• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

6V6 line preamp

Tubelab has reported issues with 6AQ5s and 6005s (same thing, Mil version) overheating and sucking in their glassy envelopes when confronted with power near their stated plate dissipation limits. He says the plate is perilously close to the glass on both the 6AQ5s and the 6005s. A hot plate next to hot glass may result in envelope suck-in and vacuum loss. A private message to George may reveal the whole sordid tale. Or just do a search in the tube forum for 6AQ5 to get the scoop. BTW, the 50C5 has a pretty low max plate and screen voltage, as it was designed to be the final audio stage for a hot-chassis series string radio running off rectified 115VAC, one of those 5-tube series string wonders....

Here's Tubelab's comments on the shortcomings of 6AQ5s

 
Last edited:
Finally got this into a chassis and finished.
20250114_131927.jpg
20250114_130229.jpg
20250114_130304.jpg
20250114_130447.jpg
 
250+ pages... oh dear 😵‍💫 .....
.... lets get starting.....
...
Question until i catch up....
.... my transformer is 250-0-250/150mA and would like to make a cathode follower without a potentiometer to use it in between my dac with volume control and my F5 clone......
Would it be possible to fit a tube rectifier, C-L-C filtration, regulator on a lower plate voltage like 250dvc or 260vdc??? What regulator???
I thought to maybe use AudioNote M2 regulator with 6X5GT / ECL82 (I have the boards at home already from another project) but it is only up to maybe 35mA ... i am not sure if that will fit the bill of this preamp...
 
on top of that - if i remember on few first pages, Salas was talking that he was running his first prototype on 260VDC, 17mA and 11.2V on cathode resistor.... so i guess it might work.....
i am just asking if anybody made it that low as a final version for his system and was happy with it........ maaaybe??
 
I only breadborded and did some tube rolls sorry. Long ago also. It needs a couple of minutes to settle down, ping in the glass envelopes to the heat etc, then it gives a relaxing but engaging enough sound character. Take care of the filament supply construction. Different samples of 6V6/EL90 draws a wide spread of current so dial that one in careful. Can starve it a little to 6 v or under
 
  • Like
Reactions: sparkle