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
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
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
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
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
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
Don't forget EL37, 45 and 6B4 (octal2A3).
A good selection of any of these valves will make music for a long time!
You should also ask whether he has any old transformers, chokes etc. They are as useful as tubes and sometimes come with a nice old chassis you can re-use.
You have to tell us how it goes!
A good selection of any of these valves will make music for a long time!
You should also ask whether he has any old transformers, chokes etc. They are as useful as tubes and sometimes come with a nice old chassis you can re-use.
You have to tell us how it goes!
By now, you've probably concluded that almost anything is useful, so long as it hasn't actually got a hole in it or white gettering. Of course, there's such a thing as being greedy. Presumably, your friend knows what he's about (or he wouldn't have accumulated a cellarful of valves), why not just ask him what he thinks you need? The cellar's not about to disappear, is it?
Well...he is a packrat. He's an old Ham, that has had several Ham friends die in the last year, ..and they left him all their stuff. So its literally a basement with 50 years of tubes and electronics in it...filled so full that you get about a foot wide passageway to walk through the entire basement...plus he's got his crawl spaces stuffed with it too, out of sight.
His wife and son ( who's my age ) are really getting on him about giving this stuff away..that it's excessive and if something should happen to him they'd have to back several 18 wheelers up to the house to haul away all the stuff he's collected.
So, they are really getting on him about giving the stuff away to me ( the only person who cares about it anymore )...but he has a hard time as any time he picks up an old transmitter or something his nostalgia kicks in and he cant give it away.
I sent him my list of tubes, which was pretty lengthy. We'll see what he has for me soon enough.
-Maz
His wife and son ( who's my age ) are really getting on him about giving this stuff away..that it's excessive and if something should happen to him they'd have to back several 18 wheelers up to the house to haul away all the stuff he's collected.
So, they are really getting on him about giving the stuff away to me ( the only person who cares about it anymore )...but he has a hard time as any time he picks up an old transmitter or something his nostalgia kicks in and he cant give it away.
I sent him my list of tubes, which was pretty lengthy. We'll see what he has for me soon enough.
-Maz
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