Off kilter 6v6.. any prob?

[Sea Chief]

Hi- borrowed pair TAD 6v6 from a pro builder I know (has TAD sets on his shelf/ picked one off randomly, unopened pkging) IE a favour to try/ keep & pay him if I like: my EH's = possibly a bit flat sounding DR.

A defo improvement mainly 'springier' & a better 'touch' (make sense? whatever that is all about I dont know), & I think a little livelier harmonically too. I think. Cant explain too well as Ive no vast knowledge to compare A to B, Ive only ever had one pair of 6v6's, my EH's & singles in my Champ.

Physically tho the TADs are skewed badly from base, one especially so: like the leaning tower of pisa + a bit more angle! really quite acute, looks odd. T'other also but half as cocked. Not sure if I was a customer of his Id like them aesthetically.

Is this normal occurrance in buying a set of tubes? anything of concern if it was you?

thx SC.

[pdf64]

It's not unusual.
As long as they seem robust and functional, I don't think it's something to be concerned about.

It's a good idea when installing different tubes (especially in a fixed bias amp) to check that their idle current is reasonable; also known as checking the bias.

[Sea Chief]

Ah ok. I'm just surprised to see it thats all. They look very 'china made 25 yrs ago', but with their decent QC today esp with TAD such a fastidious client, I wouldnt expect to find such odd angled tubes being passed on by TAD.

I wouldnt expect even russian made ones today to look like this tbh. Doesnt fill you with any confidence of their quality thats for sure.. mm very surprising.

Yes I checked the bias and pretty much exactly same as my EH's @ 22.5mA figure (but better matched than my EH's which were 20.5 / 23.5) so I didnt swizzle the bias pot.

[ThermionicScott]

I've got American tubes from the 1960s that are a little off-kilter. NBD.

[stokes]

If the tube is way off like you describe,I would ask him for a different set before paying for them.A bit off kilter is one thing,but "like the leaning tower of pisa + a bit more angle" is a bit more out of whack than I'd want to pay for.

[Sea Chief]

Hi Stokes. I think you're right, bit difficult as he is an acquaintance I feel somewht obliged to pay him for them after his bits n bobs done for me/ but honestly they look very wrong to me, even if they sound fine.

Thanks SC

[Sea Chief]

What do you think..



look rather 'friday 5pm/ throw it together/ lets go to the pub' to me.

[pdf64]

OK it's a bit off but I really don't perceive it to be an issue.

[Sea Chief]

A bit?! they're like a tramps sticky-outy teeth already! LHS skew is very pronounced in reality (photo doesnt show terribly well tbh).

Anyway, he's done me a favour so I guess I'll have to buy em then if you say no issue. Im having a word with TAD tho definitely as Im not entirely happy.

Thanks SC

[ThermionicScott]

I have RCAs that look like that. Get some Xanax or something.

[Sea Chief]

NOS xanax 6V6?

[J M Fahey]

What do you think..

look rather 'friday 5pm/ throw it together/ lets go to the pub' to me.

Those pictures give me the creeps, and I can read so much evil in them:

1) besides glass crookedness, the left label was pasted at a way more extreme angle off parallelism ... why?

2) the right one has no head-room: notice they opened the oven door too early and the top didn't rise as it should.
Just compare its ugly shapelesness with the rounded beauty of the left one.

3) on the contrary, on the left one the silkscreened label is almost parallel with the mica star disk, while the right one plunges at about 10 degrees downwards.

4) no doubt they sound balanced, practically every defect on the left one seems to be "mirrored" (literally) on the right one.
Maybe that's the secret of balancing amplifiers?

5) just a hunch, but I bet vacuum is not the same on both.

well, there's more inconsistencies, but the ones mentioned already give me the creeps.

Yes, they *seem* to sound fine, but I don't trust that, they might have been set to sound good *just* until you pay, and crumble afterwards, how well do you know your relative?

[Sea Chief]

Oh for goodness sake- what a ^ total timewaster.

Bought them now I'm told ok from pdf64/ opinion I trust. thx SC