So, it's time to decide on a 6550/KT88

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guitarslinger

guitarslinger

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give me some suggestions.

I want WARM, LOUD, and reliable. :thumbsup:
 
svetlana 6550s, bias em a little hot, nice, smooth breakup, keep mine at 52.5, gig with them, and get a nice long time out of em. Tried the tung sols, not happy with them, too harsh
 
BTW, I found matched quads of Sovtek 6550's @ BOI Audio Works for $76.

This is what my amp came stock with, and sounded absolutely fanfuckingtastic.

I would go through Doug's tubes, but he's the one who won't carry sovtek 6550's, and he convinced me the EH 6550 would be awesome. :doh: :no: :no: :cry:
 
Got my svets from doug, they cost, but they are worth it.
I am running them in a 73 marshall superbass, true beast of an amp, with mullards in the preamp
 
guitarslinger":1yv3cj4h said:
BTW, I found matched quads of Sovtek 6550's @ BOI Audio Works for $76.

This is what my amp came stock with, and sounded absolutely fanfuckingtastic.

I would go through Doug's tubes, but he's the one who won't carry sovtek 6550's, and he convinced me the EH 6550 would be awesome. :doh: :no: :no: :cry:
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I used Sovtek in my first build. Thought they were KT88s but may have been 6550. Anywho, they lasted for ever, even bouncing around in the back of my Toyota 4x4. Sounded pretty good if you ask me.

EH is an improved Sovtek, same manufacturer! Should be even better.

Stay away from JJ, unless you want clean, great for HiFi, but not guitar IMO, YMMV.
 
Here is a short clip of it live back in the summer of 2000.
https://soundclick.com/share?songid=6215437
And FWIW, Sovtek EL34s suck big time. They go microphonic like no other OP tube I've ever tried!

And I should add, if it sounds a bit compressed it's cause it rained like crazy so the stage was covered with plastic tarps. I was on sound and had to compress the shit outta the mix to keep the volume up but the feedback down.
 
+1 for EH KT88's. One of the better new production tubes.
 
I always used Svetlana/SED 6550s in my Savage 120 and thought they were killer. The EHs are also a good option. I never liked the Sovteks though, the Tungsol were cool as well but just not as good sounding as the SED or EH.
 
MOAAH":2szamkjf said:
guitarslinger":2szamkjf said:
BTW, I found matched quads of Sovtek 6550's @ BOI Audio Works for $76.

This is what my amp came stock with, and sounded absolutely fanfuckingtastic.

I would go through Doug's tubes, but he's the one who won't carry sovtek 6550's, and he convinced me the EH 6550 would be awesome. :doh: :no: :no: :cry:
Click to expand...

I used Sovtek in my first build. Thought they were KT88s but may have been 6550. Anywho, they lasted for ever, even bouncing around in the back of my Toyota 4x4. Sounded pretty good if you ask me.

EH is an improved Sovtek, same manufacturer! Should be even better.

Stay away from JJ, unless you want clean, great for HiFi, but not guitar IMO, YMMV.
Click to expand...

No, I'm saying I HATE THE EH 6550, and that's the one that was recommended by Doug.

I want to go back to the Sovtek, because it sounded a LOT better.
 
guitarslinger":zkrjffze said:
MOAAH":zkrjffze said:
guitarslinger":zkrjffze said:
BTW, I found matched quads of Sovtek 6550's @ BOI Audio Works for $76.

This is what my amp came stock with, and sounded absolutely fanfuckingtastic.

I would go through Doug's tubes, but he's the one who won't carry sovtek 6550's, and he convinced me the EH 6550 would be awesome. :doh: :no: :no: :cry:
Click to expand...

I used Sovtek in my first build. Thought they were KT88s but may have been 6550. Anywho, they lasted for ever, even bouncing around in the back of my Toyota 4x4. Sounded pretty good if you ask me.

EH is an improved Sovtek, same manufacturer! Should be even better.

Stay away from JJ, unless you want clean, great for HiFi, but not guitar IMO, YMMV.
Click to expand...

No, I'm saying I HATE THE EH 6550, and that's the one that was recommended by Doug.

I want to go back to the Sovtek, because it sounded a LOT better.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Well each amp has it's own feel, and tone is in the ear of the beholder :)

These days I stick to EL34/6L6 in my larger made to rock stuff. And, I have never tried the EH 6550, but I did like my original Sovteks.

Good luck on whatever you decide!
 
MOAAH":2oxm88rg said:
Interesting. Well each amp has it's own feel, and tone is in the ear of the beholder :)
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Well, Steve Fryette says it came stock for a reason.

I mean, it(the 2150) absolutely pwned with the sovteks, now it's a lot brighter, and has lost something in the midrange. It's not even as loud as it used to be. :aww: :no:
 
Sovtek gets a bad rap for some reason. But, IMO, some of their tubes are great. I still use them for all my rectifiers, and sometimes I do like the WB 12ax7s to quiet down a noisy amp. All in all there are so many choices these days! We are kinda lucky in that regard :)
 
MOAAH":2b3vd3m6 said:
Sovtek gets a bad rap for some reason. But, IMO, some of their tubes are great. I still use them for all my rectifiers, and sometimes I do like the WB 12ax7s to quiet down a noisy amp. All in all there are so many choices these days! We are kinda lucky in that regard :)
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good call.

Egnater is putting Sovteks in everything right now. The Sov 5881 sounds seriously good in the MOD 50.
 
guitarslinger":18nh51un said:
MOAAH":18nh51un said:
Sovtek gets a bad rap for some reason. But, IMO, some of their tubes are great. I still use them for all my rectifiers, and sometimes I do like the WB 12ax7s to quiet down a noisy amp. All in all there are so many choices these days! We are kinda lucky in that regard :)
Click to expand...


good call.

Egnater is putting Sovteks in everything right now. The Sov 5881 sounds seriously good in the MOD 50.
Click to expand...

Really, that's too cool. I am using 6L6 way more than I ever thought I would. I should try these 5881s, thanks for the tip!

FWIW, I am very impressed with Egnater products. Any clips I've heard just rocked :rock:
 
I've had a few amps now where I was able to experiment with 6550s and KT88s. My favorite new stock tube is the EH KT88s. The svets are pretty decent, too. I was disappointed with the new Tung Sols. Though, they worked good in some applications.

The EH KT88s sound huge, are real punchy and have a nice top-end. Not brittle sounding. They sounded bad-ass in my VHT UL. Blew away everything else I tried in it.
 
argonaut4":1lz7vazz said:
I was disappointed with the new Tung Sols.
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You should try the originals someday, hard to beat American made 6550s!!!

leak.jpg
 
MOAAH":26mzm3rl said:
argonaut4":26mzm3rl said:
I was disappointed with the new Tung Sols.
Click to expand...
You should try the originals someday, hard to beat American made 6550s!!!

leak.jpg
Click to expand...

It's funny you mention that. The best 6550s I have are an old set of Tung Sols I found in an old Leslie. :thumbsup: I didn't mention it my previous post as it must cost a mint to buy a matched set of those now a days...let alone find them. I have a lot of old Tung Sols in my collection. Their eccs are some of my favorites as well.
 
argonaut4":clp92sh9 said:
It's funny you mention that. The best 6550s I have are an old set of Tung Sols I found in an old Leslie. :thumbsup: I didn't mention it my previous post as it must cost a mint to buy a matched set of those now a days...let alone find them. I have a lot of old Tung Sols in my collection. Their eccs are some of my favorites as well.
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Right on!
Yep I like the preamp tubes also, but there were so many good brands back then it would be a chore to list them all.
I was so lucky to get 2 pairs of 6550 from a HAM friend of mine for 120CAN, back when the Canuck buck was worth .70 of a greenback.
One of my better acquisitions :thumbsup:
 
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