JKDJedi
Headphoneus Supremus
The one that got awayI would say likely 1952 based on the markings. My GE as shown I assume is 1956.
I believe the 5692 was introduced in 1948. Hope this helps.
How much are they worth now?The 6SN7 Identification Guide
- Thread starter adhoc
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How much are they worth now?
therremans
1000+ Head-Fier
Not sure, they seem to be pretty rare. Keep looking and maybe score a deal on an “untested” one. I got mine cheap that way and they tested very well or new.The one that got away
bcowen
Headphoneus Supremus
I got some untested ones pretty cheap a number of years ago. My wife dragged me (kicking and screaming) to a resale/consignment shop, and while she was looking for a table I spied a box of tubes on a shelf in the back. None of the tubes were in boxes, they were just dumped unceremoniously into the larger box and all dusty and dirty. From what I could see on top it looked like TV tubes, and used ones at that. The lady there asked me if I was interested, and I told her they didn't look like audio tubes which is what I would be interested in. "That box has been there forever and it needs to go. If your wife buys a table, please take it with you as a thank you gift." I almost declined (really? A free box of tubes? Delerium?) but my wife did find a table so I took the box along with it. Got it home and everything on top was a bunch of junk, but as I got to the bottom, there in factory boxes were five CBS/Hytron 5692's. Four of them tested perfectly and above NOS values. The fifth one had a low testing triode. She paid $100 for the table so I consider them my $25 5692's (I chunked the poor testing one) and she got a free table. But I still won't go to consignment stores without kicking and screaming.
Galapac
1000+ Head-Fier
It sounds great and I use it in my BHC with a Tung-Sol 5998 it they compliment each other well.
The 5692 is more of a ruggedized 6SN7 variant with reported 10,000 life span but the data is deceiving as they were run at lower specs.
I have had this one for quite some time and is in my regular rotation of this tube type.
I was really surprised but the current ask for these tubes as they go for crazy amounts and was curious as to the year of the tube.
musicdependente
New Head-Fier
I have a dilemma with identification of 5692 tubes. Since I got into tube rolling, I got many variants of 6SN7's. Naturally I wanted to try a pair of 5692. Based on my findings, all of them seem to have double mica spacers up on the top (3 total mica spacers), as per image above in the post on this page. Pair I got don't and I read that all of them have it or it's a fake 5692. I got them on eBay from person that didn't seem to know a whole lot about tubes, he had them for his own use, and decided to see the equipment and tubes separately. I bid on them and got them for a good price, cheaper than some 6SN7WGTA's, military grade with brown base. Nonetheless, they look exactly as WGTA's, and not as 5692's. I attached images. Does anyone know how to identify these? They are braded Westinghouse and markings appear to be original. They are not identical, but difference is small (micas on one are ribbed, the other has round plate at bottom with no ribs and 6 ribs on top. There don't have other marking besides the yellow ones visible on a photo.
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bcowen
Headphoneus Supremus
Neither of those are 5692's. Beyond the missing third mica, there are no additional support rods nor the wide, flat plates.
musicdependente
New Head-Fier
I thought that would be the case. I only found one image of same the tube (that someone in GB posted and said they are 5692's too). Are they WGTA's and why would they be marked this way is a mystery to me? Markings would be hard to fake, at least the way they appear, so I am perplexed by these. For what I paid, and how they sound, they are a keeper, but it's not what I hoped for, and I didn't look into details until they arrived.
therremans
1000+ Head-Fier
Yeah, I think you already identified them. Brown base Sylvania 6SN7WGTA. I bet they sound like a fine Sylvania should and for $36/pair, not major error.
Hmm, but not sure why they were branded as 5692 by Westinghouse.. it doesn’t make any sense. Possibly a British thing. I’ve seen genuine brown base CBS-Hytron 5692 labeled Westinghouse on the base. But I’ve also seen them labeled unbranded just “6SN7GTB”, which isn’t accurate.
IMO, just go for the red bases only. I don’t think the brown base are worth what some are asking. $40 was more reasonable just to try it out and realize i don’t really prefer it or that it doesn’t sound like the red base GE/RCA.
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bcowen
Headphoneus Supremus
I'm wondering if the 5692 silkscreened on those is actually the tube type, or maybe a date code or something. Rather unconventional for a US tube to have the type marked like that. But then there's someone selling a Raytheon (supposedly) 5692 on Ebay now, and it's definitely not a 5692 either.
LobalWarming
Headphoneus Supremus
From what I understand - which is very little - as the demise of the thermionic arts unfolded in the late 60s, manufacturers began to relabel/mislabel old inventory as required to move inventory.
From the big5692 6SN7 Thread:
"Fact 3: By the late 1960s, tube manufacturers were relabelling tubes willy-nilly in an attempt to minimise their losses in what was essentially a dying market. There are many instances of 6SN7GTBs/WGTs/ being labelled as 5692s and passed on to the market. The vice-versa applied too; 5692s were relabelled as other 6SN7 types. Hence when verifying potential 5692 purchases look out for the 5 extraneous free-standing (ie. not attached to a grid/plate) support posts."
In the 70s, Sylvania then owned by Phillips sold 6SN7s with one section disconnected, as 6J5GTs. Just saw a pair on the bay for a hideous price - for a hideous tube by 6J5GT standards - so that's fair.
From the big
"Fact 3: By the late 1960s, tube manufacturers were relabelling tubes willy-nilly in an attempt to minimise their losses in what was essentially a dying market. There are many instances of 6SN7GTBs/WGTs/ being labelled as 5692s and passed on to the market. The vice-versa applied too; 5692s were relabelled as other 6SN7 types. Hence when verifying potential 5692 purchases look out for the 5 extraneous free-standing (ie. not attached to a grid/plate) support posts."
In the 70s, Sylvania then owned by Phillips sold 6SN7s with one section disconnected, as 6J5GTs. Just saw a pair on the bay for a hideous price - for a hideous tube by 6J5GT standards - so that's fair.
A Sylvania 5692 would look like these. They seem to be more rare than RCA 5692. I can sell this pair. Comes New in original boxes as matched pair. Let me know.
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The tubes you have are angled T-plates, definitely not 5692. If you go to first page of this thread, you can see the detailed description of 5692.
Glass: clear, short bottle
Plates: large black flat-plates
Getter: top, small getter flashing
Top mica: dual top mica, round with smooth edges
Other significant features: bottom mica identical to top micas, 5 extra support posts
The only difference between RCA/GE, CBS and Sylvania are the base color, there are some relabeled.
RCA/GE - red
CBS - light brown
Sylvania - black, later brown
Lastly, there is a Raytheon 5692 with dark brown base which is very rare, I dont know who make this.
In general, angled T-plate are mostly GTB version or at least when the transition from GTA to GTB as there are some angled T-plate labeled as GTA.
Opposite T-plate (GT) -> Opposite T-plate (GTA) -> Angled T-plate (GTB)
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musicdependente
New Head-Fier
Can anyone confirm the age of these RCA VT-231 / 6SN7 GT tubes? They may be quite old. Based on the old RCA date codes file that can be found here (https://www.teltec.se/bocker/rcadates.pdf) both tubes were distributed in 1945, indicated by letter “V”. Both would also be produced in Jan-Feb (as per number I) and one of the tubes that has letter E that seems to indicate it's for distributor sale (VIE), while the other was for direct sale (VI). Can anyone confirm if I am assuming/reading this correctly (image of the tubes is below). By the look alone, they are not typical 6SN7GT's from 50's. It would be an amazing find if what I assume is true.
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JKDJedi
Headphoneus Supremus
I'm not reading that pdf file like you are, 1945 is an A. Not V.
LobalWarming
Headphoneus Supremus
According to that pdf, it's both! Further down the page 1945 is marked as V. In the shipping date section.
Tracking the dates of old tubes is fun detective work... especially since most manufacturers didn't want most to know the actual build date vs ship date. In this case, expect the ship date of those tubes was 1945, but the build date was much earlier.
At least we can be thankful they didn't print a gaudy Best Before Date - we'd be screwed.
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