The Reference 6SN7 Thread

[ceylon103]

Hello All-
Just came across this stubby little 6SN7 in a box and he’s kind of a mystery. I doubt I will ever find another to match him but you never know! I’m curious as to what this tube was originally equipped in (maybe a radio?) as I’ve not heard of nor seen “CBS-Columbia” tubes before. If anyone has any tribal knowledge on these I’d love to hear about it.

First off- besides the branding he’s REALLY short. There is a side ring getter with a lot of flash just opposite this side



Another peculiar thing with this one is its naming. In this pose it’s a 6SN7GTA



And in this pose it’s a 6SN7GTB



If anyone has come across this one before let me know!

easy to find. very common, not much demand.

 

[JTbbb]

Good one! I have an old GE quad laying around here somewhere- I’ll find them for a side by side. Any idea on what/why a tube would be branded as CBS-Columbia? Maybe that was a period when the two were under the same umbrella? It would be interesting to know how these sound but of course I’d need at least one more in order to even try it.

I wouldn’t worry about finding an exact copy to try it. As long as you know electrically it’s a 6sn7 just plug it in with another. Of course the caveat to this is has it been tested so you know it has no shorts etc. There are ways of achieving this with a multi meter.

 

[ceylon103]

This would be the early CBS hytron design made 1951 until the mid 50s. I saw these with CBS Columbia branding as well.
Later they made the construction shown in the last post.
I have another CBS 6sn7gtb pair of the early 60s. These sound fantastic. A very underrated tubed. They have not been made by GE as stated at the start of the 6sn7 reference thread.



CBS seemed to have shared patents with Sylvania as you can see their tooling is almost the same. I even have a pair of rare pair of Sylvania 6sn7gtb with CBS like construction but still different than as shown before.

Good one! I have an old GE quad laying around here somewhere- I’ll find them for a side by side.

its just a $20 GE. easy peasy.

Any idea on what/why a tube would be branded as CBS-Columbia? Maybe that was a period when the two were under the same umbrella? It would be interesting to know how these sound but of course I’d need at least one more in order to even try it.

CBS-columbia may have used it in a record player or console or something. they wrote their name on it. often the vender/seller/distributor/ user relabelled and rebranded tubes for resale or for brand identity.

in addition, manufacturers bought tubes from each other. they tended to rebrand whatever they sold using their name and branding, whether or not its their own manufacture.

this is common today, perhaps even more common.

this is one reason why tubes are identified by manufacturer.

 

[ceylon103]

This would be the early CBS hytron design made 1951 until the mid 50s. I saw these with CBS Columbia branding as well.
Later they made the construction shown in the last post.
I have another CBS 6sn7gtb pair of the early 60s. These sound fantastic. A very underrated tubed. They have not been made by GE as stated at the start of the 6sn7 reference thread.



CBS seemed to have shared patents with Sylvania as you can see their tooling is almost the same. I even have a pair of rare pair of Sylvania 6sn7gtb with CBS like construction but still different than as shown before.

fine lookin specimen!

not sure if CBS made that one (perhaps you are), but either way that is their last or just about their last year as manufacturer.

seems to me they all copied (and rebranded of course) each other. now there is some relatively famous variant of some octal that was in production for a very brief time because of patent violation or some such. i cant remember the details.

 

[Designsfx]

I have another CBS 6sn7gtb pair of the early 60s. These sound fantastic. A very underrated tubed. They have not been made by GE as stated at the start of the 6sn7 reference thread.



CBS seemed to have shared patents with Sylvania as you can see their tooling is almost the same. I even have a pair of rare pair of Sylvania 6sn7gtb with CBS like construction but still different than as shown before.

I recently bought 5 of the tubes you’re holding in this picture but they haven’t made it into the listening rotation yet- glad to hear your positive input!

 

[Designsfx]

easy to find. very common, not much demand.

I’m interested in it (now) because of its different labeling- It’s the only tube I have that has one type on the glass and another on the base. I haven’t checked against the GE yet but the Columbia seems to be really short- almost plug like. I’ll be looking for others now.

 

[Renexx]

now there is some relatively famous variant of some octal that was in production for a very brief time because of patent violation or some such. i cant remember the details.

Sounds like Sylvania 6sn7gt 1951 staggered plates ? Sylvania used the staggered plates construction patented by RCA.

 

[mordy]

Sounds like Sylvania 6sn7gt 1951 staggered plates ? Sylvania used the staggered plates construction patented by RCA.

The early 50s Sylvania staggered (parallel) plates tubes are very good sounding tubes.

 

[mordy]

Hello All-
Just came across this stubby little 6SN7 in a box and he’s kind of a mystery. I doubt I will ever find another to match him but you never know! I’m curious as to what this tube was originally equipped in (maybe a radio?) as I’ve not heard of nor seen “CBS-Columbia” tubes before. If anyone has any tribal knowledge on these I’d love to hear about it.

First off- besides the branding he’s REALLY short. There is a side ring getter with a lot of flash just opposite this side



Another peculiar thing with this one is its naming. In this pose it’s a 6SN7GTA



And in this pose it’s a 6SN7GTB



If anyone has come across this one before let me know!

Here is a little history about Hytron-CBS that was a high quality tube manufacturer in Massachusetts:

Hytron, Salem (MA) is a well known tube (and also semiconductor) manufacturer. Headquarter in Salem, known facility in Lowell (MA).
Founded:	1921
History:	In the early 50s Hytron was purchased by CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System). By late 1952, CBS was manufacturing germanium diodes and transistors at the Hytron facility in Lowell (MA). Various device types, labeled as "CBS" or "CBS/Hytron", were in production for approximately 10 years (until the early 1960s), when CBS exited the semiconductor manufacturing field.

 

[ARCXENOS]

I am hoping someone could shed some light on this matter, there is a tube dac that I am interested in (Lampizator Atlantic) that uses 5V rectifiers and Pentodes (6V6 EL34 etc)...nothing too weird right..? But I saw a listing that had a 6SN7 plugged into the Rectifier slot.

6SN7s are apparently used as regulators in some other modern amps, but what do you guys think? I tried asking Lampizator themselves but no replies, the listing was on consignment so the dealer seem to not understand why I am asking that

 

[Waffle Prime]

I am hoping someone could shed some light on this matter, there is a tube dac that I am interested in (Lampizator Atlantic) that uses 5V rectifiers and Pentodes (6V6 EL34 etc)...nothing too weird right..? But I saw a listing that had a 6SN7 plugged into the Rectifier slot.

6SN7s are apparently used as regulators in some other modern amps, but what do you guys think? I tried asking Lampizator themselves but no replies, the listing was on consignment so the dealer seem to not understand why I am asking that

Others can chime in on the electrical aspects.

You should probably pass on that. The dealer either doesn't know, doesn't care, or is playing dumb. I could see using tubes not approved for circuits if you had full knowledge of the electrical parameters and how to apply them. I wouldn't trust others to be infallible though. Do you really want to go down this road? Sounds to me like you don't since you are asking.

If you do, pick a price that you would be happy with, then subtract $1500 to allow for repairs in case any damage was done for non-standard use. Diagnosis, bench time and parts are very expensive these days.

Not saying you have to buy perfect units from pet free, smoke free, oxygen and electron free sellers, but do pay attention to your instincts.

Good luck!

 

[Designsfx]

I am hoping someone could shed some light on this matter, there is a tube dac that I am interested in (Lampizator Atlantic) that uses 5V rectifiers and Pentodes (6V6 EL34 etc)...nothing too weird right..? But I saw a listing that had a 6SN7 plugged into the Rectifier slot.

6SN7s are apparently used as regulators in some other modern amps, but what do you guys think? I tried asking Lampizator themselves but no replies, the listing was on consignment so the dealer seem to not understand why I am asking that

I have a Golden Atlantic TRP3 and 95% of the tubes I run are triodes- if you have specifics questions send me a pm and I’ll do my best to answer them.

 

[WildPhydeaux]

I am hoping someone could shed some light on this matter, there is a tube dac that I am interested in (Lampizator Atlantic) that uses 5V rectifiers and Pentodes (6V6 EL34 etc)...nothing too weird right..? But I saw a listing that had a 6SN7 plugged into the Rectifier slot.

6SN7s are apparently used as regulators in some other modern amps, but what do you guys think? I tried asking Lampizator themselves but no replies, the listing was on consignment so the dealer seem to not understand why I am asking that

While it's true triodes and dual triodes could be used as rectifiers, you cannot use an 6SN7 in the recitifer socket of a Lampizator Atlantic. The pin assignments are not compatible and will result in bad things happening.

It may be possible with an adaptor, but I wouldn't bet on it. I can't imagine how desperate to be different anyone would have to be to even investigate this.

Cheers,
Robert

 

[ARCXENOS]

While it's true triodes and dual triodes could be used as rectifiers, you cannot use an 6SN7 in the recitifer socket of a Lampizator Atlantic. The pin assignments are not compatible and will result in bad things happening.

It may be possible with an adaptor, but I wouldn't bet on it. I can't imagine how desperate to be different anyone would have to be to even investigate this.

Cheers,
Robert

I agree with everyone, this whole time I am thinking the unit probably has some issues.

It’s just very strange they would advertise it like this

 

[WildPhydeaux]

They probably received it with no tubes installed and, not having a clue, just jammed a couple loose octal tubes where ever they seemed to fit.

I love my Lampizator Atlantic but my advise is: Run. Away. Quickly.

Cheers,
Robert