Thank you for sharing your experiences with different tubes in your video. You might be one of the first content creators to highlight the distinctions between various tube types, and I completely agree with your observations. Like you, I also believe that older tubes possess a unique quality, capable of evoking both smiles and tears. In my experience, Russian tubes tend to be less reliable and lack the vibrancy of vintage American tubes. I also concur that finding the right tubes can truly breathe new life into an amplifier. I appreciate the time and effort you put into explaining the differences so clearly.
Almost 6am, in Augusta, ga.,just finished watching your vid. Kudos to you. Very informative. I will comment later what tubes I'm running in my Decware Rachael integrated. Going for a Top water bite at clarkshill.
I bought one of your matched pairs of the GE 6550A tubes. The builder of my tube amps used the GE tubes when designing the circuit. That said, I also have matched quads of the NOS Tung Sol black, solid gray and 3 hole tubes. I’m currently enjoying the TS solid gray plates. I wait for your opinion of the NOS Gold Lion KT88s. Both the builder and myself prefer the GE 6550A tubes to those. Of course every amp is different in its own way.
Yes, I remember 🙂. Absolutely, the GE 6550A is a great tube and I recommend people start with the GE if they are new to NOS tubes. Tubes will sound different with each amp, therefore it eventually comes down to personal sound preference/taste with a given system and source. I will be wrapping up my KT88 assessment shortly so I will post that video soon. Thanks
@@vintagetannoy I had a NOS quad of the Gold Lion KT88s years ago and sold them. Recently I decided to try the new production GL KT88s. After an hour I pulled them out and have no desire to put them back in.
I agree with you after a similar tube journey with 6SL7, 6SN7, EL34, 6550, EL84 and more. Yes: The lower quality vintage still beats new Chinese and Russian "New Sensor" made. I would buy used Tung Sol (vintage USA) over new Russian TS. However: Vintage Soviet tubes, such as Melz and Svetlana, are also as amazing as vintage US and European. Also agree on the vintage having each a "house sound". I prefer the Tung Sol and Sylvania house sound over rest...wonderful mids, and just the right detail. Now I agree that Tung Sol (USA) is likely the best, but you should have tried Svetlana (Soviet) 6550c ("Winged C"). My personal favorite. Enjoy
Agree with you there. I have tried the Svetlana winged Cs and they are pretty good as well for non-American vintage, I have a quad of those. I just wanted to stick to American tubes when it comes to making videos, didn't want to get into another rabbit-hole with newer tubes. 😅
bare in mind,most people will be hearing sound through pc monitor speakers,not hifi monitor speakers,and the method of amplification via a chip based amplifier,so the sound quality at the time of recording will never be heard,as in the actual sound waves to the ear,no matter what recording gear is used,the solid state will be held back. I tried out an experiment years ago now with a basic tube amp(maplins 4-20 millenium schematic/kit,i built one mono block on my own pcb) and a single channel of a stereo solid state phillips hifi,one of the all in one types with glass 3ft door and space for LPs underneath. Armed with a hifi cd player of good quality(forget the brand) i sent one channel to the hifi and one to the input of the tube amp,mind the tube amp had no actual EQ or preamp,input went to a EF86 then a i think a splitter pair then two EL34s in push pull UL. The dark side of the moon cd was used,pink floyd for those not aquainted play almost orchestral quality music regarding complexity of sound. The tube amp for all its simplicity blew the SS amp away in bass responce,mid range,top end clarity,i may have played other music but i remember the pink floyd as the bass was so clear,it sounded like actual instruments were in the same room,i play some musical instruments so i know what this is like live v recorded for the most part ,and the tube(i should say valve being british)amp was definitely not for the most part more rarity. I still have not built a stereo hifi yet,mostly because i have my head bent towards guitar amps and effects and my music collection is played through flat tv speakers via my pc,the shame of it,i might make a tube preamp to feed the tv just to liven the sound a little.
The main issue with vintage tubes and especially Tungsol 6550 is there rarity. I have been into tubes for over 40 years now, and I used tungsols in my amps until I saw how their output diminished as they were used. Realizing that they were too precious for everyday use, I just installed them when i wanted to do serious listening or to impress audiophiles and tubeaholics.
What amp were you using the TungSols in that showed diminished output? One factor I looked at was the plate dissipation on my monoblocks and I was able to confirm that they auto-bias and run the TungSols a little cooler so I don't think my amp affects the TungSols adversely but you are right about their rarity. I too keep the good tubes for the "occasion" and run the TungSols 3 holes as my work horses, which are also good tubes, I'm spoiled!
The only thing that I think would be helpful is if you would provide the music that you listened to while making your assessments. That would make your decisions more relevant to listeners..
I come from the Guitar Amp World (not hifi amps) and for sure Vintage tubes that are to spec is always better then current production tubes. My absolute favorite Power tube is the Sylvania 6CA7. I have one question, what tubes does McIntosh recommend for the amp you have?
I haven't tried the Sylvania 6CA7 yet in my Marantz 8B yet. My current favorite EL34 tube is the NOS Telefunken along with the RFT Telefunken. But they are more of a hi-fi tube though. I will check out the Sylvania though, thanks. McIntosh outfitted the MC275 and similar amps with the early TungSol 6550s and then later with the G.E.C KT88s.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with different tubes in your video. You might be one of the first content creators to highlight the distinctions between various tube types, and I completely agree with your observations. Like you, I also believe that older tubes possess a unique quality, capable of evoking both smiles and tears. In my experience, Russian tubes tend to be less reliable and lack the vibrancy of vintage American tubes. I also concur that finding the right tubes can truly breathe new life into an amplifier. I appreciate the time and effort you put into explaining the differences so clearly.
Super helpful run through of process and evaluation. The information you provided is very useful and solidly presented. Well done, thank you!
Almost 6am, in Augusta, ga.,just finished watching your vid. Kudos to you. Very informative. I will comment later what tubes I'm running in my Decware Rachael integrated. Going for a Top water bite at clarkshill.
I bought one of your matched pairs of the GE 6550A tubes. The builder of my tube amps used the GE tubes when designing the circuit. That said, I also have matched quads of the NOS Tung Sol black, solid gray and 3 hole tubes. I’m currently enjoying the TS solid gray plates.
I wait for your opinion of the NOS Gold Lion KT88s. Both the builder and myself prefer the GE 6550A tubes to those. Of course every amp is different in its own way.
Yes, I remember 🙂. Absolutely, the GE 6550A is a great tube and I recommend people start with the GE if they are new to NOS tubes. Tubes will sound different with each amp, therefore it eventually comes down to personal sound preference/taste with a given system and source. I will be wrapping up my KT88 assessment shortly so I will post that video soon. Thanks
@@vintagetannoy I had a NOS quad of the Gold Lion KT88s years ago and sold them. Recently I decided to try the new production GL KT88s. After an hour I pulled them out and have no desire to put them back in.
I agree with you after a similar tube journey with 6SL7, 6SN7, EL34, 6550, EL84 and more. Yes: The lower quality vintage still beats new Chinese and Russian "New Sensor" made. I would buy used Tung Sol (vintage USA) over new Russian TS. However: Vintage Soviet tubes, such as Melz and Svetlana, are also as amazing as vintage US and European. Also agree on the vintage having each a "house sound". I prefer the Tung Sol and Sylvania house sound over rest...wonderful mids, and just the right detail. Now I agree that Tung Sol (USA) is likely the best, but you should have tried Svetlana (Soviet) 6550c ("Winged C"). My personal favorite. Enjoy
Agree with you there. I have tried the Svetlana winged Cs and they are pretty good as well for non-American vintage, I have a quad of those. I just wanted to stick to American tubes when it comes to making videos, didn't want to get into another rabbit-hole with newer tubes. 😅
bare in mind,most people will be hearing sound through pc monitor speakers,not hifi monitor speakers,and the method of amplification via a chip based amplifier,so the sound quality at the time of recording will never be heard,as in the actual sound waves to the ear,no matter what recording gear is used,the solid state will be held back.
I tried out an experiment years ago now with a basic tube amp(maplins 4-20 millenium schematic/kit,i built one mono block on my own pcb) and a single channel of a stereo solid state phillips hifi,one of the all in one types with glass 3ft door and space for LPs underneath.
Armed with a hifi cd player of good quality(forget the brand) i sent one channel to the hifi and one to the input of the tube amp,mind the tube amp had no actual EQ or preamp,input went to a EF86 then a i think a splitter pair then two EL34s in push pull UL.
The dark side of the moon cd was used,pink floyd for those not aquainted play almost orchestral quality music regarding complexity of sound.
The tube amp for all its simplicity blew the SS amp away in bass responce,mid range,top end clarity,i may have played other music but i remember the pink floyd as the bass was so clear,it sounded like actual instruments were in the same room,i play some musical instruments so i know what this is like live v recorded for the most part ,and the tube(i should say valve being british)amp was definitely not for the most part more rarity.
I still have not built a stereo hifi yet,mostly because i have my head bent towards guitar amps and effects and my music collection is played through flat tv speakers via my pc,the shame of it,i might make a tube preamp to feed the tv just to liven the sound a little.
The main issue with vintage tubes and especially Tungsol 6550 is there rarity. I have been into tubes for over 40 years now, and I used tungsols in my amps until I saw how their output diminished as they were used. Realizing that they were too precious for everyday use, I just installed them when i wanted to do serious listening or to impress audiophiles and tubeaholics.
What amp were you using the TungSols in that showed diminished output? One factor I looked at was the plate dissipation on my monoblocks and I was able to confirm that they auto-bias and run the TungSols a little cooler so I don't think my amp affects the TungSols adversely but you are right about their rarity. I too keep the good tubes for the "occasion" and run the TungSols 3 holes as my work horses, which are also good tubes, I'm spoiled!
The only thing that I think would be helpful is if you would provide the music that you listened to while making your assessments. That would make your decisions more relevant to listeners..
Yeah, maybe I can share my playlist. That could be helpful.
I come from the Guitar Amp World (not hifi amps) and for sure Vintage tubes that are to spec is always better then current production tubes. My absolute favorite Power tube is the Sylvania 6CA7. I have one question, what tubes does McIntosh recommend for the amp you have?
I haven't tried the Sylvania 6CA7 yet in my Marantz 8B yet. My current favorite EL34 tube is the NOS Telefunken along with the RFT Telefunken. But they are more of a hi-fi tube though. I will check out the Sylvania though, thanks. McIntosh outfitted the MC275 and similar amps with the early TungSol 6550s and then later with the G.E.C KT88s.