Rolling Power Tubes

heiney9

The Voshkod 6N1P-EV from the 60's and 70's is a very nice tube, especially since they are fairly inexpensive. I have a pair from 1966 or 1968 and they were a little more expensive than the mid 70's ones I have. They don't have as large a soundstage as say a Telefunken or a Holland manufactured tube but they have a little more dynamics and are little more aggressive. I like them for listening to hard rock style music, like AC/DC. Not so much for vocal music or jazz or acoustic. The others I mention are much better at the subtleties in those types of music.

H9

inspiredsports

I purchased those same tubes on George's recommendation when I purchased the VTL ST-50 from him. They are very good, especially considering the price, however . . .

If you are going to go down the 6L6 path, (and in my opinion the 6P3SE sounds most like a 6L6) what is your budget? I have tried both mid 50's gray plate RCA 6L6's and my current mid 50's 6L6GC black plates which in my opinion are even better. You will pay up, but these are "best of breed" tubes.

heiney9

IMO, there isn't a better 6L6 or 6V6 than the 50's RCA black plates. The only exception being the Bendix 5992 for a 6V6. I need a quad and I'm not thrilled to spend $400-500 for a used quad of the Bendix's.

H9

heiney9

The RCA 6L6 and 6V6 were heavily used in guitar amps in the 50's-70's so they are starting down that road of scarcity and the price is slightly inflated because of the popularity. IIRC the RCA 6L6 is the most successful selling tube in history. So for the time being there is a lot out there, but also remember there are a lot of old guitar amps out there still too.

H9

zingo

I'm actually digging the EL34 road right now, and have a quad of Gold Lion KT77s on the way. I've heard good things about them for new tubes, and I'll be interested to compare them against other EL34s. When I first got this amp, I started rolling KT88s in it as I thought I'd like their flat response, but I know see that I like a little character to my tubes; especially after remembering that my favorite tube amp of all time was my 300B amp and that tubes sound is as far as you can get from flat and neutral.

heiney9

I like the EL34 tone also and I've used them all except "real" Mullards simply because of the cost. But I like the 6V6 even more than the EL34 and KT77. The only KT77 I've actually used is the JJ EL34L which has the same construction/envelope and plate voltage as the MOV KT77. Nice tube. Still there is something about the 6V6 that edges out the EL34. Both are very enjoyable and I switch amps often just for the heck of it.

H9

zingo

Unfortunately my amp can't run the 6V6, only a KT88, EL34, or 6L6. I would love to give them a try one day, but don't want to change amps either. :cheesygrin:

zingo

Update:The Gold Lion KT77s sound great, especially having them paired with the Gold Lion 6922. I'm still interested in try the Gold Lion KT66, but I can hold tight as the KT77s are delightful.

I just got in a quad of Voskhod 1968 6N1P-EV with chrome pins and they are very nice to listen to. They don't come up often on ebay or anywhere else, but I would highly recommend them if you find them; especially for the price. I paid $17 for them shipped from Russia, and even though I've received a bad tube or two in my dealings with Russian, most of the time the tubes have been of good quality and as described. They are nice sounding tubes, but it's also cool to have a piece of history running in your system that was destined for the space program.

marvda1

zingo, where are you getting the russian tubes from (site?)? do they replace the bad tubes? these are replacements for el34, right?
thanks

zingo

The 6N1P is a similar replacement for the 6922/6DJ8, but draws more current so not exact. I've done most of my purchasing off ebay which I have had no problems with. The bad tubes that I got were from tubes-store.com, and I have never heard back from them after multiple emails. Russian EL34s are exactly that, with no weird Russian sub like the 6SP3/6L6.