investigating the russian 6S6B-V tube

[kingkorg]

Yes, I thought for a while about whether or not to disclose this source.

I have some 6S6b in stock for my projects and thought share one of your sources with the homies here.

I don't think the 6s6b stock at Oppermann electronic will survive next week. Just a guess, I have no idea how big their stock is.

Was that your 3€ source too?

No, I have several of UKR/Rus sources, people from whoom i used to buy via eBay, but since the war begun they all went underground. One of the reasons I am hesitant to share the sources is that delivering is very questionable, and one batch i ordered got stopped by the UKR customs and confiscated. Getting the money back was a big time pita. None of these issues were caused by the sellers, but if I advertise them here or any other place I don't want to be involved in potential scam accusations. This has happened a lot here. Not to mention different implications if one decides to import stuff from RU and get into trouble. There is a UKR eBay alternative in english where people sell stuff online. Please understand why i'm carefull about sharing direct links, but with couple minutes of digging, anyone can figure out what i'm talking about.

 

[rock soderstrom]

No, I have several of UKR/Rus sources, people from whoom i used to buy via eBay, but since the war begun they all went underground. One of the reasons I am hesitant to share the sources is that delivering is very questionable, and one batch i ordered got stopped by the UKR customs and confiscated. Getting the money back was a big time pita. None of these issues were caused by the sellers, but if I advertise them here or any other place I don't want to be involved in potential scam accusations. This has happened a lot here. Not to mention different implications if one decides to import stuff from RU and get into trouble. There is a UKR eBay alternative where people sell stuff online. Please understand why i'm carefull about sharing direct links, but with couple minutes of digging, anyone can figure out what i'm talking about.

I totally understand, I myself still have old tube contacts to RU and Ukraine, but at the moment, for known reasons, trade and transport is severely limited.

At some point the sh*t will be over and trade will return to normal. Hopefully soon, not only because of the tubes....

Good that you mentioned it:

Disclaimer: I assume no liability for the link I mention before. I myself have ordered successfully there some time ago, the goods and process was fine.
I can not guarantee that this is still the case, I have no further connection with this seller.

 

[kingkorg]

Another hopefully useful tip.

6s62n

 

[rock soderstrom]

Another hopefully useful tip.

6s62n

Datasheet

 

[soliloqueen]

I don't like making fun of Neumann because their actions over the past few years, that is to say focusing more on reissues and product line expansions outside of their normal area of expertise, as well as the aggressive legal threats they've been issuing to smaller and smaller operations suggest to me that they may be nearing bankruptcy again... Something that I have mixed feelings about. Neumann is especially angry about clone products recently I think in part because their own business has shifted towards making Neumann clones. People who make clones of their vintage microphones are direct competition if they are also primarily making clones of their vintage microphones. I think that's a complicated state of affairs. I don't like seeing them in a position where they need to do these sorts of things to survive. Even I am only participating in clone products to pay the bills, ultimately my goal is to make original microphones with high levels of accessibility (Braille, high visual contrast, etc) that sound class leading but are also more usable for people with blindness and low vision. Making capsules for clone mics is just a necessary stepping stone. I understand, I think, how it must feel to be in this position as an engineer. I sympathize. We are all compromising our standards as engineers to pay the bills.

 

[Tubetec]

6S62N is a nuvistor type tube , I think Neumann offered a nuvistor conversion for the U47 for a while .
Of course it needs its own sockets and pcb, they appear to have shock mounted it with silicone rubber stand-offs
Some say the nuvistor sounds nothing like the VF14 ,
6S62N probably wont sound like a VF14 either .

We had a couple of U47's on hire from a place in London years ago ,
one of them was more or less unusable due to a microphonic tube .
Are the only available options for a U47 with a broken tube now solid state?
Theres the obvious issue of providing a heater supply for a 6.3v tube running in a U47 ,

 

[soliloqueen]

It'd be nice if someone could make a sweep of a u47 with no capsule in it to see how much the microphonics actually contribute to the sound

 

[rock soderstrom]

6S62N is a nuvistor type tube , I think Neumann offered a nuvistor conversion for the U47 for a while .
Of course it needs its own sockets and pcb, they appear to have shock mounted it with silicone rubber stand-offs
Some say the nuvistor sounds nothing like the VF14 ,
6S6B-v probably wont sound like a VF14 either , much lower microphonics .

A little anecdote about nuvistors: When I first got into tube condenser microphones in the early 90s, nuvistors were considered the worst thing you could do to a tube microphone. Today, some people I hold in high regard praise certain Nuvistors above all else. The Times They Are A-Changin'...

 

[Gus]

It'd be nice if someone could make a sweep of a u47 with no capsule in it to see how much the microphonics actually contribute to the sound

You don't need a sweep all you need sometimes is to speak at the microphone body however, I agree a sweep would be more scientific.
I once checked capacitors subbing them in for the capsule and speaking at the capacitor. This also had the extra dielectric voltage stress from the charge voltage.
I would take a full range speaker, ground the tube grid or find a non microphonic capacitor and sweep the body of the microphone

 

[GeorgeToledo]

Honestly, I can't see what your reasoning is supposed to tell me?

Product piracy is an essential problem for all companies involved. I don't think we should support it, regardless of who developed the M49 or M7.

The reality is that Chinese suppliers offer and sell industrially produced "Neumann" microphones (other manufacturers as well). We are not talking about one or two microphones here, they are coming off the production line in large numbers depending on demand. Part of the demand also arises in forums like here. There have already been attempts to organize a group buy for such fakes here. Others have presented these copies here and (indirectly) advertised the distribution channels. Not ok for me.

It’s unclear to me why you objected to a photoshopped picture or the concept of making a stereo M49.

The “reasoning” behind my post is to suggest to you that the shape and circuit of the M49 have long ago fallen out of any sort of legal protection, and that using them isn’t *necessarily* an infringement of *Neumann’s* intellectual property given that they didn’t originally invent these things anyway.

I agree that actually copying a company’s trade dress is objectionable ethically, if not legally.

Let’s not get into a circuitous debate about this. I do get your point.

 

[Tubetec]

The microphony ,if its bad causes artifacts in the sound , probably the most meaningful test is in front of a powerful vocalist , in close , if your mic doesnt behave badly then you have nothing to worry about. With a different artist with a quiet voice the problem might vanish entirely.
Sub mini tubes are by far superiour microphonically to the bucket of bolts that is the VF14 , Im hardly going take a 6S6B-v and intentionally make it microphonic so it leaves fairy farts all over the peaks ,
I want every chance of bad resonances avoided .

I can well see how people might get a great improvement in their U47 by installing a Nuvistor , what was the condition of the VF14 that came out of it though?

Neumann do offer a repair service , I wonder what they replace the VF14 with ,
https://en-de.neumann.com/news-nm-visiting-serviceKlaus chimes in on the subject here ,
https://gearspace.com/board/high-end/1304574-u47-nuvistor.html

 

[Papa Tango Charly]

I have a contact in eastern Europe who has located some 6s6b. The quantity is still unclear. PM me if you are interested. The price will be around 10-15€ + shipping.

I'm on it

I have a contact in eastern Europe who has located some 6s6b. The quantity is still unclear. PM me if you are interested. The price will be around 10-15€ + shipping.

Hello Thomas. I will be interested. Keep me posted. Best. Good Eve

 

[soliloqueen]

You don't need a sweep all you need sometimes is to speak at the microphone body however, I agree a sweep would be more scientific.
I once checked capacitors subbing them in for the capsule and speaking at the capacitor. This also had the extra dielectric voltage stress from the charge voltage.
I would take a full range speaker, ground the tube grid or find a non microphonic capacitor and sweep the body of the microphone

just thinking if we knew the FR of the microphonics, we could split the signal, filter it, and blend it back in, or if phase issues make that difficult, filter the whole signal to the average of all contributions. could improve solid state vf14 replacements that way

 

[kingkorg]

Not sure how vf14 got into the discussion, 6S62N is basically nuvistor version of 6s6b.

 

[rmburrow]

6S62N is a nuvistor type tube , I think Neumann offered a nuvistor conversion for the U47 for a while .
Of course it needs its own sockets and pcb, they appear to have shock mounted it with silicone rubber stand-offs
Some say the nuvistor sounds nothing like the VF14 ,
6S62N probably wont sound like a VF14 either .

We had a couple of U47's on hire from a place in London years ago ,
one of them was more or less unusable due to a microphonic tube .
Are the only available options for a U47 with a broken tube now solid state?
Theres the obvious issue of providing a heater supply for a 6.3v tube running in a U47 ,



You mean the old AR47 plug in kit with the 13CW4 nuvistor? The 13CW4 was a RCA nuvistor used in the front end of 1960's vintage TV receivers. Supposedly, the plate impedance of the 13CW4 was double that of the VF14 and didn't match the U47 transformer very well. Apparently, that kit was an emergency measure to keep tubes available in light of the discontinued VF14....




View attachment 102346

 

[Tubetec]

I just had a look over on the Oktava site , their mini tube preamp for the MK012 series capsules contains a 6S6B-v tube as well , although its a cathode follower design .

 

[Екатерина]

Hello, there are some 6S6B electronic tubes on sale in my place. Can I use AMI T13 or AMI T14 to make a microphone for this tube? Can I use M49B circuit to change bias resistance?

 

[Drosselmeier]

I bought today 10 of these - 4 bucks per each. Tubes 70s-80s, the seller was selling them for 2 and a half bucks for each.

 

[Drosselmeier]

Hello, there are some 6S6B electronic tubes on sale in my place. Can I use AMI T13 or AMI T14 to make a microphone for this tube? Can I use M49B circuit to change bias resistance?

Read thread

 

[Papa Tango Charly]

Hello have you ever noticed the different amplification factor from one 6S6B-V to another? on the spec of the 6S6B-V, i have noticed at gain factor 25±5 which mean = +/- 13.98db in tension. I have build 2 x M49c same microphone with a 6S6B-V. One as less gain than the other do you think that the 6S6B-V gain factor, 25±5 might be the issue?