Let's Talk Power Tubes, Again!

[dead-pan]

Some of the recent acquisitions.
Seems one might be a scam. Anyone have info?

 

[CDawg]

From L to R:

RFT EL34, Foton 6P3S, Hitachi 6L6GC

 

[dead-pan]

From L to R:

RFT EL34, Reflektor 6P3S, Hitachi 6L6GC

The Philips branding is misleading for sure.

 

[CDawg]

The Philips branding is misleading for sure.

I haven't seen a tube company that didn't lie or relabel tubes. A lot of them in the 70s/80s just lied.

After checking again that middle one is actually a Foton.

 

[dead-pan]

I haven't seen a tube company that didn't lie or relabel tubes. A lot of them in the 70s/80s just lied.

After checking again that middle one is actually a Foton.

Any info on these?

 

[CDawg]

Any info on these?

Anything specific you want to know I'll try to answer.

Not 100% sure if that's the thin or thick base RFT. Looks like the older thicker one made in Mulhausen.
Looks like a later Foton and they're highly regarded for durability and sound quality.
Hitachi is better than most of what is made now but it's not in the same league as the RFT or Foton for sound quality IMO.

 

[dead-pan]

Anything specific you want to know I'll try to answer.

Not 100% sure if that's the thin or thick base RFT. Looks like the older thicker one made in Mulhausen.
Looks like a later Foton and they're highly regarded for durability and sound quality.
Hitachi is better than most of what is made now but it's not in the same league as the RFT or Foton for sound quality IMO.

For the middle tube, what are the defining features that say it is a Foton? The tubes seem pretty balanced and clear. They are a bit cold though.

The RTF is a thick base. It seems brighter, the stringyness of the Marshalls comes through good with them. What are the differences with the different RTF in your experience?

I only have one of the 3rd tube. I paired it with a Sylvania 387 and it was a very nice combination.

 

[CDawg]

It's best to identify tubes by construction and sound over what's on the label. You look at the parts such as the base, flashing, getter, plates, getter, micas, etc. and eventually you just learn things. Lot's of companies share construction materials and techniques. Just go on ebay and type Foton 6P3S and you'll start to be able to make sense of things and how there's different versions of Foton 6P3S just like New Sensor has different versions of the 12AX7 (Electro-Harmonix, Genalex, Mullard, Sovtek, Svetlana, Tung Sol, etc.). It's a nightmare to learn all this and you cannot do it by yourself. I try to think of it as a team sport.

One I own says made for CGE (Canadian General Electric who made their own tubes and separate from American General Electric but still have some relationship with each other.) On the bottle. Says made in West Germany on the glass. Its a Foton from Russia. Tube companies will write anything on a bottle for money.

There's four different RFTs you're likely to come across for audio tubes. Some Tesla and ZWLE can look like RFT too but they are not. Once again you cannot trust a label and have to learn construction. The skinny base RFT EL34 is WF and the fat base is Mulhausen. This is the fat base IIRC.

This is the skinny base from WF even though it says Mulhausen.

For RFT 12AX7...

The two on the left with the plates bent over with single and double foil getters are from Erfurt. The two middle with he plates bent over with double and single ring getters are from WF. The one on the right with stapled plates and a single foil ring getter is from Neuhaus and that's what most people would be familiar with.

If you look at the plates for the RFT minatures like ECC81/ECC82/ECC83 if they're bent over then it's an Erfurt or WF. If they're stapled together then it's a Mulhausen or Neu Haus. Don't trust anything on the labels especially a RFT. It's all about the physical construction and sound.

WF would be my first choice. Mulhausen next. Neu Haus next. Erfurt would be my last choice.

Hitachi is okay IMO but I'm picky.