The Reference 6J5 Thread (L63, 6C5, 12J5, 6P5, etc.)

[LobalWarming]

I’ve got 5 or 6 pairs of 6S5S lol

Good start!

 

[shwnwllms]

Is the glowing blue device to the right your one of a kind fabled Flux Capacitor?

i9-12900K / RTX 3080 - HQPlayer (upsampling to DSD512)

Almost as much horsepower as a flux capacitor. If I had one of those I could reach DSD1024

 

[g0ldl10n]

Finally received the mate to my Philco #37 mesh. Way too little listening to give any kind of meaningful impression but I have to ask: do yours kick like a mule in the lower bass? Wow.

Sorry, my picture is chopped liver compared to your enviable standard...

Cheers,
Robert

In my amp and these 37s driving outputs with mu of 20, the 6463 (paralleled plates so ran in pairs) they sound very good - some of my favorite drivers, along with the other older single triodes with mu on the lower side, such as the 56 and 27. These older triodes really come to life with active plate loads (gyrators) + higher mu outputs, much more so than an any other amp I have ran them in with typical resistive loads.

Is that a DAC you are running them in, or an amp? If it's a DAC, I can only imagine the linearity of these older triodes would work very well in that role.

 

[WildPhydeaux]

Yes it's a DAC I'm using them in. Very nice indeed.

Cheers,
Robert

 

[tafens]

Some time ago I bought a pair of made in Japan CEI 6J5GT. They sound very good indeed!

Looking at the internal structure though, I think they look very much alike the old Russian 6S2S equivalent of 6J5. They do say in print on the glass “Made in Japan” so they should be, but perhaps as a direct replica of said 6S2S?

 

[mordy]

Some time ago I bought a pair of made in Japan CEI 6J5GT. They sound very good indeed!

Looking at the internal structure though, I think they look very much alike the old Russian 6S2S equivalent of 6J5. They do say in print on the glass “Made in Japan” so they should be, but perhaps as a direct replica of said 6S2S?

If they have the inverted saucer getters they are Made in Russia.

 

[LobalWarming]

Some time ago I bought a pair of made in Japan CEI 6J5GT. They sound very good indeed!

Looking at the internal structure though, I think they look very much alike the old Russian 6S2S equivalent of 6J5. They do say in print on the glass “Made in Japan” so they should be, but perhaps as a direct replica of said 6S2S?

I concur. Possibly a (small) chance ink and silkscreening were made in Japan. The rest of the tube, not so much. As a re-brander CEI was notorious for re-labeling soviet tubes.

 

[tafens]

If they have the inverted saucer getters they are Made in Russia.

Yup, they do have exactly that inverted saucer getter.

I concur. Possibly a (small) chance ink and silkscreening were made in Japan. The rest of the tube, not so much. As a re-brander CEI was notorious for re-labeling soviet tubes.

So “Made in Japan” really belongs in those “quotes” then Always interesting to know some more tube history, thanks!

 

[mordy]

Yup, they do have exactly that inverted saucer getter.


So “Made in Japan” really belongs in those “quotes” then Always interesting to know some more tube history, thanks!

There were many fakes coming out of Russia. As one example of many, I have 807 tubes in beautiful Philips boxes, and the tubes say Philips and Made in Holland, but the internal construction cannot be changed. And that is the giveaway - the inverted saucer getter cups can only be found on Russian made tubes - in this case Ulyanovsk.
To me the worst part is that the professional sellers know this, but unfortunately continue selling Russian made tubes as Telefunken, Amperex and many other brands with the concomitant "fantasy" prices. And the really greedy ones will take pictures in such a way that the telltale inverted getter cups don't show...

 

[Isaacc7]

There were many fakes coming out of Russia. As one example of many, I have 807 tubes in beautiful Philips boxes, and the tubes say Philips and Made in Holland, but the internal construction cannot be changed. And that is the giveaway - the inverted saucer getter cups can only be found on Russian made tubes - in this case Ulyanovsk.
To me the worst part is that the professional sellers know this, but unfortunately continue selling Russian made tubes as Telefunken, Amperex and many other brands with the concomitant "fantasy" prices. And the really greedy ones will take pictures in such a way that the telltale inverted getter cups don't show...

Yup, I have some "Made in England" Feranti 807 that are clearly Russian. They are ok tubes actually and super cheap so I shouldn't complain but so much.

 

[bcowen]

Yup, I have some "Made in England" Feranti 807 that are clearly Russian. They are ok tubes actually and super cheap so I shouldn't complain but so much.

And some Made in England Amperex Russian Svetlanas.

 

[Mau10]

Just an FYI and shameless plug; I've popped my wee collection of 6C5/6J5/VT94A on ebay if anyone is interested in a nice bundle. Here.

Those beauties are meeting my Agartha 2021 soon. Thanks @shwnwllms

 

[bcowen]

And then these beautiful NEC's made in Japan that were actually kind of made in the US by RCA.

("Japan-made NEC" on the left, RCA on the right):

 

[mordy]

And then these beautiful NEC's made in Japan that were actually kind of made in the US by RCA.

("Japan-made NEC" on the left, RCA on the right):

I remember reading somewhere that before WW2 Svetlana bought tooling from RCA and that the Svetlana 6AS7 was inspired by RCA.

 

[shwnwllms]

Those beauties are meeting my Agartha 2021 soon. Thanks @shwnwllms