Good luck. You've seen George's thread? http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/74650-edcor-meets-6av5.html
jeff
jeff
"My head is going to explode with all of these decisions!!!!!!! "
Back row (black octal bases) L to R:
36LW6, 26HU5, 6CB5, 6CB5 (round plate), 6EX6 (round plate), 26DQ5, 6L6GC, 12BQ6GA (=6AV5GA but with a top cap)
Middle row compactrons L to R:
36MC6 standing, 26LX6, 6GF5 (the midget standing up center), 21LG6 standing, 6HJ5 standing
Front row L to R:
12GT5, 12GE5, 21HB5, 17KV6, 38HE7
Any of these should make a good amp for cheap. 9 Watt (6GF5) to 40 Watt (36LW6) tubes, your pick.
Back row (black octal bases) L to R:
36LW6, 26HU5, 6CB5, 6CB5 (round plate), 6EX6 (round plate), 26DQ5, 6L6GC, 12BQ6GA (=6AV5GA but with a top cap)
Middle row compactrons L to R:
36MC6 standing, 26LX6, 6GF5 (the midget standing up center), 21LG6 standing, 6HJ5 standing
Front row L to R:
12GT5, 12GE5, 21HB5, 17KV6, 38HE7
Any of these should make a good amp for cheap. 9 Watt (6GF5) to 40 Watt (36LW6) tubes, your pick.
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Talk about tube porn!!!!! Daddy likes what he sees 
(okay that sounded creepy sorry)
I purchased 8 6AV5GA's and as soon as they get here I will post up close and personal pictures. I guess I am hoping for the Sylvania's........I will have to go back and read tubelabs write up on the subject but I do remember him saying they are all not the same.
This is a sick sick hobby being obsessed with vacuum tubes hahaha, I tell my girlfriend it could be worse. As soon as some more expendable cash comes my way I plan on purchasing some more tubes that you have recommended. And I guess I will have to take her to dinner at some point too.
(okay that sounded creepy sorry)I purchased 8 6AV5GA's and as soon as they get here I will post up close and personal pictures. I guess I am hoping for the Sylvania's........I will have to go back and read tubelabs write up on the subject but I do remember him saying they are all not the same.
This is a sick sick hobby being obsessed with vacuum tubes hahaha, I tell my girlfriend it could be worse. As soon as some more expendable cash comes my way I plan on purchasing some more tubes that you have recommended. And I guess I will have to take her to dinner at some point too.
Ehh, that whole pile of tubes cost less than one "audio" tube.
I just spent twice that much on a trailer tire for the jet ski this week.
Girl friend said "that tire is shot anyway, just put the jet ski in the water, we'll fix it later". Then later, turns out it was just the valve stem that blew off, so now the tire is filled with water after taking the jet ski weight off it in the water. $2 fix turned into a $40 fix. 38 tubes down the drain. One starts to denominate all expenses in $1 tubes you could have bought. The country needs to convert to the Sweep Tube monetary standard. Politician spenders would start to actually visualize the national debt as a monster pile of tubes covering the whole country.
I just spent twice that much on a trailer tire for the jet ski this week.
Girl friend said "that tire is shot anyway, just put the jet ski in the water, we'll fix it later". Then later, turns out it was just the valve stem that blew off, so now the tire is filled with water after taking the jet ski weight off it in the water. $2 fix turned into a $40 fix. 38 tubes down the drain. One starts to denominate all expenses in $1 tubes you could have bought. The country needs to convert to the Sweep Tube monetary standard. Politician spenders would start to actually visualize the national debt as a monster pile of tubes covering the whole country.
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Sweep tubes........the next Bitcoin, Hey I'm rich......only if your net worth is measured in watts of plate dissipation!
I have some of both, but you know which one is my favorite tube.
This thread is about the 6GE5...Right before I left Florida I had wired up a test amp using a newly designed driver board that resembles the circuit in the 6L6GC in AB2 design. I also had some tag boards wired up in octal, novar, noval, and Compactron pairs, and I have some 6GE5's........I wonder which boxes all that stuff is in. I have nearly finished building the first workbench, and most of the wood was cut for the second yesterday before the rain came......I'ts been far too long since I melted a tube or two.
I started yesterday on taking a shortcut to get there. One workbench is partially finished, but I haven't wired any power, and Walmart doesn't sell Romex, so the 1KW power supply is not available for serious power testing. I will be leaving early Thursday morning on a 3000 mile road trip, so I wanted to complete a few quick tests on some work I boxed up over a year ago in Florida.
Most of the implements of testing have been found, but the old Knight power supply is not working, and I haven't found the 6GE5's yet. I still can't find my box full of cables to hook stuff up either.
Most of today will be consumed by a birthday party for one of the grandkids, but maybe tomorrow.......
The 6/12BQ6GA was nominally the same tube as the 6AV5GA, but with a plate cap on it. Looks like both of them got 6/12GE5 guts eventually. The 12BQ6GA I tested here looks just like a 12GE5 internally. Curves are near the same:
1)12BQ6GA // 6AV5GA 20mA/div Vert., 50V/div Horiz., approx. 7 V steps
2)12GE5 " "
By the way, I noticed that ESRC still has the 25BQ6GA listed for a $1:
Summer Dollar Days - Vacuum Tube Sale - $1.00 Vacuum Tubes
1)12BQ6GA // 6AV5GA 20mA/div Vert., 50V/div Horiz., approx. 7 V steps
2)12GE5 " "
By the way, I noticed that ESRC still has the 25BQ6GA listed for a $1:
Summer Dollar Days - Vacuum Tube Sale - $1.00 Vacuum Tubes
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Here is a pic with a 12BQ6GA on left and a 12GE5, 2nd left, for comparison,
then 21HB5A, 6HJ5, 21LG6
Obviously the 12BQ6GA is a late model, with the same guts as the 12GE5. The later 6AV5GA tubes should look the same too.
Although the 12BQ6GA and 6AV5GA are nominally rated 11 Watts and the 12GE5 17.5 Watts.
2nd pic is L to R: 12GE5 18Watt, 6HJ5 24 Watt, 35LR6 30 Watt, 36MC6 33 Watt, 36LW6 40 Watt
Those pretty much cover the various Sweep Tube sizes. Notice the plates start springing "Winglets" on the edges for the larger ones. A bunch of 30 Watt tubes have the same plate size as the 24 Watt 6HJ5, like 6HF5, 6JS6, 6JE6, 6LQ6. And the 18 Watt 21HB5A too.
then 21HB5A, 6HJ5, 21LG6
Obviously the 12BQ6GA is a late model, with the same guts as the 12GE5. The later 6AV5GA tubes should look the same too.
Although the 12BQ6GA and 6AV5GA are nominally rated 11 Watts and the 12GE5 17.5 Watts.
2nd pic is L to R: 12GE5 18Watt, 6HJ5 24 Watt, 35LR6 30 Watt, 36MC6 33 Watt, 36LW6 40 Watt
Those pretty much cover the various Sweep Tube sizes. Notice the plates start springing "Winglets" on the edges for the larger ones. A bunch of 30 Watt tubes have the same plate size as the 24 Watt 6HJ5, like 6HF5, 6JS6, 6JE6, 6LQ6. And the 18 Watt 21HB5A too.
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When the tubes arrive I will know more of what I want to do with them, tubelab has clearly demonstrated that not all 6AV5GA's are created equal.
I plan on sitting down and drawing up some schematics a little bit later. And thanks to you I will put them into LTspice to get a rough idea if my circuits will work as intended. I am thinking I will do three designs: Single ended triode. Push pull triode a la Brook. And a push pull pentode w/ regulated screen.
A little background. I am leaning on something with not too many tubes, so probably SE, especially if I can get over 5 watts it should be adequate. The amp will be paired with high efficient speakers. The reason why is because I want this to be the amp I leave on all day long. Hence why I want inexpensive tubes.
Enjoy your time with the grand kids!! I made edible aquariums for my buddies daughters birthday party and the kids loved them. The adults wanted me to make them with booze for next adult party. This isn't a picture of mine but close to how it looked, I used Swedish fish for mine.
It's awesome you are doing this, I am glad people don't care about these tubes, it keeps them cheap
I need to figure out my finances and what iron I plan to buy. But for a dollar a piece for 25BQ6GA's I think I will buy some to try in the future.....let's see if I don't go out to eat later I can get about 50 of themI see the "winglets", so they just add those to the plates to dissipate the extra heat....interesting and smart.
I went back and re-read tubelab's 6AV5 meets the edcor page and he was impressed with the 6AV5GA's in UL mode.
"In UL mode I got 6.3 watts at 5% with 300 volts and 60 mA. Cathode feedback allows almost 9 watts without adjusting the power supply! This is like adding a second tube."
Is this positive cathode feedback?
"In UL mode I got 6.3 watts at 5% with 300 volts and 60 mA. Cathode feedback allows almost 9 watts without adjusting the power supply! This is like adding a second tube."
Is this positive cathode feedback?
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