[Xcalibur255]

Its not the WGT stuff I am getting from the surplus store, but I chanced upon a quad from my local dealer at a low price, are these white labels? Will be getting a couple of other 6j5gs to mix and match for fun
,

This is the tube that nobody seems to be able to identify with any certainly. You commonly see this labeled as Raytheon with the British 10E markings on them, and they've also appeared as Philcos, Brimars, Ken-Rads and now these Tung Sols. Everybody who's gotten a pair says they sound great but their true manufacturing origins is a mystery. There seem to be a lot of them in Europe and they're commonly found with European tube sellers.

My personal theory is that Raytheon is the actual manufacturer and that they had two distinct production lines for their 6J5 tubes tubes, a regular line that produced the cross shaped mica tubes for private industry and automotive, and these which were intended primarily for military contract fulfillment. If you compare the plates on this tube to the Raytheon 6J5WGT metal base with the brown bottom cap the plates themselves are identical, the top mica structure has changed to accommodate the new smaller glass bulb.

 

[pravous]

Quite a few are, I would say the majority in the case of the coke bottle tubes, but not all. Some of them are Raytheons, and the late 30's Sylvania and Raytheon 6J5 tubes are pretty much on opposite ends of the spectrum from each other in terms of sound so it might be good to watch out for mis-matched pairs here. I've seen quite a few that are too, it's easy to tell by looking at the top mica support. The Raytheon are cross shaped and the Sylvania are rectangular with rounded ends and are held against the glass with a pair of thin steel tension wires.

My pair are the rounded end rectangular mica. Is the cross shape top mica an indicator of Raytheon manufacture? I have seen pictures in this thread of coke bottle 6j5g under the “wizard” brand with that distinctive cross shaped mica.

 

[gibosi]

My pair are the rounded end rectangular mica. Is the cross shape top mica an indicator of Raytheon manufacture? I have seen pictures in this thread of coke bottle 6j5g under the “wizard” brand with that distinctive cross shaped mica.

For what it's worth, I have Raytheon 76 from the mid 1930's and they have cross-shaped top mica.

 

[g0ldl10n]

This is the tube that nobody seems to be able to identify with any certainly. You commonly see this labeled as Raytheon with the British 10E markings on them, and they've also appeared as Philcos, Brimars, Ken-Rads and now these Tung Sols. Everybody who's gotten a pair says they sound great but their true manufacturing origins is a mystery. There seem to be a lot of them in Europe and they're commonly found with European tube sellers.

My personal theory is that Raytheon is the actual manufacturer and that they had two distinct production lines for their 6J5 tubes tubes, a regular line that produced the cross shaped mica tubes for private industry and automotive, and these which were intended primarily for military contract fulfillment. If you compare the plates on this tube to the Raytheon 6J5WGT metal base with the brown bottom cap the plates themselves are identical, the top mica structure has changed to accommodate the new smaller glass bulb.

I may be wayyyyy off base here, but the top structure of this tube looks very very similar to the type of structure RCA used in one of their 6G6G designs. Idk, just food for thought I suppose, as the 6G6G is a pentode, and 6J5 obviously triode. Just thought it looks similar enough that there's a possibility RCA was the manufacturer, and used a similar design here.

 

[Tom-s]

Yes. The cross top mica is a remnant of the 1930’s Raytheon four pillar series tubes.

Also selling their tubes to third parties was common for Raytheon.
See this post by Mordy and my reply below.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...c5-12j5-6p5-etc.934653/page-107#post-16474871


I applaud to @Xcalibur255 as he’s totally right about these Tung Sol being Raytheon tubes from the ‘40s. More rebranding going on.
Here’s more posts on this discussion.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...6c5-12j5-6p5-etc.934653/page-92#post-16294978

Edit. Forgot an important part! Do look closely at the anode shape for both 1930’s and 1940s tubes discussed here. It will reveal the same form / press was used.

Edit:
Here’s some 6J5s anode plate details all Raytheon. Only one of these three is branded Raytheon.
Four pillar carbon non branded; WWII era carbon black VR67 Raytheon, 1948 shiny and more broad labeled as GEC L63 but a Raytheon.

 

[ARCXENOS]

I found the tungsol-theons a little bit too aggressive sound for my tastes, I think it doesn't meshes well with the elrog er300b

I would be using my GECs now but it appears my right channel converter is somehow dead after removal of the tungsol-theons . Not really a brightside since I didn't expect anything to be gone today, but at least I managed to confirm the L63s are all safe with the left channel. phew, guess I only need to replace 1 converter than the precious gecs.

 

[ColSaulTigh]

LOL, so thanks to Ambien, I'm now the proud owner of *7* pairs of NOS NIB JAN-CKR 6J5GT/G VT-94D KEN-RAD tubes!

Apparently I submitted two offeres on two separate auctions, and both were accepted. So I imagine I'll have some extras for sale here shortly...

 

[triod750]

I found the tungsol-theons a little bit too aggressive sound for my tastes, I think it doesn't meshes well with the elrog er300b

I would be using my GECs now but it appears my right channel converter is somehow dead after removal of the tungsol-theons . Not really a brightside since I didn't expect anything to be gone today, but at least I managed to confirm the L63s are all safe with the left channel. phew, guess I only need to replace 1 converter than the precious gecs.

In order to protect tubes an sockets I always use a screwdriver to separate them, wiggling it a little at a time on opposite sides. It's worth the trouble.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Yes. The cross top mica is a remnant of the 1930’s Raytheon four pillar series tubes.

Also selling their tubes to third parties was common for Raytheon.
See this post by Mordy and my reply below.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...c5-12j5-6p5-etc.934653/page-107#post-16474871


I applaud to @Xcalibur255 as he’s totally right about these Tung Sol being Raytheon tubes from the ‘40s. More rebranding going on.
Here’s more posts on this discussion.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...6c5-12j5-6p5-etc.934653/page-92#post-16294978

Edit. Forgot an important part! Do look closely at the anode shape for both 1930’s and 1940s tubes discussed here. It will reveal the same form / press was used.

Edit:
Here’s some 6J5s anode plate details all Raytheon. Only one of these three is branded Raytheon.
Four pillar carbon non branded; WWII era carbon black VR67 Raytheon, 1948 shiny and more broad labeled as GEC L63 but a Raytheon.

That last photo with the "Made in England" markings is the part that is probably most misleading for many people. It's understandable that country of origin markings were probably pretty loose during WWII but it IS a country of origin marking and you should be able to trust it.

 

[Xcalibur255]

I found the tungsol-theons a little bit too aggressive sound for my tastes, I think it doesn't meshes well with the elrog er300b

I would be using my GECs now but it appears my right channel converter is somehow dead after removal of the tungsol-theons . Not really a brightside since I didn't expect anything to be gone today, but at least I managed to confirm the L63s are all safe with the left channel. phew, guess I only need to replace 1 converter than the precious gecs.

If they were NOS testing them give them some more time. These settle down a lot over the course of 50 hours or so. My WGTs went from being one of the brightest sounding 6J5 in my collection to being the most mellow up top as they settled in. They're actually a little too mellow now for the headphones I'm using, but the synergy with my Omega speakers was sublime.

 

[nwavesailor]

LOL, so thanks to Ambien, I'm now the proud owner of *7* pairs of NOS NIB JAN-CKR 6J5GT/G VT-94D KEN-RAD tubes!

Apparently I submitted two offeres on two separate auctions, and both were accepted. So I imagine I'll have some extras for sale here shortly...

Good thing the Ambi induced bids were on 14 inexpensive tubes. It could have been for 7 MO pairs!

 

[ARCXENOS]

If they were NOS testing them give them some more time. These settle down a lot over the course of 50 hours or so. My WGTs went from being one of the brightest sounding 6J5 in my collection to being the most mellow up top as they settled in. They're actually a little too mellow now for the headphones I'm using, but the synergy with my Omega speakers was sublime.

Will definitely run them more, whenever I sort my converter issue out.

Another unlucky incident for me, the surplus store ran out of WGTs! Might be a blessing, as I was eyeing some cv1934 too, but 9 dollars per WGT was too good to be true (and readily in stock)

 

[ColSaulTigh]

Good thing the Ambi induced bids were on 14 inexpensive tubes. It could have been for 7 MO pairs!

I've had someone like that happen. Bought a custom art knife collection for around $6k. Had no idea until they showed up a few days later...lol!

 

[nwavesailor]

 

[leftside]

That last photo with the "Made in England" markings is the part that is probably most misleading for many people. It's understandable that country of origin markings were probably pretty loose during WWII but it IS a country of origin marking and you should be able to trust it.

The marking was made in England