Tung Sol 6V6 reissue

[H Chandler]

I would like to hear opinions from those who've actually heard one.

I don't care if you don't like the name. How does it sound and how well does it hold up in actual usage.

Thanks

Howard

[Corona Blue]

Howdy Howard-
Yep, I love 'em. Got mine from Lord Valve, requested a matched pair with a bit more headroom. He delivered the goods! I have a good selection of NOS 6V6's, including war era RCA VT-107's (incredible sounding), 50's vintage RCA smoked glass black plates, 50's small bottle black glass Tung-Sols. All sound way better than most any new tube IMHO. However...

The Russian (New Sensor) Tung-Sol 6V6's feel more dynamic and seem to have better bass response. They don't seem to squash as early as the NOS tubes. Mine lack a bit of the top end sparkle and shimmer of the NOS tubes, but they make up for it in the creaminess of the top when cranked. I use these tubes in a Mission 5E3 clone that is pretty much stock per Leo (except 20Mfd filters). When I want to use the amp at moderate volumes, I prefer the NOS tubes cuz they really sound open and airy. But, most of the time, I'm wanting to crank the amp and I think this is where the Russian Tung-Sols really win out: Not as harsh and brittle on the top when cranked, creamy, tighter bass response, more clean headroom and dynamics, seems like a watt or two more power, though I have not actually documented this. They are set up to take a max plate voltage of 500V, so they are good to go in blackface type circuits too.

Compared to my NOS Tung Sols, well, they are pretty different, although I do think the old Tung Sols have a tighter bass response than my old RCA's. So, I guess that's one thing that the New Sensor TS's share with the old ones. But the new ones are a larger bottle. And they sound darker/smoother... not as "open sounding" as the NOS TS's.

Sorry for the long post. I was as curious as you are about these tubes and, once I took the plunge, decided to spend the time comparing them to the NOS stuff I had. I never thought that I would choose them over the NOS!!! But they seem to sound a bit better for the way I'm playing right now. I've also used the 5881's made by Russian Tung-Sol and those sound awesome in my blackface Bandmaster. Similar smooth, creamy distortion character and both the 5881's and the 6V6's have held up great for months of floggin! I'm just real happy that we can still get tubes this good for our amps!

Hope this helps out some.

[JC@]

Howdy Howard-
The Russian (New Sensor) Tung-Sol 6V6's feel more dynamic and seem to have better bass response. They don't seem to squash as early as the NOS tubes. Mine lack a bit of the top end sparkle and shimmer of the NOS tubes, but they make up for it in the creaminess of the top when cranked.

...When I want to use the amp at moderate volumes, I prefer the NOS tubes cuz they really sound open and airy. But, most of the time, I'm wanting to crank the amp and I think this is where the Russian Tung-Sols really win out: Not as harsh and brittle on the top when cranked, creamy, tighter bass response, more clean headroom and dynamics...

And they sound darker/smoother... not as "open sounding" as the NOS TS's.

...Similar smooth, creamy distortion character and both the 5881's and the 6V6's...

That's exactly what I found with the older Reflector's military EL84 equivalent.
Funny. Your hearing must be very similar to mine I guess, or there is something more about it than a simple coincidence.

I like lower values in the signal bypass caps for these Russian tubes, like .01 or .015 instead of the usual .022, and never .047

[soundmasterg]

Every one of the New Sensor made 6V6 types including the Sovtek, EH, and Tung-Sol reissue brands all suffer from the same problem, and that is that their screen grid retaining pins are about half the size they should be. They are all too thin and they fail when the tube is exposed to large current swings. There is some info, including pictures on the Amp Workshop site under a post by Tremo. The TS reissue 6V6's do sound good, but will probably fail under heavy use just like the other New Sensor manufactured 6V6's. See the link:

http://p210.ezboard.com/fampworkshop...icID=581.topic
http://p210.ezboard.com/fampworkshop...icID=525.topic

THe other offerings from the new Tung-Sol stuff like their 5881, 12AX7, and 6550 are GREAT however.

Greg

[Corona Blue]

Thanks, that was an interesting read, none of which I knew. Strange that they don't fix the issue.

In terms of durability, I feel compelled to say that I've had these reissue Tung Sol 6V6's in my 5E3 clone now for about 6 months and I play it up at near max volume a couple times a week, for 3-4 hours at a time. So far so good. I'm real happy with the way they sound. They seem to sound a bit less like old 6V6's and a bit more in the direction of a 6L6. Rounder sounding. I was thinking about trying some TAD 6V6's next time. They look well built in those pics you linked to.

[Euthymia]

I think the Tung-Sol reissue 6V6's sound great.

I also like the 6V6EH, used them in many repairs and have never seen any durability issues.

"Rod size" notwithstanding....