Thanks for the props, Ev! I just like tinkering with these amps, and listening to great tubes.
Listen y'all, The G3 is the best bang for the buck as it gives you TWO families of tubes to roll, and is pretty easy to mod if you want. Just swapping out capacitors makes huge differences, but you need quality components as replacements. If your funny looking little tube amp takes 12au7 and equivalents, I'm partial to RCA blackplates as early as you can get them (1950s) and pulled organ tubes are OK in this regard as bargain valves. You generally can't beat a RCA clear top either.If your amp takes 6dj8s, you can't go wrong with a Holland Phillips/Amperex valve ECC88, E88CC, or whatever you can afford. Siemens marketed as RCA 6922s are incredible.
Oh and using tubes that are worth more than the amp? Yeah, I have several that are worth more, my fav being a Mullard E188CC that I got for a song. It gets an hour or two a month and is silk in the mids and sweet everywhere else. Most Mullards can tame bright phones and are sex in your ears for R&B, and Blusey music. The best advice I can give is the same type of response that Mark Twain once gave to someone who asked for investment advice. He told them to buy land, as THEY AREN'T MAKING ANYMORE. These tubes are the same way. I don't buy the new tubes hype. As an old guy, I like using antiques...
When you buy tubes,
any tubes, make sure that the tube is balanced, with values less than 10% apart. One triode at 137% and the other at 90% will require you to bias the tube. If you can't bias the tube with a multimeter or
by ear, don't waste your money. Read all over the net about tubes from anyone that has a site with information about the tube families.
Study the architecture of each tube or just your favorite tubes. I've got tubes that have no labels that are amazing! I get excited about finding a NOS Siemens for $7 that I recognized from the architecture alone. I'm approaching 160 tubes and I've never paid more than $35 (as I remember), and that was for a pair.
This isn't life or death. Have fun! Experiment. Learn how to solder. Buy a Voskhod 6n23p from the 80s or before. Keep looking for a 6n23p-ev from Voskhod... If you find one, PM me
, but buy a Reflektor 6n23p-ev from the 70's or 80's while you are looking. Awesome valves.
If I can help, PM me. I check hf every couple of weeks.
If you want to
know about tubes,
study about tubes y'all. Google works.