The Reference 6SN7 Thread

[sam6550a]

Do I get two free bottles as a reward? If not, then I'm not reporting it. LOL!!!

Why would I expect anything different--------.

 

[Paladin79]

Thanks @sam6550a I believe they are both KT88 equivalents, how do they differ? I bought the 6550's below last year on fleabay, quite good although certainly below the quality of my GEC KT88:

Sorry for briefly going off toipic, we can take it to PM if you prefer.

Compared to many things discussed here you closer to topic than I tend to be. In the last couple years I have heard an extremely large amount of 6sn7 equivalents and my preference is a Russian tube that was most likely a mistake or they ran out of perforated plates for a few days making the 1578's in the mid to late fifties.

I am listening to a perforated plate from 1958 in Sam's amp, along with an RCA JAN 6AS7G I forgot I owned. Later I will try a Chatham bottom getter, so far this Incubus is spot on and ready for Sam. He should have it before he receives the 5998 GE. My choice tonight is Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section. Next up Dead Can Dance, Into the Labyrinth.

 

[HTSkywalker]

Hey, they could be wonderful. Buy one and let me know. Seriously it is Bill's turn to be the guinea pig.

It's on the cheap for $47.49 as the cheapest Tung Sol 5998 is somewhere around $150-200, probably worth a try if you think there is a chance it maybe good (wonderful and GE normally does not come in the same sentence) but @bcowen ******** input on its sound is not that promising ☹☹. Shipping it to me would only costs me peanuts $3-4 given the low weight.

 

[HTSkywalker]

Your generosity is overwhelming! However, since paladin79 is overwhelmed with finishing [and paying for] a pottery "shed" that has more amenities than many homes, I have stepped forward and ordered one of the 5998A GE tubes to try in Incubus. I will report my findings to paladin79 and he will disseminate the results as he sees fit. I am always ready to help a friend in need!

In this case I will wait for your impressions on it before ordering 1 if you think it's worth it

 

[HTSkywalker]

I know I saw that lol, they also ask you to report any errors in their listings.

Definitely a typo but I believe a good lawyer can always force them to deliver all 3 bottles for that price till they correct the listing

 

[HTSkywalker]

What a great guy Sam is! Bill, here is someone else whose example you should be following. After I get your findings and add my spin, I bet Bill will start collecting them.

Me too but seems I better order the soonest before the cat is out of the bag and stock disappears. @sam6550a please PM me and @Paladin79 your impressions before posting it here
Good stock is 10 still

 

[HTSkywalker]

Who knows, this tube may be an undetected diamond in the rough, and we have total control over-------!

True but could also ends up a buried S#@%&* in the rough for a good reason given the GE reputation, the low price and the big quantity lol
Hoping for the best though

 

[HTSkywalker]

I am glad that you have observed my positive social qualities, as well as my audio expertise acquired while working on Radio Row[Cortlandt St] in the early 1960s. In addition to this, and tube centric EE courses, my sense of humor keeps sane and inquisitive. Marriage to the same woman for 50 years [this December] helps (or does it ????

"Marriage to the same woman for 50 years [this December] helps (or does it ????"
Dare ask Mrs. @sam6550a this question
And congrats for the 50 Jubilee in December (if you make it that far after asking the above question to Mrs. @sam6550a)

 

[HTSkywalker]

50 years? Congrats! I'm coming up on 24 which I thought was worthy of a Times Square celebration and recognition for my effort. But I'd guess my wife is thinking the same thing...

23 here shortly but am sure that by now we are all branded as old farts by our spouses and normally the recognition committee always have different angle when choosing the trophy recipient lol

 

[JTbbb]

@JTbbb that is a killer tube set. I just received a pair of 1965 Mullard EL34 (branded Lorenz but have the "B" imprint signifying Mullard's Blackburn plant). I'm running them as powers in Feliks Elise with adapters, loving them, euphonic but the antithesis of sloppy as some warmly musical tubes can be. I may like them even better than the excellent GEC KT66 which are great but a bit rolled off on the top end, the EL34 aren't!

My next quest may be Mullard ECC32 but can't find any that aren't pushing a grand...ouch. Where did you source yours from?

My next quest may be Mullard ECC32 but can't find any that aren't pushing a grand...ouch. Sometimes differing labels with same internals are less spendy if seller isn't sure what he has so doesn't gouge. Where did you source yours from?

Hi there LoryWiv,

I got the itch to own a pair of Mullard ECC32’s quite some time ago and after much research decided on the brown based with the crinkley? mica’s.
For a few months I quite literally looked 3 or 4 times a day in the classifieds ready to jump on anything new that interested me.

Also, I put it out to a fellow headfier who resides in Europe, whom I’d bought some tubes from in the past, what I was interested in, and he came up trumps with the pair I now have. I paid a fair price for the Adzam branded pair but not the silly prices being asked by some vendors for the Mullard branded tubes. Good luck with your search they are lovely tubes.

 

[Paladin79]

It's on the cheap for $47.49 as the cheapest Tung Sol 5998 is somewhere around $150-200, probably worth a try if you think there is a chance it maybe good (wonderful and GE normally does not come in the same sentence) but @bcowen ******** input on its sound is not that promising ☹☹. Shipping it to me would only costs me peanuts $3-4 given the low weight.

Bill has not heard one and you cannot judge a manufacturer by one tube type. I once had a Grammy winning recording engineer tell me to buy $10 6080’’s because there was no sonic difference, plenty of people have opinions.

I am searching for tubes to send Frank with his amp, I came across a Phillips/ECG Jan6080 WC. One of the worst sounding tubes I have heard since I was trying to match tubes with a GE 6sn7 for Bill lol. I cannot in good conscience give this tube away. I think I got it with a BH Crack.

 

[bcowen]

Bill has not heard one and you cannot judge a manufacturer by one tube type.

True and correct on both counts. The GE 5998 under discussion may be a great sounding tube. I don't have the confidence to try one myself, but it may turn out I'm totally wrong about it. It would be a landmark event (the part about me being wrong), but it *is* possible.

 

[Paladin79]

True and correct on both counts. The GE 5998 under discussion may be a great sounding tube. I don't have the confidence to try one myself, but it may turn out I'm totally wrong about it. It would be a landmark event (the part about me being wrong), but it *is* possible.

We shall see, I may have to buy one myself now before the rush to buy them starts. For some reason I am woefully short of Sylvania 6sn7's right now, I included bad boys in some of my tube challenges and may have given them away lol.

 

[FLTWS]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5998A-Dual...619378?hash=item1c4f2093f2:g:1moAAOSweW5U9snR

Any thoughts on these, anyone?

I just ordered a pair, I'll let you know.

 

[Paladin79]

I just ordered a pair, I'll let you know.

Cool, both you and Sam will find out. I caught a deal on one so I grabbed it so we may be three very happy or three very disappointed people lol.