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SOVTEK 6550WE's any good?

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Trout

Trout

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Joined 2004
#1
I have this old 1971 Univox I am about to finally restore, Uses a Quad of 6550's and the manual says 150W output on this baby.

Are SOVTEK 6550WE's up to that kind of challenge? I found a pretty nice price on a quad, But I know very little about this brand.
Trout
 
#2
As many readers know, I have had bad luck with Sovtek DHT's. I have only good things to say about the Sovtek 6550WE's. I have 6 of these that I got from a tube dealer who only sold NOS tubes at the time. He sold them to me for $5 each. I have used these in several amplifiers over the years, and they sound too good to part with, so I still have them. I have used them in HiFi and guitar amps, but I have never tried them above 450 volts, or above 50 watts per pair.
 
#3
tubelab.com said:
As many readers know, I have had bad luck with Sovtek DHT's. I have only good things to say about the Sovtek 6550WE's. I have 6 of these that I got from a tube dealer who only sold NOS tubes at the time. He sold them to me for $5 each. I have used these in several amplifiers over the years, and they sound too good to part with, so I still have them. I have used them in HiFi and guitar amps, but I have never tried them above 450 volts, or above 50 watts per pair.
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Cool Beans,
Do you think a quad can handle 150W's of guitar amp abuse?

Also, any experience with Valve Art Brand? I got a line on the Sovteks for 18.00 Each, Or Valve arts for 14.00.

I just dont want them to melt them to fast. These old 1971 Univoxes are from back in the Dinosaur days before they Mic'd amps into the Pa systems.
And at a few more Watts than a Hiwatt, I figured its pretty good for gig use,:hphones: with protection LOL

This baby is a real ear bleeder lol.
Gene

:hphones:
 
#4
Trout said:



...Also, any experience with Valve Art Brand? I got a line on the Sovteks for 18.00 Each, Or Valve arts for 14.00.

...

Gene

:hphones:
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Gene,

I have used Valve Art KT88s in a SE hifi amp and find that they sound good and have been running for about a year in pretty steady use with no problem at all. I'm not pushing them too hard though- B+ is 425V and they are biased at 82mA.

Sherman
 
#5
Two versions exist

Sovtek 6550 with round holes in the plate & rectangle holes in the plate. The earlier round hole had grid alignment issues & the newer rectangle plate hole fixed this problem.

Using the 'round hole' tubes at high power can cause red spots on the plate. I still find the round hole type offered on ebay with fancy ads from tube dealers.

Antique Electric Supply in Tempe, AZ only stocks the newer 6550 type.
 
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