Favourite 6L6GC

[Shask]

I bought an amp that came with TAD's, and I think they sound pretty good. I threw them in another amp, and it definitely came to life. I am thinking I will get some for that amp as well.

 

[blackba]

SED =C= 6L6GC consistently sound great in my amps. I bought both types of TAD 6L6's, but have not tried them yet.

I like JJ 6L6GC's pretty well, but the last set I purchased was around 2003 or so.

 

[saxxamafone]

Who are you guys buying your JJ's off?

I've bought heaps of JJ6L6's off Dougstubes and i've never had any problems

 

[Mr. Willy]

I understand why people don't like JJ preamp tubes, they can be dull in the wrong amp and I'd never use all JJ's in a preamp, but I've never had a problem with JJ output tubes. They can be a bit boomy on the low end. I've got a set of TAD 6L6s in my Bassman that sound great. I'd consider Rubys too. I've never used their 6L6s, but the EL34BSTR kick serious booty.

 

[EXPcustom]

I like those Ruby tube 6L6GC from the 1990's they have been discontinued for a while, if I ever find a quad on Ebay I buy them.

 

[edgarallanpoe]

Those are great tubes but are only rated at 26 watts and 400v on the plates and 300v on the screens. The "B" in the suffix denotes the lower power and voltage rating. In most of today's high power 100 watters they probably won't last long since most of these amps are running in the 480 to 500v range.

For normal 6L6WGBs this is absolutely correct, but not for these tubes. These are not your standard 5881 or 6L6WGB tubes, these are *much* more rugged and are actually much closer to a 6L6GC than any of the NOS 5881s. I would run these without hesitation before any modern 6L6GCs.

 

[glpg80]

I like those Ruby tube 6L6GC from the 1990's they have been discontinued for a while, if I ever find a quad on Ebay I buy them.

the ruby's that came stock in my viper were terrible. didnt last long, sounded terrible. which is my usual experience with rbuy tubes in general - i had a spare set of spent tubes from my 5150 laying around ready for a retube as soon as i got that amplifier. they didnt last long at all and their tone was sub-par to anything else i owned.

 

[Zozobra]

I thought I'd take a spin on the sino 6L6GC's as from what I read they aint half bad. If they are shitty I can use them as test bench tubes so its no great loss. They'll still sound better than the totally spent shenguan EL34B-STR's that are in now i'm sure. Those tubes have seen some action!

 

[TeleBlaster]

Sovtech 5881

 

[Nigel]

I love the JJ 6L6GC in my mofo. Much more toneful than the Sovtek 5881/WGC-WXT. It's not so much the feel as it is the colour. The JJ has kind of a rich golden growl, whereas the Sovtek sounds gray to me.

I tried the SED but found it to be lackluster in this circuit. Bear in mind, it was designed for the Sovtek short bottle and has 550V on the plates.

Different circuits mean different results from the same tube. For example, sovtek 12AX7 LPS tubes sounds sharp in my amp, but in my Dynaco SCA-35, they're magical!

 

[Zozobra]

Got the tubes today and I'll install them tomorrow. Interestingly the getter deposit is on the bottom of the envelope and not the top.

 

[Zozobra]

They sounded great but they wernt a big fan of 500V on the plates. Oh well.
Gonna try some 6CA7s next.