Does anyone have a preference between round anodes and flat ribbed anodes? The round anodes are the same family tree as the 37, 56 and 76 that preceded the 6J5.

I have four, which I built myself. 2 stage single ended - driver tube is a 26 in filament bias. 2 stages are possible because the El12n in triode has a gain of 18. Sounds great because the 26 tube shapes the overall sound, which is rich, clear and detailed the way you only really get from a DHT...

I did a rectifier shootout with several types I have. I can start with a fair number I tried in my SE EL12n amps. The current draw isn't usually more than around 130mA, so that allows me to use GZ32 and 5V4G which are rated for 175mA. Various headphone amps should be compatible with a 175ma...

Yes - I know some like this cap. I tried it once and the FT-2 was so much better I dropped it from my "interesting" list. I have some KBG-MN in 0.5uF coming in the post. From what I heard of the 4uF ones I have this will be a good coupling cap. Quite rich and full compared to the teflon, but a...

Hi guys, I need a recommendation for a coupling cap for a DHT valve stage. Value 0.47uF to 1uF. I have plenty of teflon FT-2 0.1uF which is my standard choice but I want something larger for a DHT valve preamp project. So far I rigged up a quick and dirty setup where I could add caps after my...

I've been building amps and preamps with DHTs since around 2009, and been through many of them. I took time off to explore a 2 stage amp with 2a3 outputs and 6SN7 variants as driver stage, liking the CV6 a lot. But I've started putting a preamp in front of my 2 stage 2a3 SE and I'm trying out...

Revisiting this thread after buying a pair of metal base Sylvania round plates very cheap untested on ebay. Fortunately both are very strong and equal emissions. They are very clear and quite bright. I'll leave them in for a while to see if the brightness is too much. My recent favourites have...

Yes, the CV1135 is very good. It's the one that's in my system at the moment, though I'm still tempted by my TDD4 line stage. Mine are black base.

I wouldn't agree with this. As a psychologist my specialisation has been performers, people in the arts and creativity in general. The creative mind is very good at generating ideas, but it is also good at getting results from these ideas. What it isn't so good at is steady-state administration...

The mood seems to be going towards the L63 types.... I have a pair ST shape, used, and I was quite disappointed with the sound. I have a pair of Raytheon 6J5WGT and these are rather good - very clear. The one I'm liking is the CV6. I have box plates, not round plates. Not so keen on the E1148...

??? BGRP ???...... Is this some kind of getter and a ribbed plate or what? What's the plate construction here? I can't see from the photos. As I've said before, I differentiate between the different kind of plate construction, not the make of tube. Especially since a lot of tubes were...

I have a pair of 7A4 coming, together with CV6 and E1148. I'll report when they arrive. Meantime I rigged up a pair of 7193/2C22 and was disappointed. I have a hard time liking the ladder plates and this had the same grainy treble, despite being very clear and detailed. So not a keeper. I do...

Certainly. This is as a driver tube for my 2a3 SE amplifier with amorphous OPTs. 2-way speakers on stands around 89db, smallish room and I don't listen loud. My headphone amp is under revision for the moment so not functional. I design and make all my amplifiers, which are modular with...

I've been rolling 6SN7s and some 6J5s for the last few days and these are my findings so far. Most obvious is that it's the construction of the tube that makes the difference much more than either the make or the type (GT, GTA, GTB etc). This isn't what you generally get in threads like this...

Yes - I used to have some 7A4 and 7N7 and I thought they were plentiful. I'm in the UK and there are no 7N7s or 7A4s advertised that I can see. Folks have cleaned them out it seems. Prices for earlier 6J5 types have rocketed up now as well. Frustrating - I want to try some of the earlier ones. I...

I've been doing a shootout of my 28 6SN7s and the plate/anode construction is basically these: 1. T plates, early 6SN7GT 2. ladder plates, many types 3. angled plates 4. round plates e.g. Brimar The best sounding ones are the T plates, which are mellow, the angled plates which are a tad...

Given that the U52 is one of the most expensive and well received 5U4 types, I'm asking myself what makes it special? They are recognisable by their rounded base, but it's surely the anode structure and the rest of the internals that makes the difference. The Marconi has a long flat smooth plate...

No replies yet, though a budget 300b should be an item of some interest. I've carried on researching and found out a bit more: - There are cheaper PSVane tubes labelled as Linlai whereas it's not clear that they are the "official" Linlai tubes. - If it's the solid plate versus "mesh" (or...

Looking for recommendations for lower priced 300b tubes. What I've seen available include: - Shuguang 300b-98 - Shuguang 300BS-B Globe - PSVane 300b HiFi - PSVane Cossor - EH ceramic base Has anyone tried any of these, or others, and can do a brief review? Looking for tubes up to around £200...

The GE 5U4 straight bottle and the 5U4/VT-244 coke bottle are both good. Different makes and different anode structures. There are a few different types of construction - long plates versus medium plates, smooth versus ribbed etc. It's up to what your ears tell you!

Hi - HT (high tension) or also called B+ is the DC voltage that operates the tube circuit. So when I tested the rectifiers I planned for a HT of around 350v. That's into my 300b SE amp. My GE 5U4 is a straight bottle with side getter.

Rectifiers do seem to sound different. It's not specially the voltage drop either. My HT with different ones turned out to be as follows: GZ33 - 370 5V4G - 362 GZ34 - 355 53KU - 352 5U4 - 350 5V3A - 349 5Z3 - 340 My favourites included GZ33 and 5Z3 - top and bottom - as well as 5U4 which was...

I build all my own amplification, so I just used 2 sockets for the AZ1. AZ1 and AZ11 mesh are affordable, while AZ4 and AZ12 mesh aren't. I never use adapters - I just swap sockets. I also swapped in a UX4 socket to try some 5Z3 - that's a nice tube.

I have several different mesh AZ1s, various brands, plus mesh AZ11s. It's a favourite. The Cossor is marked 53KU and GZ33. It's very clean and clear. I prefer my other 53KU which is wrapped in brown tape because of a loose base. Need to fix it. Can't read the make. The Mullard is a straight...

I just did a rectifier shootout of all my tubes in a 300b SE amp with NP Acoustics amorphous OPT. Haven't tried with headphones yet. Top of the list were: 2 x AZ1 mesh, 53KU, Sylvania VT-244, GE 5U4, Cossor GZ33. In the original review the RCA 5U4 was preferred to the Sylvania, but I'd put them...