[bagwell359]

...and keep them short. 2/0 marine grade, hard enough to work with

My pals and I tried 0 and 2 gauge welding wire and it was atrocious. Confused sound stage - epically so.

The best wire in ABX (not level matched) we all agreed was an aluminum 2 ga mini computer cable ground wire that had at least 250 strands and was super flexible in a simple white plastic sheath - with pure copper lugs of the type in your pic - this was against stuff like Kimber 8TC, Cardas (various 'Golden section' versions, AQ, MIT, and others). Since depending on env, placement (yes on vs over concrete floors - try it), amp(s), and speakers, results tend to fluctuate with speaker cables I went the way of room tuning/improvment which is predictable and repeatable. I use 'Blue Jeans' cable now and never vex over it. I also found similar issues with SE interconnects - varying and unrepeatable results. XLR cables seem far less susceptable to this sort of thing - so its been balanced for more than this millennium - except when its not possible.

 

[bagwell359]

Fortunately I own plenty of Tung Sol 5998 domino plate tubes

In Italian 'Basta!'

 

[Paladin79]

In Italian 'Basta!'

Well I did design amps that used that series power tube so I set aside plenty for the two amps I kept.

 

[Orange5o]

In the 6080 equivs - I go for the Tung-sol 5998 'Domino', but the prices and available quality these days is frightful (spent some time chasing down a good one at a sane price to no avail) so I use the Svetlana Winged C 6AS7G for soundstage/bright sound and the GE 6080 it came with for warmer sound.

No matter what you do to it - can't beat the Echo 2 by Feliks.

Chatham 5998 is a cheaper way to get the Tung Sol, they're the same thing.

My Svetlana is 80s made and lordy is that bright

 

[Paladin79]

Chatham 5998 is a cheaper way to get the Tung Sol, they're the same thing.

My Svetlana is 80s made and lordy is that bright

Most of the ones I kept are from the 50’s and the military versions resembled the RCA versions more. I believe the Russians ended up with a production line from RCA in the 1930’s. I also kept older RCA 6as7g’s.

“
To the best of my knowledge, Tung-Sol never made the 6AS7, 5998, 6080 or 7236 before the acquisition of Chatham. Further, only Chatham manufactured the 5998. So every 5998 (and 2399) and 421A was manufactured by Chatham. And as Chatham had a very good reputation, Tung-Sol continued to label these tubes with the Chatham brand for several years after the acquisition.”

I am quoting someone else but I do believe it is accurate that Tung Sol acquired Chatham.

 

[Orange5o]

Most of the ones I kept are from the 50’s and the military versions resembled the RCA versions more. I believe the Russians ended up with a production line from RCA in the 1930’s. I also kept older RCA 6as7g’s.

“
To the best of my knowledge, Tung-Sol never made the 6AS7, 5998, 6080 or 7236 before the acquisition of Chatham. Further, only Chatham manufactured the 5998. So every 5998 (and 2399) and 421A was manufactured by Chatham. And as Chatham had a very good reputation, Tung-Sol continued to label these tubes with the Chatham brand for several years after the acquisition.”

I am quoting someone else but I do believe it is accurate that Tung Sol acquired Chatham.

Sounds right. If Tung Sol is not expensive enough, chase WE421A's, they are out of control!

 

[Orange5o]

If you're still in KC, I'd like to recommend La Cubana at 5402 Winner Rd. It's certainly not in a pretty side of town, but I've never felt unsafe there. The place is small, meals are served on styrofoam divider plates, and your drink is served in the original container. On the other hand, it's savory and reasonably priced. The place is clean and staff is friendly.

In the year and a half we've been going there, I've always wondered how "Kansas City-ized" their food is. On our last visit, we ran into some transplants from Florida who frequently made a 40 mile trip to KC because they missed Cuban food. I asked if the food was authentic and they both responded with an emphatic "Yes!"

My favorite dish is a #5, El Tipico: Seasoned roast pork, served on a black bean and rice mix with yucca as a side dish. There's enough on the plate for me to have two satisfying meals.

Well, ended up being on my way out of town, so...

 

[bagwell359]

Well I did design amps that used that series power tube so I set aside plenty for the two amps I kept.

Oh, that helps.... time to kick the dog..... just kidding he's awesome

 

[sam6550a]

Well I did design amps that used that series power tube so I set aside plenty for the two amps I kept.

Enough for at least two dozen amps----.

 

[bcowen]

Enough for at least two dozen amps----.

With two dozen backups. Not sure how many backups for the backups though...

 

[Paladin79]

Sounds right. If Tung Sol is not expensive enough, chase WE421A's, they are out of control!

I bought some of those (WE421’s) for a gentleman in England, won a bid at a pretty low price and the seller then tried to say one developed problems and offered a refund. I took them anyway and they were fine.

 

[bagwell359]

Sounds right. If Tung Sol is not expensive enough, chase WE421A's, they are out of control!

Bet that there are 10 counterfeits for every real one - at least, and probably none that test out 100% - unobtainium - except for that pest that has everything....

 

[Ripper2860]

While I do have quite a few Tung-Sol and Chatham 5998s for my Incubus, I only have 1x WE421A. Snagged it at $145 (thank you Auction Sniper), which was still a deal even back in 2020 when I bought it.

 

[Ripper2860]

Given scarcity and price trends, maybe I can trade my WE 421A for a new Urd.

 

[Paladin79]

Bet that there are 10 counterfeits for every real one - at least, and probably none that test out 100% - unobtainium - except for that pest that has everything....

I have more than some, less than others. I have also given in excess of 500 tubes away and sold a large group of 1963 Melz at cost to help others.