[Badas]

I would really like to try the 5998 however the price just keeps going up and some of the auctions on eSlay look to be other peoples crap tubes. A tube seller told me a number of 5998's can be noisy. More than average. So I wonder that some of those auctions are noisy tubes that owners no longer wants. To risky at the prices being asked.
 
I would rather pay a bit more and get the GEC 6AS7g. It looks to be more suited to my taste.
 
The Mullard 6080 is serving me well. I am enjoying. Only weakness I have picked up on is instrument separation. I have others that do it better. However it makes up for that weakness by being great at everything else. I received my RCA6080's. Damn excellent looking examples but I can't bring myself to pull the Mullards to test them.

 

[3083joe]

I would really like to try the 5998 however the price just keeps going up and some of the auctions on eSlay look to be other peoples crap tubes. A tube seller told me a number of 5998's can be noisy. More than average. So I wonder that some of those auctions are noisy tubes that owners no longer wants. To risky at the prices being asked.

I would rather pay a bit more and get the GEC 6AS7g. It looks to be more suited to my taste.

The Mullard 6080 is serving me well. I am enjoying. Only weakness I have picked up on is instrument separation. I have others that do it better. However it makes up for that weakness by being great at everything else. I received my RCA6080's. Damn excellent looking examples but I can't bring myself to pull the Mullards to test them.

Can I fit 6080s into the wa6?

 

[DavidA]

   
I am quite sure that all 5998s were manufactured by Chatham. No other company manufactured this tube. Of course, after Tung-Sol acquired Chatham in the late 1950's, the TS name began to appear on this tube. Therefore, I would guess that any apparent sonic differences between your TS and Chatham pairs is most likely due to their having been manufactured at different times.

Thanks for the info, still learning about these.

 

[Badas]

Can I fit 6080s into the wa6?

Nope. No need.
 
WA6 has a rectifier and drive tubes. No power tubes.
 
6080 and 6AS7G is a power tube.
 
I would like a WA6 and adapters to run 6SN7 drive tubes. I think it will be a fun amp.

Plus I have stacks of Rectifiers and Drive tubes I could use in it.

 

[Mechans1]

I wanted to ask where I can buy GEC 6080s?  I don't see them for sale anywhere which doesn't surprise me but several Headfiers seem to have found them.  Anyone know?

 

[whirlwind]

You could make a thread asking if anybody has them for sale here at head-fi.
 
Make a thread in the b/s/t forums.......same section that cables are in.......maybe you will get lucky.

 

[3083joe]

Nope. No need.

WA6 has a rectifier and drive tubes. No power tubes.

6080 and 6AS7G is a power tube.

I would like a WA6 and adapters to run 6SN7 drive tubes. I think it will be a fun amp. Plus I have stacks of Rectifiers and Drive tubes I could use in it.

Yeah I have the 6SN7 adapter

 

[MIKELAP]

 

Can I fit 6080s into the wa6?

Nope. No need.
 
WA6 has a rectifier and drive tubes. No power tubes.
 
6080 and 6AS7G is a power tube.
 
I would like a WA6 and adapters to run 6SN7 drive tubes. I think it will be a fun amp.

Plus I have stacks of Rectifiers and Drive tubes I could use in it.

Thats why i got one and the 6sn7 adapters because i had all the tubes for it ,plus it sounds very good .

 

[Mechans1]

Thanks for your advice, I started to think there was some regular source for them, I am still a newbee.

 

[Badas]

 
Thanks for your advice, I started to think there was some regular source for them, I am still a newbee.

 
Nope. The name of the game is hunt, hunt and hunt some more. The only way to get the popular tubes.

 

[gibosi]

  These are not the same labeling or box that my Mullards came with.  I can't make out any plate structural differences but I think despite the nominal 6080 designation that those tubes are CV 2984s.  Why this matters I am not sure, but the blue box Mullard 6080 is a very good tube with a full rich and clean sound.  I might add that they don't demonstrate the tendency towards warmth that Mullard is known  for.  I find I like them  more than my Chatham/Tung Sol 5998s.  I was surprised myself having really liked the 5998s.

 
The boxes and labeling were mostly about distribution and marketing. Tubes marked CV2984 were destined for the military, those marked Valvo for the German market, Amperex for the North American market, Mullard for the British market, and so on. On any given day, identical tubes coming off the assembly line could be labeled and boxed for several different markets. Sonically, what matters most is the factory and date of manufacture. Tubes manufactured at the same time in the same factory sound the same, regardless of the label.
 
The 6080 was manufactured in Mullard's Mitcham factory from the mid-1950's through the 1970's, and as one might expect, new technologies and materials were introduced into the production line on numerous occasions over those 20 plus years. And as a result, a 1955 tube sounds different than a 1975 tube. Therefore, if you have two pairs of Mullard 6080 which sound different, it is likely due to different dates of manufacture. Fortunately, Philips/Mullard tubes have production codes which reveal factory, change code and date of manufacture, and if this code is visible, it is relatively easy to figure out where and when any Philips tube was manufactured.

 

[abvolt]

That's very interesting information gibosi thanks it explains a lot about my different 6080's like my ge, rca, sylvania's all seem to sound alike, the only exception is the mullards they sound way better but I'm sure their the oldest of the 6080's I own..

 

[Skylab]

arrived the other day, not too bad..


How do these compare to RCA 6AS7G?

I think the RCAs are a little better overall. But the GEs are pretty reliably quiet, IME.

 

[gibosi]

  That's very interesting information gibosi thanks it explains a lot about my different 6080's like my ge, rca, sylvania's all seem to sound alike, the only exception is the mullards they sound way better but I'm sure their the oldest of the 6080's I own..

 
I find it very curious that GE, RCA and Sylvania 6080 all sound about the same in your amp. In my amp, they sound very different from one another. Having been manufactured in different factories using different technologies, processes and materials, frankly, I would be surprised if they sounded the same. And then, if two tubes were manufactured in the same factory, but 10 years apart, they likely will sound different. For example, in my collection, a pair of Mullard 6080s from the mid-1950s sound different than a pair manufactured in the mid-1960s, even though both were manufactured in the Mitcham factory.

 

[Badas]

   
I find it very curious that GE, RCA and Sylvania 6080 all sound about the same in your amp. In my amp, they sound very different from one another. Having been manufactured in different factories using different technologies, processes and materials, frankly, I would be surprised if they sounded the same. And then, if two tubes were manufactured in the same factory, but 10 years apart, they likely will sound different. For example, in my collection, a pair of Mullard 6080s from the mid-1950s sound different than a pair manufactured in the mid-1960s, even though both were manufactured in the Mitcham factory.

 
It can depend on the drive tubes used. Every power tube I tried in my WA22 sounded exactly the same using RCA 6SN7's. It wasn't until I went to 6F8G and rolled in the Tung-Sol roundplates and the NU that I could hear differences in power tubes. Using RCA 6SN7 drivers you could use any power tube.
 
I had a bit of spare time this afternoon so I had a quick listen to the RCA 6080. So far so good. As far as I can tell it is a very nice tube. A lot different sounding to the RCA 6AS7G (Dull). Quick reaction is that it is not much different to the Mullard. A little bit fuller sounding. I haven't listened to a wide variety of music so I need to evaluate a bit more. I will leave them in over the weekend