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Post by juke46 on Nov 24, 2020 12:52:03 GMT
I have tested various tubes that I own using a TV-7 tube tester (military). It seems very accurate after having it gone through by a person who specializes in only those tube testers. Through the years I have always purchased tubes from various places. Most came from estates of guys who worked with radios, amps, etc. The 6L6 tubes that test good and have similar values on the tester always seem to sound and work well. I, really do not notice any difference that I can detect from different brands of output tubes. I like the sound loud and lots of bass. For some reason I have never cared for the metal 6L6 tubes. At this age loud is good! It means I am still around!
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Post by misterv on Nov 24, 2020 19:40:36 GMT
I work with a lot of 6L6GC tubes since I fix Guitar Amplifiers (mostly). I don't find that brand has a big effect on sound, unless you're really cranking an amp into distortion, (which one does not do with a Jukebox). The 6L6GC's that are coming from Russia's Reflektor plant are a pretty reliable current offering and aren't what I would consider too expensive. Sovtek Brand, and Electro Harmonix brand are the two that are the most affordable from that plant.
If you can find NOS tubes, or gently used ones for a bargain, go right ahead with those. To quote Joe Meek, If it sounds good, than it is good.
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Post by jukingeo on Nov 29, 2020 18:36:03 GMT
I work with a lot of 6L6GC tubes since I fix Guitar Amplifiers (mostly). I don't find that brand has a big effect on sound, unless you're really cranking an amp into distortion, (which one does not do with a Jukebox). The 6L6GC's that are coming from Russia's Reflektor plant are a pretty reliable current offering and aren't what I would consider too expensive. Sovtek Brand, and Electro Harmonix brand are the two that are the most affordable from that plant. If you can find NOS tubes, or gently used ones for a bargain, go right ahead with those. To quote Joe Meek, If it sounds good, than it is good.
Coming from a background in fixing guitar amps as well, I can say the same thing. The tube tone seems to be more affected when you overdrive it and in the case of a jukebox, the differences are less noticeable per brand. That saying, I have mostly used Russian made tubes over Chinese ones due to reliability. I second the use of Sovtek tubes, but not Electro Harmonix. They are fine for pre-amp tubes, but power tubes? No. I have had trouble with EH tubes and cannot recommend them. (But again, this was my experience with the tubes in a guitar amp, not a jukebox. I just know if EH power tubes are pushed hard, they WILL fail). J.J. is another brand of tube that works well, but they are rather expensive. I would say that Sovtek is good, and if you don't mind spending a bit more, Svetlana makes an excellent tube. In my guitar amp fixing days, Svetlana was my go-to brand. But I do have Sovtek tubes in my Seeburg 220, and they work fine.
But really, in a jukebox application, any Russian made tube should suit you just fine.
Geo
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Post by misterv on Dec 3, 2020 5:21:58 GMT
At CE Distribution, JJ is the most affordable tube. I've not had any "stinkers" from EH... but I suppose there's bad years to any tube maker. EH, TungSol, Sovtek, Mullard, Genalex, and Svetlana (current production) all come from the same place in Russia.
What was once Svetlana SED (winged C) is closed.
JJ makes their own stuff in Slovakia
Sino, Shuguang, TAD, Northern Electric, TubeStoreSelect, Valve Art are all made in Shuguang China.
Most current production tubes are fine IMHO.
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