Today's tube manufacters, best is?

[BudP]

Winged C has the most musical and consistent EL 34's I have heard. The EH are more detailed than the C's and almost as musical to my ears. All of the others, except some NOS Mullards that came my way, are not as good. Not bad, but the Svetlana's I obtained, as a matched Octet, were anything but matched.

Bud

 

[kff322]

This is such a
Win vs Mac
XM vs Sirrus
Tube vs Solid State
Debate
But all I can say is I have never been disappointed with Electro-Harmonics. They are not the best sounding new tubes but you wont be disappointed with their price or durability. Its mostly tube dependent anyways.

In Soviet Russia, Tube Chooses YOU!
~kff322

 

[Lowrider]

And yes, JJ's are butt ugly!

The JJ KT77 sound way better than Svetlana Winged C EL34 and than Electro-Harmonics 6CA7, even sound better than NOS Siemens EL34, but I had one fail, JJ replaced it...

I think they also look better than the others, meaning the nice glow in the bottom and in the top, the others just show the glow thru a few holes...

 

[richwalters]

Clear glass, bit bland and sterile looking, button getter 6550's are one of my favourites. Although superceeded by the latter C version, I find the earlier versions remarkably consistent to bench stick and take all the hell given to them. .. The KT88 CVC premium made in China and (run-in tested by CVC) is also a good contender.
As an insurance it pays for a small extra to get all F.E stuff burnt and shock tested by a vendor.
On the subject, is anyone using the EH KT90. How does everyone rate it. Is it up to slam treatment expectations ?

richj

 

[Jim McShane]

This is such a
Win vs Mac
XM vs Sirrus
Tube vs Solid State
Debate

In terms of tone - yes. In terms of quality - definitely not (as you mentioned regarding EH stuff)

 

[Jim McShane]

Ditto. I base my amp's input stage on it.

Salas,

Thank you for the post. I was beginning to think I lost my mind. I plugged in this 12AY7 EH tube, it sounded fantastic, I shared what I heard on a couple forums - and...

NOTHING! No response of any kind. Which amazed me.

I really appreciate your opinion on this, thanks again.

Oh, for those who haven't seen it, it looks nothing like any other EH tube. The plate looks similar to an old GE or Sylvania, it's a single vertical rib.

 

[Tubelab_com]

I covet some replies from Jim McShane and Tubelab.

I have received some great tubes and some utter garbage from just about all of the current suppliers. I haven't had the time to build too many tube amps in the last year and a half due to several unfortunate circumstances, and I still have a good supply of tubes, so I haven't been buying too many new tubes. I do grab up bargains when I find them. I can relate the following:

New Sensor brands (Sovtek, Svetlana in the US, Electro Harmonix, Tung Sol, Mullard):

I used to put Sovtek 6550WA tubes into just about every guitar amp and many HiFi amps that I made (5 to 10 years ago). I found them to be durable and decent sounding. I bought some Sovtek 300B tubes about 7 years ago for my 300Beast. Half of them failed in the same manner shortly after the 90 day warantee expired. New Sensor said tough s***, so I refused to use any of their tubes for several years.

About a year ago Stan at ESRC offered me some "previously auditioned" New Sensor tubes cheap, and he offered a money back guarantee. All had Tubestore.com stickers on them with test values so I assume that they had been pre screened and matched. These were returned for some reason or other though. I bought about 30 power tubes, and all were good and have worked very well for the past year. There were a total of eight EH KT88's and one EH 6550. These look to be the same tube, and while matching up 2 pairs the 6550 turned out to match a KT88 very well. These seem to be the most robust KT88 type tube out there, there is no glow at 45 watts of dissipation, and 500+ volts doesn't bother them. They sound pretty good although not as good as my reference set of NOS GE 6550's. All of the other New Sensor tubes that I got from this lot have impressed me in a similar fashion.

JJ:

I bought several JJ tubes from AES during the test and development of the SimpleSE. The JJ EL34's sounded the best of all EL34's I tested, and took the most abuse. I bought 4 and they were all the same. I tried two 5AR4's with good results. The JJ 12AT7 is a unique tube. It looks like it was made out of a 6DJ8. It also sounds very good in a SimpleSE amp. Some NOS 12AT7's can exhibit high levels of 2nd harmonic. The JJ's don't, they sound very good.

Svetlana (old US tubes) and Winged C:

I switched to Svetlana tubes back when I swore off the Sovteks. I also found them to be reliable in guitar amps with reasonably good sound. I have used their 6550's and 6L6GC's with good results for years. I purchased 4 Winged C EL34's from AES for testing the SimpleSE. One arced over instantly on the first power up. Another has several screen grid wires that glow brightly at 300 volts, I don't want to go above 300 volts because I know that another fireworks display will occur. The other two tubes work OK. I assume that these were from a bad batch since other users have good luck with them. I have used small quantities of other Winged C tubes with good success.

Shuguang / Sino / Valve Art:

I have used the 300B - 98 and their 5AR4 tubes with good luck in my TubelabSE amps. I have bought about 10 or 12 sets over the past few years with zero failures. They may not sound as good as the expensive brands, but at least I can afford them. I have also found their 6L6GC's practically indestructable, and the tube to stick in a guitar amp when you are going to crank it to eleven! I have not blown one of these up yet. I have used small quantities of their other tubes with good luck also. I have not purchased any in the past year though, except for a pair of KT66's that I have not used yet. They show no obvious visible defects. I have 4 pieces of KT88 - 98, they all have TWO getters, one on the top, and one on the side. These must be from the first wave of cost cutting. They work OK.

About 10 years ago I bought 50 KT88's cheap from Stan because he refused to carry them anymore due to a high failure rate. I found them OK in amplifiers that operated below 400 volts and 25 watts of dissipation. Push them past those limits and they will remind you that the Chinese invented fireworks! I even had one blow so violently that the glass shattered. I use these for experiments and other non critical stuff. Their quality has obviously improved since then.

It seems that anyone can get a batch of bad tubes from any of the current manufacturers. It is a shame that these bad lots get out the door and find their way into distributor stock. This is either poor QC by the manufacturer, or some back door sales activity going on. Selling off your reject lots isn't new. Back in the 60's you could buy tubes that were second tier GE's under the Thoro Test brand. I was getting 6L6GC's from a distributor for 50 cents each! They were destined for the tube tester displays at the corner drug store. At least these were not labled GE's.

 

[Salas]

Salas,

Thank you for the post. I was beginning to think I lost my mind. I plugged in this 12AY7 EH tube, it sounded fantastic, I shared what I heard on a couple forums - and...

NOTHING! No response of any kind. Which amazed me.

I really appreciate your opinion on this, thanks again.

Oh, for those who haven't seen it, it looks nothing like any other EH tube. The plate looks similar to an old GE or Sylvania, it's a single vertical rib.

I have the GE, sounds great but a bit glared compared to the correct tonality of the EH.

Yes only us took notice, and another guy in Japan. Named Kondo.

 

[Salas]

.

 

[Salas]

Oh, for those who haven't seen it, it looks nothing like any other EH tube. The plate looks similar to an old GE or Sylvania, it's a single vertical rib.

Here it is on my amp. Next to it, the GE 12AX7 of similar plate construction to the GE 12AY7. The GE 12AY7's plate is shorter than the AX7's with 4 rectangular holes on the wings. There is an EH 12AT7 in the company plus a box of GE JAN 12AY7's. Obviously the EH follows the GE heritage.

P.S the pics above come from Kondo 77 preamp.

 

[otto88]

Saratov EL34’s sold?

For product from St. Petersburg, its Svetlana/ SED/ Winged C . .

Originally posted by Eli Duttman:

The best tube making in the world right now is done at New Sensor's Saratov, Russia, plant. New Sensor sells under several labels including: Sovtek, Electro Harmonix, TungSol, Mullard, and GEC/ Gold Lion


To use New Sensor EL34’s from the Saratov plant, which brand should get I get?

And from a source that has tested, matched, and burned them in for at least 24 hours, from where?

Thanks!

 

[NickolasB]

Think better quality is Svetlana (SED) and old Reflector.
and also... possible some of tubes perfect make Voskhod factory (tubes like 6N1P, -EV, 6N2P, -EV, 6N23P and some other...)

 

[otto88]

I might also try Svetlana, and NOS Russian. But where are New Sensor EL34’s from Saratov sold, and SED/ Winged C?

Jim, do you sell them?

Cheers