new SLO with KT66

Racerxrated":g9kxq76z said:
rstites":g9kxq76z said:
harddriver":g9kxq76z said:
I thought the amp was designed around the 5881, I think the Sovtek, I'm sure some SLO guys will come in here to clarify the 5881 type that's best. You might like the 6l6 better as it has a tighter low end and a bit less mids emphasis, think the EVH amp with 6l6 versus EL34. I think the 5881 also has a slightly softer low end response but I'm sure that's what Soldano designed it around for some reason.
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The SLO was designed around the 6L6GC, as far as I know. I run old Philips 6L6GC in mine. I think the 5881 were later made standard as they're more readily available, more rugged, and much less expensive than good NOS 6L6GC's. Regardless, I still like the 6L6GC's in mine.
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I've had a good stash of Mesa STR 415s for a few yrs now, since I've owned my first 2C+. I've tried those in 2 of the 3 SLOs I've owned, plus a quad of KT66s and without a doubt, the best tubes for that amp are the wafer bottom 5881s. Just no contest. KT66 were just too mid heavy even with the mids dropped, and the Mesa 415s(Sylvania 6L6GC, the gold standard for 6L6) were just OK sounding which was disappointing to say the least since it makes the 2C+ sound incredible. Far and away the cheap simple Sovtek Wafer bottom 5881s were the obvious choice after tube swaps. My Mesa 415s are all very strong with my tube tester and withstand the huge voltage my Coliseum puts out, so there's no question of the health of those tubes.
Wafer 5881s for the win, and don't look back. Mike Soldano knows a thing or two about his amps, and they were his choice for years.
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Yup, wafer base 5881s are the way to go in an SLO.
When I had one, I tried just about every current production 6L6 tube type in that amp, and the 5881's were so much better sounding than everything else it was not even close.
TAD 6L6gc's were not bad, but everything else was just meh, except gold Lion KT66's, which were god awful. ( and those are great tubes )

Also, watch out if you use any spiral filament Russian 12ax7's in your SLO.
The SLO circuit has 2 cathode follower tubes that run the cathodes at pretty high voltages, and the spiral filament 12ax7's can't handle the heater/ cathode voltage delta.
In an SLO, when the heater AC swings negative 3.15v, you could be looking at a 210-215v delta. Those 12ax7's can't cope with this for any length of time, and they can hum like crazy there too.
Stick with Chinese b's or JJ's ( or NOS ) for those 2 positions.
 
I like the SLO with KT66, a bit more headroom and a little rounder. The problem is almost all production Kt66 are rebottled 6l6, which is a bummer, and they gets biased wrong because of this. Is this amp snakeskin with black
Corners? 2011-12?
 
fatbagg":2a2byoo1 said:
I like the SLO with KT66, a bit more headroom and a little rounder. The problem is almost all production Kt66 are rebottled 6l6, which is a bummer, and they gets biased wrong because of this. Is this amp snakeskin with black
Corners? 2011-12?
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its the one I traded you for
 
splatter":3sly0iys said:
fatbagg":3sly0iys said:
I like the SLO with KT66, a bit more headroom and a little rounder. The problem is almost all production Kt66 are rebottled 6l6, which is a bummer, and they gets biased wrong because of this. Is this amp snakeskin with black
Corners? 2011-12?
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its the one I traded you for
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Ah, I had an old one that was the same, wondering if it was that one. I forgot the new one had black corners. I like the kt66, but it does loosen the amp some. I’d throw the 5881 in there, that’s what Mike Soldano always used for the SLO, tighter bottom in the lows and better all around definition than the kt66, which to me are a little looser and round everywhere. Sovtek 5881 is the original stock tube for SLO unless custom ordered with KT66.
 
Man, I had a Soldano Decatone probably 12 years ago. I thought the 5881's it came were kinda loose and dare I say thin sounding. I put Gold Lion KT-88's in it and it gave the amp bawlz. Made it louder too. Tighter too. I never understood why Soldano based his amps around the 5881's - but I'm assuming he did it solely to make more profit. He's like the Jeff Bezos of amp builders.
 
ShredHeadJHJ":24dax8e5 said:
but I'm assuming he did it solely to make more profit. He's like the Jeff Bezos of amp builders.
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I can assure you it was not profit driven. There's way better places he could have cut corners. Just about every component in the SLO (not sure about the new one) is mil spec, from the teflon wire, to the rv4 pots. Those pot's alone cost 10x that your standard pot.

My guess, 5881 is a mil spec tube, so that was following his philosophy. Also the voltage handling was better, I think I recall Warren Haynes saying they tried JJ 6l6gc, and it did not last as long, so they switched back to 5881, and it sounded better too.
 
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