[gibosi]

I am curious if all the others also had the red band on the glass.

Yes, the tubes in my possession manufactured in Eindhoven, Holland; Blackburn, Great Britain; and Loewe Opta, Berlin all have the red band.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

If it were me, I would let it slowly flake away, let those babies age naturally

 

[gibosi]

If it were me, I would let it slowly flake away, let those babies age naturally

I didn't want to lose the Philips factory production codes, so the tape worked fine for me. But otherwise, I am inclined to let them "age naturally" too. lol

 

[Zachik]

If it were me, I would let it slowly flake away, let those babies age naturally

Unfortunately, it is not really a slow process of aging...
I just found 2" diameter heat shrink tube on Amazon. A little pricey but would last many tubes (it is 4 feet long), and in red so aesthetics are kept as much as possible.

 

[mordy]

Never a dull moment - was looking for some tubes among my boxes and accidentally pulled out two USB cables from my PC. Wanted to play from iTunes library. Silence.
Checked all connections and discovered that I had pulled out the two USB plugs. Pushed them back in - silence.
I will spare you all my trials and tribulations and all the different trouble shooters and sound menus that I tried, but I finally discovered that all connections were good and that the GOTL and DAC worked fine. I could get sound from other sources but not iTunes.
Finally I found a quick and easy fix, and I am mentioning it here in case somebody will stumble upon this problem:
1. Open iTunes and go into Edit and then preferences

2. Click Playback on the preferences screen.

3. At the bottom you will use Play Audio Using:

4. Change from Windows Audio Session to Direct Sound.

5. It will ask you to close iTunes and re-open and then you should have sound again.

After one and half hours of trouble shooting all is well. Swapped out the pair of EL3N for a pair of EL11. These tubes are supposedly electrically the same but with different bases. Other tubes are a pair of K-R 6C5 metal and a pair of Bendix 6080WB.
Finally I can listen to a pair of tubes that are 157 years old. Well, together my pair of 1941 and 1942 Telefunken EL11 tubes add up to 157 years. Even 78 and 79 years old and going strong is astonishing.

I hope gibosi doesn't mind me saying this, but I think the blue rubber band covering up the rusted rim on the K-R 6C5 tube is more successful than the Scotch tape on the flaking EL3N tube......Maybe red electric PVC tape would work...But I myself am guilty of the tape trick to put a designation on my rusted out tube lol.

 

[Zachik]

I hope gibosi doesn't mind me saying this, but I think the blue rubber band covering up the rusted rim on the K-R 6C5 tube is more successful than the Scotch tape on the flaking EL3N tube......Maybe red electric PVC tape would work...But I myself am guilty of the tape trick to put a designation on my rusted out tube lol.

That is an interesting thought... Red electric PVC tape instead of heat shrink tube...
Do you think this is a good fit for the job? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002P8XVQ0
Rated max temp: 221°F / 105°C (I suspect EL3N on my amp does not get anywhere near that!)

Thoughts? That red electrical tape, or the heat shrink tube?

 

[chrisdrop]

t

How do they compare to the little black "rusties'?

First, rusties v the GECs, I agree w/ Glenn and he said it well. The GEC L63s are still my go-to top driver that I keep returning to.

I normally use the GEC L63 for the driver but when I put in metal GE 6J5s they sounded nearly as good.
If I had to I could live with the GEs and they only cost me $6 for the pair when the GEC L63s cost me $150

Rusties vs Fivres; the Fivres are a bit different than many of my other 6J5s. They are more spacious and delicate than the common rustie. They are also less full in the lower register. They have a lovely sparkle and presence, but don't really kick, which gives more of that open feel. I think these Fivres will be like the C3G for me; roll them in sometimes because they are pleasant/different, but not a fixture like a few others. Don't get me wrong, they are in the amp right now and I am enjoying them. For the rusties; I like most of them, especially the GE 6C5s and the KenRads when looking for some extra thump.

 

[Zachik]

New roll for my 6EL3N... Finally testing different output tubes!
Started with all EL3N (hence 6EL3N), then rolled 6J5 drivers instead of EL3N, and now a pair of GEC KT66 in place of the 4xEL3N output tubes.

So... how does it sound?
The amp made quite a transformation! While still very refined and super smooth, I feel the laid-back-ness is mostly replaced with... something else! Still looking for the right adjectives to describe it.
Now it sounds faster, and something in the mids is turned into pure magic! Listening to Hello (by Adele) caused my jaw to drop. I really like Adele's voice, but NEVER heard it like that.
O M G. Keeping it PG (ok... PG-13), her voice is so sensual and inviting. So smooth (without any loss of detail).
Headphone of the evening has been my HD600, BTW.

Interesting observation on power - after replacing 4xEL3N with 2xKT66, I had to turn the volume up couple notches. Not a problem just a surprise as I thought power wise they were very close. @2359glenn Glenn - How does 4xEL3N compare to 2xKT66 in power?

 

[mordy]

That is an interesting thought... Red electric PVC tape instead of heat shrink tube...
Do you think this is a good fit for the job? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002P8XVQ0
Rated max temp: 221°F / 105°C (I suspect EL3N on my amp does not get anywhere near that!)

Thoughts? That red electrical tape, or the heat shrink tube?

Don't really have experience with either solution - perhaps the heat shrink tubing will adapt better to the shape of the tube. Or, whatever is cheaper....
What about hi temp self fusing red silicone tape?
https://www.amazon.com/Xtreme-Self-...+silicone+adhesive+tape&qid=1590474633&sr=8-6

 

[2359glenn]

That is an interesting thought... Red electric PVC tape instead of heat shrink tube...
Do you think this is a good fit for the job? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002P8XVQ0
Rated max temp: 221°F / 105°C (I suspect EL3N on my amp does not get anywhere near that!)

Thoughts? That red electrical tape, or the heat shrink tube?

The heat shrink is a better idea. The glue on the electrical tape will get all gooey with heat and it will come off and be a mess

 

[2359glenn]

New roll for my 6EL3N... Finally testing different output tubes!
Started with all EL3N (hence 6EL3N), then rolled 6J5 drivers instead of EL3N, and now a pair of GEC KT66 in place of the 4xEL3N output tubes.

So... how does it sound?
The amp made quite a transformation! While still very refined and super smooth, I feel the laid-back-ness is mostly replaced with... something else! Still looking for the right adjectives to describe it.
Now it sounds faster, and something in the mids is turned into pure magic! Listening to Hello (by Adele) caused my jaw to drop. I really like Adele's voice, but NEVER heard it like that.
O M G. Keeping it PG (ok... PG-13), her voice is so sensual and inviting. So smooth (without any loss of detail).
Headphone of the evening has been my HD600, BTW.

Interesting observation on power - after replacing 4xEL3N with 2xKT66, I had to turn the volume up couple notches. Not a problem just a surprise as I thought power wise they were very close. @2359glenn Glenn - How does 4xEL3N compare to 2xKT66 in power?

You are confusing power with gain.
The KT66 probably will have more power but the EL3N has a gain of 23 and the Kt66 a gain of 6.15.
So just turn up the volume a little no problem. Lower gain = lower noise.

 

[hpamdr]

Yes, the tubes in my possession manufactured in Eindhoven, Holland; Blackburn, Great Britain; and Loewe Opta, Berlin all have the red band.

The EL3(N) are part of the red series so most of the tube have the red band (all Phillips green label for sure).

You have 3 shapes,
Strait (Visseaux) with gold band,
tall (like EL3),
small regular EL3N.

Some Miniwatt version have also a silver treatment on the bottom and the top that goes above the red band.
Some Valvo, RT, Miniwatt have no band
Some Visseaux can have gold band.

Medium part is usually gray but can be really dark.

You can find also EL3 bulb (taller) that are in fact EL3(N). You can measure heat current, it should be less than 1A (0.9) at 6.3V for EL3N and above 1A (1.2) for EL3.

to get a complete overview you can get a look on radiomuseum.org it you have an account.

I have old tubes picked in TSF with resin between base and buld to prevent gaz leak or even paster.. (I also have to admit that i do not care of how it looks)

About putting red shrinkable tubing on the tube, you have to be carefull as some tubing also have glue (specially big diameters) whic can be not so nice on tha borders.
You have also to keep in mind that the tube will continuously heat end refresh which is not the primary usage of heat tubing and can tube can move up/down if you pinch it to remove the tube.
An Alternative for me is to do nothing or just get high-temperature paint like the one used for exhaust system.

 

[whirlwind]

If it were me, I would let it slowly flake away, let those babies age naturally

This is what I do...I wrote the date codes on the boxes and just let the flaking happen naturally.

New roll for my 6EL3N... Finally testing different output tubes!
Started with all EL3N (hence 6EL3N), then rolled 6J5 drivers instead of EL3N, and now a pair of GEC KT66 in place of the 4xEL3N output tubes.

So... how does it sound?
The amp made quite a transformation! While still very refined and super smooth, I feel the laid-back-ness is mostly replaced with... something else! Still looking for the right adjectives to describe it.
Now it sounds faster, and something in the mids is turned into pure magic! Listening to Hello (by Adele) caused my jaw to drop. I really like Adele's voice, but NEVER heard it like that.
O M G. Keeping it PG (ok... PG-13), her voice is so sensual and inviting. So smooth (without any loss of detail).
Headphone of the evening has been my HD600, BTW.

Interesting observation on power - after replacing 4xEL3N with 2xKT66, I had to turn the volume up couple notches. Not a problem just a surprise as I thought power wise they were very close. @2359glenn Glenn - How does 4xEL3N compare to 2xKT66 in power?

Nice pic! I bet using the Sylvania 6J5 drivers can change the sound from being warm for sure. The KT66 tubes have gobs of detail to my ears.
You probably need to turn the amp up as you are only using two KT66 where as you were using four EL3N. The lower gain can be your friend

Enjoy!

 

[Jaeger18]

hey im thinking to buy Glenn amp.. mind any one tell me the difference of 6EL3N and Glenn otl amp..

 

[felix3650]

hey im thinking to buy Glenn amp.. mind any one tell me the difference of 6EL3N and Glenn otl amp..

The OTL is just like the name implies: output transformer-less. It changes sound based on tubes used (and it accepts a lot of tube combos).
The GEL3N is a transformer coupled amp built to maximize around the EL3N tube. It uses EL3Ns, both as driver and output tubes. The 6EL3N is a variant our bud @Zachik here thought out and ordered for himself.
Best if you contact @2359glenn about what best can suit your needs