box was more common than not.  Glad to hear you had a difference experience.  From your statement, it sounds like Bob was the one doing the work of pulling the tubes out of the box and testing them...IE, that's what I was doing and hence I do not recommend them.
 
Funny enough...I just had to replace a 5AR4 and two 6V6s...all JJs...because the rectifier shorted out-this amp is less than a year old from one of the 'boutique' builders.
 
;D
All I'm saying is JJ->Bob->you  sounds like a much better relationship than JJ->me.  I was Bob, and I didn't like having to ship so many new JJs back to the distributor.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top