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300B alternatives

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#21
i made a 5894 parallel triode mode amp in july this year....
prior to that, a guy got one of my 2A3 set amps.....
the guys was extremely happy with the 2A3 amp, but then he heard
the 5894 amp and showed interest, i discouraged him, telling him that the 2A3 is better,
but in december, the guy came back and took the 5894 amp...
he keeps both and likes them both...😉 but he tells me, if another wants the 2A3 amp, he will let it go...

so how about that? and people say DHT's are better than indirectly heated tubes....
i think that what this means is simply that different people will have different tastes....
 
#23
My experience over the past decade indicates things in general have not improved much. I buy current production stuff in very modest quantities, but more than the typical hobbyist mostly to provide replacements to former clients, and I end up throwing away a pretty significant number of tubes, and failures with some quantity of the tubes I've tested anywhere from a few hours to a few months down the road.

I purchase matched and burned in power tubes to try and reduce failures in early life, and test most of the small signal stuff I purchase.

There are some small European makers that have achieved very good quality, but given what they charge for their products that should be a reasonable customer expectation. (Elrog and EML for example)

I always feel a certain level of anxiety when I retube an amp with current production commodity type tubes.
 
#24
AJT said:
i made a 5894 parallel triode mode amp in july this year....
prior to that, a guy got one of my 2A3 set amps.....
the guys was extremely happy with the 2A3 amp, but then he heard
the 5894 amp and showed interest, i discouraged him, telling him that the 2A3 is better,
but in december, the guy came back and took the 5894 amp...
he keeps both and likes them both...😉 but he tells me, if another wants the 2A3 amp, he will let it go...

so how about that? and people say DHT's are better than indirectly heated tubes....
i think that what this means is simply that different people will have different tastes....
Click to expand...

2A3 has never been a favorite of mine, although I have designed and built amps using them for others. I prefer 45, 300B, GM70.. Have gotten surprisingly decent results with 6C33 as well. (Go figure, not the most linear tube out there, perhaps the same deal with the 5894?)
 
#27
crazyfrog said:
. Interesting experience. However, I didn't find datasheets for class A operation on this tube.
Click to expand...

run them triode so that each bulb runs 30 watts or so.....it is rated for 40w...
before that , i tried the 829b's but one section kept red plating so i dropped the tube and used the 5894.....
i guess we better stop talking about the tube lest the price goes high...😀
 
#28
kevinkr said:
2A3 has never been a favorite of mine, although I have designed and built amps using them for others. I prefer 45, 300B, GM70.. Have gotten surprisingly decent results with 6C33 as well. (Go figure, not the most linear tube out there, perhaps the same deal with the 5894?)
Click to expand...

the 5894 have just a single cathode, so that could be it....
my friend who asked me to make two 2A3 units for him likewise disliked the 300b and the 845's...he told me, it's 2A3 for him or nothing....

the same guy that like the 4p1l sets so much that he is keeping the 2a3's as back-ups.....wavebourn will be proud.....😎
 
#33
AJT said:
the el36/6cm5 and siblings are okey tubes...
i have several 21hb5's that i bought for U$1 at Rogalski's several years back...
i have also tried the 7403, if you can find the bendix types, they are quite good...
Click to expand...
Tubes tubes...so many...I don't know what to think! :scratch:
You guys are real tube experts. I begin to think I'll use el34 strapped in "dumb triode" (Wavebourn expression). Thanks.
 
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