[bcowen]

The E on the top row has G and C missing on either side.

Man, your vision is even worse than 20/200. Do you guys have, like, eye doctors there?

 

[UntilThen]

Man, your vision is even worse than 20/200. Do you guys have, like, eye doctors there?

Most people sees E, I see GEC and you see GE.

 

[mayurs]

So as I continue to search for 6080 tubes I found another one that seems doubtful to me as I have only seen the GEC is greenish paint in the typical GEC font. So is this one in the attached picture a legit GEC 6080?

Thanks in advance.

 

[PsilocybinCube]

Something of a magic sonic pairing here, best of both worlds with solid state clarity and yet silky top end and a huge tubey sounding bottom end with Beyer DT1990 ..
1962 Westinghouse triple mica 12au7 (5814A) and a soviet 1962 Svetlana 6N13S

Does your BHC have a problem pushing the 5998? (I realize this is not a 5998 pictured here).

I just finished getting my BHC back up to speed and when using a 5998 and a 6sn7, it seemed to struggle to sound good or to even get the tubes hot.

When using a plain jane 6080 and 12au7, everything is great and it sounds great, but the 5998 and 6sn7 made it gasp for air.

Does the 5998 require more POWER?

In my Incubus amp the 5998 glows so bright I don't need other lighting (I'm being sarcastic, but you get the drift). With the BHC, I'd be lucky to see a tiny sparkle of light.

 

[gibosi]

So as I continue to search for 6080 tubes I found another one that seems doubtful to me as I have only seen the GEC is greenish paint in the typical GEC font. So is this one in the attached picture a legit GEC 6080?

Thanks in advance.

The text and graphics on tubes manufactured in the same factory changed over the years. And in some cases, the text and graphics were tailored to the customer. For example, tubes for the military versus for civilian use. In the end, it is best to compare construction of the tube you are considering purchasing to one that you know for sure is genuine. However, in this case, unfortunately, the picture is too blurry to make out much detail. The top and bottom mica spacers appear to be correct, but I can't see anything above the top mica.

In the end, the text and graphics on this tube are not abnormal, so it's probably legit. But frankly, I won't buy unless the vendor provides good pictures to allow me to verify that it is what the vendor claims it is.

Good luck!

 

[Tom-s]

So as I continue to search for 6080 tubes I found another one that seems doubtful to me as I have only seen the GEC is greenish paint in the typical GEC font. So is this one in the attached picture a legit GEC 6080?

The text and graphics on tubes manufactured in the same factory changed over the years. And in some cases, the text and graphics were tailored to the customer. For example, tubes for the military versus for civilian use. In the end, it is best to compare construction of the tube you are considering purchasing to one that you know for sure is genuine. However, in this case, unfortunately, the picture is too blurry to make out much detail. The top and bottom mica spacers appear to be correct, but I can't see anything above the top mica.

To me. It's RCA based on the base and mica's. The RCA grid/plate cooling fins can be spotted on top. And from looking at worn GEC/RCA's in my collection, the pattern of silvering on heavily used tube resembles RCA where it silvers between those cooling fins. On a GEC it would have more dark colored burn marks over the whole glas at the sides of the anodes.

 

[maxpudding]

Does your BHC have a problem pushing the 5998? (I realize this is not a 5998 pictured here).

I just finished getting my BHC back up to speed and when using a 5998 and a 6sn7, it seemed to struggle to sound good or to even get the tubes hot.

When using a plain jane 6080 and 12au7, everything is great and it sounds great, but the 5998 and 6sn7 made it gasp for air.

Does the 5998 require more POWER?

In my Incubus amp the 5998 glows so bright I don't need other lighting (I'm being sarcastic, but you get the drift). With the BHC, I'd be lucky to see a tiny sparkle of light.

The filament current for a 5998 is 2.4A, whereas the 6080 requires 2.5A. So, it shouldn’t be a problem to run the 5998, even with a 6SN7. Probably the pins need to have a bit of a cleaning.

 

[jonathan c]

Does your BHC have a problem pushing the 5998? (I realize this is not a 5998 pictured here).

I just finished getting my BHC back up to speed and when using a 5998 and a 6sn7, it seemed to struggle to sound good or to even get the tubes hot.

When using a plain jane 6080 and 12au7, everything is great and it sounds great, but the 5998 and 6sn7 made it gasp for air.
Does the 5998 require more POWER?

In my Incubus amp the 5998 glows so bright I don't need other lighting (I'm being sarcastic, but you get the drift). With the BHC, I'd be lucky to see a tiny sparkle of light.

I have no issues with my BHC concerning power, dynamic range, musical ease when Tung Sol 5998 and Brimar CV4003 are the tube line-up. Same result with Chatham 6080wb and Brimar CV4003. Could your issue be related to the use of a 6SN7 vs a 12AU7?...

 

[CADCAM]

The filament current for a 5998 is 2.4A, whereas the 6080 requires 2.5A. So, it shouldn’t be a problem to run the 5998, even with a 6SN7. Probably the pins need to have a bit of a cleaning.

Great advise! I couldn't believe the reduction in noise when I took a few of my tubes into work and cleaned the pins under a scope with some fine emery paper. Even though the pins looked to be clean I heard an improvement, especially in some noisy tubes.

 

[cddc]

Does your BHC have a problem pushing the 5998? (I realize this is not a 5998 pictured here).

I just finished getting my BHC back up to speed and when using a 5998 and a 6sn7, it seemed to struggle to sound good or to even get the tubes hot.

When using a plain jane 6080 and 12au7, everything is great and it sounds great, but the 5998 and 6sn7 made it gasp for air.

Does the 5998 require more POWER?

In my Incubus amp the 5998 glows so bright I don't need other lighting (I'm being sarcastic, but you get the drift). With the BHC, I'd be lucky to see a tiny sparkle of light.

Measure the voltages in the tube sockets on both amps, and let us know.

Glowing too bright sometimes is not a good thing, tube could be overloaded and has reduced lifespan.

 

[PsilocybinCube]

Measure the voltages in the tube sockets on both amps, and let us know.

Glowing too bright sometimes is not a good thing, tube could be overloaded and has reduced lifespan.

Well everyone, the damn 5998 tube was bad. I tried it in the Incubus and had similarly poor results. I changed to a Thomson 6080 and the 6sn7, 12bh7, and 12au7 all worked fine.

I happen to know that my 1-year-old was messing with this specific Chatham 5998 and maybe he dropped it or something. That sucks. Bye bye $100.

Regarding measuring the voltage in the Incubus, @Paladin79 has instructed me that it is a black box and I'm not to poke around...I don't want to void my warranty! (Actually, that amp just sounds so damn good I wouldn't alter it!)

 

[bcowen]

Well everyone, the damn 5998 tube was bad. I tried it in the Incubus and had similarly poor results. I changed to a Thomson 6080 and the 6sn7, 12bh7, and 12au7 all worked fine.

I happen to know that my 1-year-old was messing with this specific Chatham 5998 and maybe he dropped it or something. That sucks. Bye bye $100.

Regarding measuring the voltage in the Incubus, @Paladin79 has instructed me that it is a black box and I'm not to poke around...I don't want to void my warranty! (Actually, that amp just sounds so damn good I wouldn't alter it!)

Dang....sorry to hear that. You sure it's not maybe just a bad solder joint in one of the pins? We focus attention on the old Russian tubes (Fotons and Melz), but I've had several Tung Sols with bad pin solder as well. If you're not comfortable doing it, send it to me and I'll do it, and I can test it for you as well. It may be a goner after all, but for a $100 tube that is getting difficult to find (at least at decent prices) it may be worth risking $10 in shipping back and forth to find out for sure.

 

[cddc]

Well everyone, the damn 5998 tube was bad. I tried it in the Incubus and had similarly poor results. I changed to a Thomson 6080 and the 6sn7, 12bh7, and 12au7 all worked fine.

I happen to know that my 1-year-old was messing with this specific Chatham 5998 and maybe he dropped it or something. That sucks. Bye bye $100.

Regarding measuring the voltage in the Incubus, @Paladin79 has instructed me that it is a black box and I'm not to poke around...I don't want to void my warranty! (Actually, that amp just sounds so damn good I wouldn't alter it!)

If the same 5998 tube glows much brighter in one amp than the other (from your description), the first thing came to my mind is that one amp applies much higher voltage to it. It has nothing to do with the corrosion or solder of the pins. That's why I recommend to measure the voltages.

It's actually not very difficult, you don't have to get inside the amp and poke around (which could be dangerous), just keep the amp untouched as usual and unplug the 5998 tube, then dip the black probe into the ground (the round hole in your power strip - assuming your power strip is U.S. standard) and the red probe into the holes of the 5998/6080 socket to measure their voltages.

 

[gibosi]

So as I continue to search for 6080 tubes I found another one that seems doubtful to me as I have only seen the GEC is greenish paint in the typical GEC font. So is this one in the attached picture a legit GEC 6080?

Thanks in advance.

If you are looking for GEC 6080, you might want to check this out. The vendor is a member of Head-Fi.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LOOK-GEC-6...-Tube-DD-Getter-1964-KB-Z-Tube-3/303855651232

It appears that he has four to sell, but if I understand correctly, the listed price is for one.

 

[maxpudding]

Heyya folks, I’d like to ask for some information: did Westinghouse produce this tube? It looks like a Tung-Sol, but I am not sure maybe I am wrong to think that it’s a relabeled TS. Any help will be greatly appreciated!