Oddball Tubes I'm Looking For

[bob p]

I'm looking for the following oddball tubes so that I can resurrect an old Scott 350-D HiFi tuner that i rescued on its way to the landfill:

6ej7
6hs6
6ke8
6bq7

well, the 6bq7 may not be that hard to find, but i still don't have a good one. if anyone has tubes that they'd be willing to let go of, or if you know where i can find them, please let me know. i'd love to resurrect this old tuner from the dead, but if i have to pay premium prices for the tubes the project will be cost prohibitive.

thanks!

[Gregg]

Check out www.tubesandmore.com

[bob p]

thanks for the link to CE-Dist. ;)

if any of you packrat Ampagers have these tubes in your junkboxes and you don't think that you'll ever have the need to use them, please let me know. please note that i fixed a typo, the second tube in the list is a 6hs6, not a 6h56. sometimes i can't read my own handwriting.

bob

[Enzo]

You know CEDist and AES have different catalogs?

From AES catalog:
6EJ7 $1.30
6HS6 $16.30 (ouch)
6KE8 $5.90
6BQ7 $1.40

I went to the web site to check for recent price changes:
6BQ7 now $1.55
others same

CEDist doesn't show the 6HS6 or the 6KE8 at all.

I'll look in the pile... I put up a 24x36 garage strictly for parts and gear.

[bob p]

yeah, ouch. that 6hs6 is the only one that really scared me. that tends to take the "lark" factor out of the project. its kind of a lot to spend on something that you aren't sure is worth fixing up.

there's a sad story to go with this Scott tuner -- I picked it up via FreeCycle. it belonged to someone's Grandpa, it was his pride and joy. as he became infirm he couldn't enjoy his HiFi hobby any more, and he eventually ended up in a nursing home. his daughter moved into his house, and she let her children rum wild, using his tube gear as playtoys. the tuner was working at one time, but didn't last long when the young children started pulling out those shiny clear bottles and playing with them. when i got the tuner all that was left was a chassis. there were no tubes, the tuner string was removed, and the topcover was long gone. AFAIK the tubes ended up in the kiddies' toybox. i tried to warn the Mom about the electrical dangers of tube gear, and how bad an idea it was to let small children pull out tubes, but the message seemed lost on her.

Gentlemen, think about this. your collection of vintage tube HiFi and MI gear (including your GEC NOS 6550, Mullard EL34 and Telefunken 12AX7 in their original boxes) could ultimately end up being filed with the Legos.

i haven't done anything with the tuner yet. i imagine that i'll have to start at square 1 with it, rebuilding the PSU and working my way forward. its kind of a rare unit, as the 350-D was the last of the great Scott valve tuners. every subsequent model was SS. its hard to find schematics. schems are out there for the 350 A through C, but no luck yet finding one for the D model. it seems that everyone who has a D just makes do with the C schematic as a starting point and wings it.

to get this thing going again, i think its going to need at least a full recap job, and i'll probably have to design a replacement for the multi-can filter cap. i'm hoping that the kiddies didn't break any parts, especially the air cap. if i can find the right tubes and get the electronics working, then it will need to have a wooden case fabricated. this could end up being one of those interesting little projects that ends up costing more to restore than it is probably worth.

[Rob Mercure]

Hey Bob,

Am still looking for the 6HS6 - my "non audio" tubes aren't in any particular order - but haven't found one yet. But a clever feller like you should be able to come up with a suitable substitite - a quick look at the curves seems to indicate "nothing special" about the valve.

Now I've got a 6KE8 for you and I'll throw in the 4 volt "cognate" just for fun (like what am I going to do with a 4KE8?).

I'll keep looking for the pentode but a 6AU6 should plug in and you could use that until you can find the HS if you really want. If you're unit's similiar the HS is simply the last IF before the discrimimator.
I use a 340 B ("late") myself.

Oh, are you part of the Scott discussion forum?

[bob p]

Thanks for the help, Rob. No, I didn't even know about the Scott discussion forum. Where is it?

I'd appreciate hearing your opinion on the Scott 350-B. It would really help to get an idea about whether this 350-D project is worth pumping effort into. I have to admit, I am tempted to just simplify my life and buy an SS tuner. Talk me out of it.

BTW, does your 350-B use a similar tube compliment?

[Enzo]

I haven't scanned the junk box yet, but I was also going to suggest slappng a 6AU6 in there for fun.

[soundmasterg]

Hey Enzo, just to give you a heads up, if you order from CEDist and want something that they don't show, if you put the AES part number for what you want in the comments section on the checkout screen, they usually will send it to you but it sells at the same price as in their AES catalog. I haven't done this firsthand, but I've heard about it from others.

Greg

[bob p]

so, has anybody found a 6hs6 that tests good?

[bob p]

I haven't scanned the junk box yet, but I was also going to suggest slappng a 6AU6 in there for fun.

i think that i might actually have a 6au6 that i can pull out of a heathkit amp if push came to shove. of course, i'd rather have the real thing in a 6hs6 if any of you fellows should happen to run across one in your goodie box.

[jeffinwv]

thats a little bit of a hard to find tube..thus the high price. kinda like a 7199

[Racetruckdave]

I have two or three ECF 80's and ECF83's if that helps, Email me.

They are Mullards out of an old Xetex oss. scope I have that's dead in the water.

[Baxthorpe]

My old Radio Shack equivalents list says try 6CB6 / A, 6CF6, 6DK6, 6EW6 (all if parallel heater circuit, and may not work in all applications) - also, it gives
6CB6 = 6676 &7732,
and 6DK6 = 8136.

Mind you, that book is just crazy sometimes. Hope it helps!

[JC@]

i think that i might actually have a 6au6 that i can pull out of a heathkit amp if push came to shove. of course, i'd rather have the real thing in a 6hs6 if any of you fellows should happen to run across one in your goodie box.
The 6AU6 could be the best equivalent though it has less gain (5.2mA/V for the 6AU6, 9.5mA/V for the 6HS6). Even the pinout is the same.
The power out is also similar I believe. The 6HS6 is 3 Watt, and the 6AU6 3.5