6L6 Recommendations for a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Rev. F?

Bossman415

Bossman415

Active member
Hi all,

Curious as to what brand 6L6's folks are using in their Dual Rectifier 2 Channel amps. Feel free to drop a recommendation.

I tried JJ 6L6GC's and they're just not my cup of tea. They had too huge of a bass response and sounded too saturated/creamy.

Thinking of going with Svetlana or even trying a quad of JJ 5881's. The plate voltages in a Dual Rec should be low enough to run them.

Let me know what you think.
 
A lot of people love the winged C in Dual Recs, but they are pricey.

Maybe try to find some Mesa Str 420 (grey code if possible). The 2 Channel Rectos were build around these tubes.
I‘ve found out, that bias makes a lot of difference in a Recto, and grey codes bring it up a bit. Keep bias generally in mind, higher bias tightens the bottom end and bring the feeling of a more aggressiv (or saturated) distortion.

There was link to a store posted in the FB Recto group a while ago of a shop selling NOS Mesa Str 420. So they are out there.
 
I like 5881’s for their extra growl, mids and richness they have over 6L6GC’s. My favorite 5881’s in them are the JAN Philips ECG’s, but all the US ones sound good. I also quite like the Beijing 6L6GC’s in my Recto’s, but I still overall like EL34’s or 6CA7’s most in Recto’s
 
braintheory said:
I like 5881’s for their extra growl, mids and richness they have over 6L6GC’s. My favorite 5881’s in them are the JAN Philips ECG’s, but all the US ones sound good. I also quite like the Beijing 6L6GC’s in my Recto’s, but I still overall like EL34’s or 6CA7’s most in Recto’s
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The cheapo Sovtek Wafer bottom 5881s sound as good as Winged C to my ears. The silver label Military versions are even better
Haven’t tried the ones you mention though
 
Racerxrated said:
The cheapo Sovtek Wafer bottom 5881s sound as good as Winged C to my ears. The silver label Military versions are even better
Haven’t tried the ones you mention though
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I don’t actually like the Winged C 6L6GC’s much for high gain, but they are one of my all time favorites for cleans. I think they get a bit overrated maybe since their EL34’s are so great for high gain. The older silver letter Sovtek 5881’s I’ve got are quite good (tight & clear), but the military version (not-Sovtek labelled) & recent version Sovtek 5881’s imo are just meh (kinda rubbery sounding/feeling to me). I would even take JJ’s over those (even in my ‘89 SLO). The only amp I had that really liked them were the 2 Naylor’s

The Beijing 6L6’s & EL34’s have that same hairy quality like their pre’s. I like a lot actually how they translate in my Recto’s, but not at all in the Naylor’s or ‘89 SLO. The 5881’s, especially Philips, were my favorite in the ‘89 SLO and Naylor (for 6L6 family tubes). My RCA, GE & US Tung-Sol 5881’s are also very good
 
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braintheory said:
I don’t actually like the Winged C 6L6GC’s much for high gain, but they are one of my all time favorites for cleans. I think they get a bit overrated maybe since their EL34’s are so great for high gain. The older silver letter Sovtek 5881’s I’ve got are quite good (tight & clear), but the military version (not-Sovtek labelled) & recent version Sovtek 5881’s imo are just meh (kinda rubbery sounding/feeling to me). I would even take JJ’s over those (even in my ‘89 SLO). The only amp I had that really liked them were the 2 Naylor’s

The Beijing 6L6’s & EL34’s have that same hairy quality like their pre’s. I like a lot actually how they translate in my Recto’s, but not at all in the Naylor’s or ‘89 SLO. The 5881’s, especially Philips, were my favorite in the ‘89 SLO and Naylor (for 6L6 family tubes). My RCA, GE & US Tung-Sol 5881’s are also very good
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Yep the Naylor is where I have the military 5881s in now.
 
psychodave said:
I find the 5881's to be dark.... like very dark. Of course amps have eq controls to remove some of that darkness....

For Boogie amps, I actually like the MESA 440's. If you can find them the old 430's have nice definition and depth.
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@psychodave 🤣 my amp had Mesa GRN 430’s in it. One of them ended up taking a dump while I was playing. Tried finding a single 430 since the others still read good and are all very close current wise. But yeah, the 430’s sounded good.
 
Emg77 said:
I really liked the TAD 6l6’s .
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Yeah, the new red base TAD's pack a nice punch. I think they're Psvane's take on the previous Shuguang TAD 6L6GC-STR Black Plate/RCA copies. Those Shuguang versions were fantastic. BIG low end, tight, and great articulation.
 
napalmdeath said:
Yeah, the new red base TAD's pack a nice punch. I think they're Psvane's take on the previous Shuguang TAD 6L6GC-STR Black Plate/RCA copies. Those Shuguang versions were fantastic. BIG low end, tight, and great articulation.
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@napalmdeath i got to give them their day in court. The TAD’s seem to get good reviews.

I tried the 6L6GC’s Preferred Series from TheTubeStore.com years back and really liked them. It’s too bad they’re out of production.

They were made by Shuguang and were their take on the TAD red base (made by Psvane).
 
Emg77 said:
I really liked the TAD 6l6’s .
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Right before Mike B sent my C+ Coli back in 2019, he warned me about the TAD 6L6s in that some were failing at a high rate. He recommended the Wafer 5881s as they hold up under the higher plate voltage(as they do in the SLO 100 as well).
My first option were the Mesa 415(Sylvanias) of course, but I did put a sextet of wafer bottoms in and I really didn't notice that much of a difference.
 
Racerxrated said:
Right before Mike B sent my C+ Coli back in 2019, he warned me about the TAD 6L6s in that some were failing at a high rate. He recommended the Wafer 5881s as they hold up under the higher plate voltage(as they do in the SLO 100 as well).
My first option were the Mesa 415(Sylvanias) of course, but I did put a sextet of wafer bottoms in and I really didn't notice that much of a difference.
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I have (1) 90’s Sovtek Wafer 5881 that is a close match.

It is off by 3 mA to (3) good Mesa 430’s.

Any techs out there think it would work ok with the (3) 430’s?
 
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