• 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.

RCA Jan 813 VT-144 tubes , any good ?

I have 6 of these above very big tubes ,
Are they useable for hifi ?

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The RCA datasheet shows Class AB1 modulator service, but plate voltages are high starting at 1500 volts to 2250 volts and the plate-to-plate loading is also quite high starting at 9300 ohms and going up to 20K. So you might be better off using two pairs and try to find (or get a custom made) OPT for a lower impedance and very high current. Datasheet attached.
 

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I tested soviet version (GU-13) of 813 some 10 years ago. Then I used Hammond 1628 SEA as the output transformer.
I short, with 700 V / 130 mA supply voltage / plate current and 5k impedance OPT some 10 W is available as triode connected tube.
With UL 40 % and the same +Ub / Ia some 20 W is available. In both of these cases, THD is below 2,5 % and at 10 % below full power, THD is below 2%.
I also tried pentode connection, but the THD was very high and I did not make any more extensive testing.
I have handwritten test results available.
 

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