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For 6L6 tubes in my Onix SP3 I've tried a few reasonably priced New Production and Russian NOS 6L6 variants. Vintage NOS power tubes are a little too pricey for me. Here's what I've tried and what they sounded like in my system.Coin Base NOS Russian 6P3S-E (This is my current favorite, nice authority and detail through out the entire musical range - not quite as open and airy sounding as the 350B's - very reasonably priced on eBay)Valve Art 350B's (These are very airy and atmospheric, but are somewhat light in presentation, probably better with small scale acoustic music)NOS Philips 6BG6GA with Adapters (These sound nice and competent, but maybe a little too clinical. Missing some of the warmth and air of the other 2)Jim C
I would try vintage tubes for the fun of it. Early metal and ST shaped 6L6's sound good. There are several good vintage early American tubes out there for reasonable prices. The amp will go easy on tubes, so try anything out. Your amp is going to be designed around the 6L6GC & Russian 5881 tubes.
Tube rollers, what has been your experience with various tube brands? You can include 5881's and other similar tubes, like the WE350B. I never tried the Chinese reissue WE350B.
The 350B is a pentode, believe it or not. There is only one reissue made by Valve Art. They were originally made by Western Electric.
Valve Art 350B's are around $16.00 each.
I will have to give the 350B's a try! Sounds like an interesting tube.
The 6L6WXT+ is an interesting tube. It reminds me of a El34 in some respects due to the plate's structure. It's a nice, big tube internally and good for single ended applications, like the NS-15. You can never go wrong with NOS RCA 6SN7's. The GTA & GTB have a higher plate dissipation than standard 6SN7GT's.
