Class B and 6A6 tubes

[otto pärt]

I hope this is the proper area for this thread... Anyway, I came upon a couple of old NOS GE 6A6 tubes. Dual triode power tubes "designed for class B operation" and a kinda cool coke-bottle shape. So, I'm thinking of building a small amp with the two sections of one of these as a push-pull pair. My question is this: Is there any reason why I shouldn't/couldn't use this tube in a class AB-type situation with a typical long-tail pair PI?

Here's a data sheet link: http://tubedata.milbert.com/sheets/127/6/6A6.pdf

If not, any ideas on how I could use this tube?

I hope this isn't a stupid question... I'm not a pro.

[mooreamps]

Nonsense. It's a great question. My first impression would be to use it "as a PI". Put 22 K resistors for the plate ; run them as Class A as the data sheet details them out ; might make a very good sounding PI ; and it appears to be designed as a driver. . .


-g

[Old Tele man]

...two things to pay attention to with these tubes:

1) the Class A1 specs are stated for two triodes IN PARALLEL, not separately operations, and...

2) most "...for Class-B..." tubes typically operate VERY close to zero-bias (ie: very LOW bias voltage).

[mooreamps]

...two things to pay attention to with these tubes:

1) the Class A1 specs are stated for two triodes IN PARALLEL, not separately operations, and...

2) most "...for Class-B..." tubes typically operate VERY close to zero-bias (ie: very LOW bias voltage).

Yes, Class B grounded grid ; for an radio frequency transmitter application ; not for audio, and certainly not for how we warp these circuits to create guitar amps.


-g

[otto pärt]

...two things to pay attention to with these tubes:

1) the Class A1 specs are stated for two triodes IN PARALLEL, not separately operations, and...

So what would be the key difference for nonparallel operation? The plate resistance would be twice as much, right?

[Old Tele man]

So what would be the key difference for nonparallel operation? The plate resistance would be twice as much, right?

...and, for the same Amplification Factor (µ) value, the transconductance (gm) value would also be halved.