[mhamel]

I'm looking to pick up some new tubes for a Corda Eartube, and have come across a couple of NOS 6385's from 11/64. I know most people talk about the 6385's from the 1950's, but does anyone have any experience with the 1960's tubes and how they'd compare to NOS 1950's or 1970/80's WES396A's?


-Mike

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhamel /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm looking to pick up some new tubes for a Corda Eartube, and have come across a couple of NOS 6385's from 11/64. I know most people talk about the 6385's from the 1950's, but does anyone have any experience with the 1960's tubes and how they'd compare to NOS 1950's or 1970/80's WES396A's? -Mike

The 6385 is Bendix's equivalent to the 2c51 .... grab them! Bendix makes the most rugged, overbuilt tubes you can buy. Nice find!

 

[mhamel]

Cool... thank you. I'm relatively new to tubes - my first time rolling.

This is probably a stupid question, but I assume I should replace both the single input buffer and two output 6N3P's in the Eartube and not just the output tubes?

-Mike

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhamel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cool... thank you. I'm relatively new to tubes - my first time rolling. This is probably a stupid question, but I assume I should replace both the single input buffer and two output 6N3P's in the Eartube and not just the output tubes? -Mike

Not really .... use the buffer tube until you notice a degradation or some type of noise developes. You probably dont have a tester and that is the only way to really know if a tube is still strong. On the other hand it certainly doesnt hurt to change the input tube. But if the tube was an expensive nos tube try and get the full life out of the tube. Nos = new old stock tubes .... and these well made old tubes tend to last longer than new production tubes in many, if not most cases.

 

[Zanth]

Bendix completely rock. They are also ridiculously expensive most of the time. $100-200/tube is not uncommon at all. This is all I use in my Shanling.

 

[mhamel]

There are two pair on Ebay right now for $200pr BIN for the 1964s and $250/pr starting bid for the earlier mid 1950's tubes. Those aren't the ones I'm buying, but they're on there now if anyone's looking.

I actually don't even have the eartube yet - so it'll have the stock tubes when it arrives, which I'm not worried about replacing. The little bit of info I've read about it all seems to suggest going with the 396A's or the 6385's. Once I get it and give it a good break-in, I'll swap out the tubes. I'm still hunting for GU17 replacements, which seem to be pretty tough to find.

-Mike

 

[velogreg]

I use the WE396 in my DAC replacing a generic 2C51 from China and the improvement is quite substantial. Though the WE396's are not cheap, they are less than the Bendix.

 

[rodentmacbeastie]

I prefer the WE396A to any tube of this type! WE made these tubes primarily for audio use where as Bendix was generally for radar and military use. The Bendix are great if you need more detail, but the WE offer what I believe the same detail without being dry and lifeless. The WE feel IMHO to be more involving and the Bendix tire me out. Now other types of Bendix tubes, namely the 6900 are leaps and bounds better that their counterparts, but WE never made a tube of that type!