Help me with my tube grocery list!

[Magnetmaz]

A friend of mine has accumulated an excessive amount of tubes...like, around a basement full of them. He told me that if i submit to him a list of what tubes i want, he will go through his boxes and sort them out. Help me compile my list, as i'm relatively new to this hobby.

This will be both for guitar and stereo projects as well... please don't post 'all of them' or the like. I gotta copy and paste together an email and get this out to him ASAP so i can pick them up this weekend if possible.

here's what i got so far :

300b
2A3
KT-88
KT-90
5881
EL-34
EL-84
6SN7 or 5692
12SN7
6SL7
7N7
6DJ8
12AU7
12AT7
12AX7
7025
6V6
6L6




-Maz

[SY]

Hate to sound like a broken record, but... sweep tubes. 6LF6, EL/PL509/519, 6KD6, 6JE6, etc, etc, etc.

And if there are any Japanese 6KN8s in there, hoard them like gold.

[Magnetmaz]

thanks, Sy.
-Maz

[EC8010]

I'd skip the KT90, but add KT66 and KT77. Skip 12AU7, but add 6SN7. Add EF86, GZ34.

Of course, if you start designing from scratch, you can use all sorts of exotic stuff. In which case, add; 845, 6072, E810F, D3a, 6C45. As the heroine sang in the Indiana Jones film, "Anything glows!"

[SY]

(in my best Columbo mode) Oh, yeah, there's just one more thing. 7027 and 8417, should you be so lucky. Not to mention the military versions of octal classics, like 5691, 5692, and 6SU7.

[colwaiting]

an 80 rectifier
other rectifiers
45's, 6a3, if no 2a3'3 available
6l6-GC is a good one of these, get 4
6cz5 is a el 84-6bq5 alternate

[fdegrove]

Hi,

7591 is pretty hard to come by too.
E80CC/6085 is one of my favs.
A couple of VF14 by TFK and you'll make a small fortune....

Cheers,

[Morse]

Hi Magnetmaz;

One notable omission is the humble 6BM8 or ECL82 - it's rapidly becoming one of my faves, since it lends itself to the construction of good sounding (and cheap) low powered amps.

If you start building your own equipment, don't forget the 6AQ5 and 6005 (both are electrically equivalent to the 6V6 with a different base and pinout). Also there's the 6BG6 (electrically equivalent to the 6L6 with an anode cap). The 6AQ5 and 6005 should be kept at or under 250VDC on the plates, and the 6BG6 should likewise be run under 20watts plate dissipation at 250V on the plate (i.e. a bit cool, NOT to the 6L6GC spec). However, they're all good valves!

Come to think of it, there's the 6Y6, another low voltage medium current power valve that has audio uses (and will give you about 6wrms SE with 200V on the plate and 135V on the screen according to RC30), and the 12AV7. IIRC the 12AV7 was the only one of the 12A(whatever)7's that was designed purely for audio uses.

And the 5751, a common drop in sub for the 12AX7 (yes, the mu is different but some amps seem to like the lower gain of the 5751 better - a number of MG Head users are reporting good results with that sub, for example).

Then there's the 7189, an industrial spec 6BQ5 that's a drop in substitute.

Also, if you're into the big DHT's, don't forget 2A3, 6A3, and 6B4G. They are all electrical equivalents, albeit with different heater voltages and a different pinout on the 6B4G.

There's also the 6CL6, an amplifier pentode that's good as a driver and that may be used for a low power (~2.8wrms) SET, assuming you're up to building your own.

If you ever want to go OTL, the 6AS7 and 6080 merit your attention.

Don't forget rectifiers either! 5U4G, 5U4GB, 5AR4, GZ37, 5Y3, 6X4, 6X5 all have their uses, and should not be neglected.

Then if you want to really go off the deep end and build your own radio gear there's the 6AV6 (a high mu triode and a pair of diode detectors in a common envelope). Finally, if you have developed a taste for the exotic, there are nuvistors, nixies, numatrons, 'acorn' valves like the 6021.....ack! Where, oh where to stop!?!

Anyway, there are plenty of good valves listed in this thread before I went off into the realm of radio gear and the exotics. Good hunting!!

All the best,
Morse

[Colt45]

Morse:

6BG6 can take more than 250v... I think ratings are 700/350v (A/G2), IIRC.

[Morse]

Hi Colt 45;

Hmmm, I thought that those specs were for use as a horizontal deflection amp rather than audio use. I hope that you're right and it's good at the 6L6GC operating points, since I've got a few of 'em on hand I'm saving for another little project.... Maybe I'll start cutting some wood for another chassis soon, although it's going to be a while before I can afford the iron for that one.

Thanks!

All the best,
Morse