[leftside]

"Philips/Amperex" doesn't tell us where the tube was manufactured. And the Hamburg and Eindhoven tubes sound very different to my ears.

The tube on the left was manufactured in Eindhoven, 1955 (WK3-45B). Notice it has smooth plates and the top and bottom of the "pinch" are very well defined.

The tube on the right was manufactured in Hamburg, 1956 (WK2-D6J). Notice it has ribbed plates and the pinch is more subtle.

Look like Hamburg tubes then, even though they both have "triangle symbol 9D" etched into the glass:

 

[UntilThen]

Oh,you have no idea. At one point in time I had five aquariums,because some fish do not do well in certain water chemistry. Others do not co-exist with other fish,so the logical solution is: Screw it,lemme get another tank.

I will look into the black base on eBay,Brent Jesse price is too steep for me at the moment.

You nail it. You even use the right words. Water chemistry !

There needs to be a right chemistry between driver, power tubes and headphone... source as well. So don't just focus on the driver.

 

[attmci]

Philips SQ/ by Siemens 5814A -3 mica- DE- NOS
Brimar ECC82 cleartop- GB- NOS
TS Smoke Glass
HP/ Amperex-- NOS
HP/ RCA- cleartop- NOS
RCA- 5814A- black plate 2 mica- NOS
RCA/ Textronix 2-matched prs "cleartop" NOS
Valvo/ Philips ECC82- dimp disc-Holland -NOS
Valvo/ Siemens E82CC- NOS
CBS 5814A- JHS blk plate- stirrup gtr- NOS
RCA cleartop- USED
Amperex Bugle Boy 7316- Holland- NOS
RCA “Command” 5814A- NOS
CBS 5814A- blk pl- sq gtr- NOS/Used?
Sylvania 5814A- USA- c.1970
National by RCA- 5814WA- black pl- US- NOS
Siemens- E82CC/6189- 2mica, halo- DE- NOS
Siemens 5814A -3 mica- USED [25
Valvo 6189- RTC- France- db gtr sup- NOS
Valvo ECC186/7316- Holland- 1965- NOS
Siemens/H E82CC/6189- 3 mica- DE-NOS


Overall my favourite:

1. Philips / Amperex/ Valvo ECC186 / 7316 : The Philips 7316 I think is the best all round 12AU7- superb natural refined sound, balanced, detailed, dynamic, effortless transparent bass, while not too forward. There are three versions of the 7316, and by reputation they are all good. Getting expensive. I liked the 7316 so much I bought enough of these to use in every place I use the 12AU7.

2. Siemens triple mica 5814A : The Siemens is energetic, precise, and dynamic, the tube I like to wake up sleepy or softish vintage. Very quiet, with an extended powerful bass. Getting expensive.

3. CBS 5814A: The old black plate CBS 5814A is another nice one everywhere I've tried it- vintage nad newer stuff- with a clean, detailed and dynamic sound, excellent, open bass and natural treble. Not expensive.

4. RCA "Command" black plate 5814A: This is surprisingly good - like most RCA tubes does everything well, with a good natural timbre and sense of authority through the whole range, while also open and quiet. Better in modern gear-as it's not as fast as the Siemens These are for me a kind of "sleeper" as they are so good, but still very inexpensive for the sound.

5. The ordinary early to mid 60's Philips/ Amperex/ Valvo ECC82 is really good : smooth, detailed, nice sense of openness, quiet.

 

[gibosi]

Look like Hamburg tubes then, even though they both have "triangle symbol 9D" etched into the glass:

Oh, the production code doesn't lie. Either I didn't know or had forgotten that the earliest Heerlen E80CC have pinched waists. 1959 was the last year as this practice was discontinued in 1960.

Some time in the 1970s production was shifted to Long Island, NY. The distinguishing characteristic is the gold-pins were discontinued.

Also, for anyone who might be interested, Hungarian Tungsram also manufactured the E80CC. Note the holes in the sides of the plates and the rhodium pins. It is a bit more airy and not as warm as the Holland and Long Island tubes.

To the left, Amperex (Long Island), 1977. And to the right, Tungsram, 1961.

 

[leftside]

Philips SQ/ by Siemens 5814A -3 mica- DE- NOS


4. RCA "Command" black plate 5814A: This is surprisingly good - like most RCA tubes does everything well, with a good natural timbre and sense of authority through the whole range, while also open and quiet. Better in modern gear-as it's not as fast as the Siemens These are for me a kind of "sleeper" as they are so good, but still very inexpensive for the sound.

5. The ordinary early to mid 60's Philips/ Amperex/ Valvo ECC82 is really good : smooth, detailed, nice sense of openness, quiet.

The RCA black plate Command tubes are generally very good whenever I've listened to them.

Do you know the year of all those tubes you listed above? Just one year can make a lot of difference. Sometimes the company might have moved factory, or used different components between each years. For example, there are reasons why the Mullard 12AX7 goes up up up in price from 1958 to 1954.....

 

[Xcalibur255]

Hi Mzero,
I think the only difference is price. The tube below yesterday sold for $273(!)

while this black base went for $39:

Amazing, isn't it?

Don't be mislead by the fact that they are both "W" tubes. These are different tubes internally and they do sound different. I had a shorty black base W like the one in your bottom picture and gave it away a long time ago because I didn't think it sounded very good.

Sylvania had more variants than any other maker, including some that are nearly impossible to tell apart visually. I would wager 75% of the tubes sold on eBay as "Bad Boys" are not, for example.

 

[mordy]

Here is a very good sounding bargain 6SN7 tube that nobody talks about. It is a mid 60's RCA 6SN7GTB. Just listened to it in the GOTL and it sounds better than the Sylvania Bad Boy 6SN7GT (don't know if mine is the real thing-will show a picture below).
I always liked this tube and it does not disappoint in the GOTL. What makes it visually different than other similar RCA tubes is a thin horizontal heater wire that is kind of hard to spot in many of the seller's pictures:

Found a current ad - if you feel adventurous try a low ball offer; I'll really like to hear from somebody else what they think about these unsung heroes:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-RC...033131?hash=item1a409abfab:g:WWMAAOSws0JaWhRI
Here is a picture of a 1953 Sylvania 6SN7GT. Most of the glass is covered by the getter flash. It has black plates with three holes. Is this the real thing?

 

[gibosi]

.....the Sylvania Bad Boy 6SN7GT (don't know if mine is the real thing-will show a picture below).
I always liked this tube and it does not disappoint in the GOTL.
Here is a picture of a 1953 Sylvania 6SN7GT. Most of the glass is covered by the getter flash. It has black plates with three holes. Is this the real thing?

No.



According to the 6SN7 Identification thread:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-6sn7-identification-guide.209782/

Sylvania 6SN7GT 1952 “Bad Boy”
Also JAN-CHS-6SN7GT
Made only from late 1951 (‘1-48’ examples seen) to 1952. Differs slightly in construction from ‘regular’ Sylvania rectangular top mica 6SN7GTs. Re-labeled bad boys are known to exist. [I have seen this tube with early 1953 dates]
Base: black, green labels marked ‘2-XX’ (where XX is the week of the year)
Glass: clear
Plates: black, T-plate with 3 holes per plate
Getter: bottom, foil, flashing can extend up to 1/3 of way up tube
Top mica: rectangular with 3 spikes on each of the shorter edges
Other significant features: bottom mica is rectangular. When seen, date codes are vertically arranged (from top to bottom) ‘YWW’ with Y underlined. Y = last digit of year, WW = week number of year.

 

[2359glenn]

Here is a very good sounding bargain 6SN7 tube that nobody talks about. It is a mid 60's RCA 6SN7GTB. Just listened to it in the GOTL and it sounds better than the Sylvania Bad Boy 6SN7GT (don't know if mine is the real thing-will show a picture below).
I always liked this tube and it does not disappoint in the GOTL. What makes it visually different than other similar RCA tubes is a thin horizontal heater wire that is kind of hard to spot in many of the seller's pictures:


Found a current ad - if you feel adventurous try a low ball offer; I'll really like to hear from somebody else what they think about these unsung heroes:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-RC...033131?hash=item1a409abfab:g:WWMAAOSws0JaWhRI
Here is a picture of a 1953 Sylvania 6SN7GT. Most of the glass is covered by the getter flash. It has black plates with three holes. Is this the real thing?

That RCA with the filament jumped across the top might be made by GE they made many 6SN7s like this.

 

[mordy]

That RCA with the filament jumped across the top might be made by GE they made many 6SN7s like this.

I have a pair of these tubes. One is labeled RCA with date code BP (7/67), and the other one is labeled Hoffman Easy-Vision with EIA code 274 (RCA) and dated 2/65.
No sand blasted dots on glass.

 

[mordy]

No.



According to the 6SN7 Identification thread:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-6sn7-identification-guide.209782/

Sylvania 6SN7GT 1952 “Bad Boy”
Also JAN-CHS-6SN7GT
Made only from late 1951 (‘1-48’ examples seen) to 1952. Differs slightly in construction from ‘regular’ Sylvania rectangular top mica 6SN7GTs. Re-labeled bad boys are known to exist. [I have seen this tube with early 1953 dates]
Base: black, green labels marked ‘2-XX’ (where XX is the week of the year)
Glass: clear
Plates: black, T-plate with 3 holes per plate
Getter: bottom, foil, flashing can extend up to 1/3 of way up tube
Top mica: rectangular with 3 spikes on each of the shorter edges
Other significant features: bottom mica is rectangular. When seen, date codes are vertically arranged (from top to bottom) ‘YWW’ with Y underlined. Y = last digit of year, WW = week number of year.

Hi Gibosi,
Thanks for the answer. I think Oskari would appreciate the brevity.....
I guess that I just have a "good boy" Sylvania then. Where does the term "bad boy" come from? Sounds like some kind of marketing hype....

 

[myphone]

Hi Gibosi,
Thanks for the answer. I think Oskari would appreciate the brevity.....
I guess that I just have a "good boy" Sylvania then. Where does the term "bad boy" come from? Sounds like some kind of marketing hype....

Mordy, the Sylvania 6SN7GT is the "real Sylvania chrome top" .

 

[Xcalibur255]

@mordy

Your third picture, of the Sylvania with the getter flash reaching the base of the tube, is a personal favorite of mine.

Not everybody agrees with me that it's good though. It seems to change behavior quite a bit depending on the amp it is in too, more so than most 6SN7 I have heard. As always trust your own ears. You can get these fairly cheap though. They are worth trying.

I did some research into these once upon a time on the suspicion that these might have been made on the same factory tooling as the metal base W tubes, but it's just a hypothesis of mine that's unproven.

Another characteristic of these is they have shorter than normal bases, which makes the glass appear taller. But unless the getter flash actually reaches the bottom of that short base and the tube has a dirty smoky appearance you don't have the one I'm thinking of. There are similar looking tubes that have a somewhat "cleaner" looking getter flash that are very easy to mistake for these, and IMO they do not sound nearly as good. Don't sound very good period in fact.

 

[mordy]

Mordy, the Sylvania 6SN7GT is the "real Sylvania chrome top" .

Hi MP,
I have other Sylvania 6SN7 tubes with an even, large getter flash - this is also some kind of a chrome top - what are they called?

 

[Xcalibur255]

Yup. Just like there are "real" BadBoys there are also "real" ChromeTops. It all becomes kind of exhausting after a while to be honest. If you have a few tubes you enjoy that make you happy then my advice is to not sweat it.