NRTD: 6P3S matched quad

[NippleWrestler]

New Russian Tube Day.



Got a matched quad of these guys for $45 shipped off the ebay. They're a 6L6 equivalent from the Reflektor factory, who I know through Sovtek tubes. I just put them in my Dual rec and man, they kick ass. Massive balls with a big thick meaty low end. I swapped out a quad of Tung Sols that lived in there for a while and am glad I did. I ran these for an hour to see if anything weird happened, playing at moderate volume and a variety of options and they've been faultless. They're very quiet too (no weird pops, hisses, rumbling).





The OTK stamp is apparently a "checked by" moniker and not an indication of "Military spec" or whatever gets thrown around. I think it literally means someone looked at these and concluded it was in fact a tube.



Tube porn:



I just ordered another set.

[murky]

Have been wondering about those. Did you get them from Gary?

Edit: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace ... D5D018568A

[NippleWrestler]

Have been wondering about those. Did you get them from Gary?

Edit: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace ... D5D018568A

"Got a matched quad of these guys for $45 shipped off the ebay."

[MikeC]

Interesting! Did you check how they were biased in your Mesa?

[NippleWrestler]

Interesting! Did you check how they were biased in your Mesa?

Nah. The DR is fixed bias cold as from factory. My tung sols were at around 38% if memory serves so hardly any chance of running the power tubes too hot. I've got a bias mod in the works so will check then to dial it in.

[Starfire]

Can you link to the seller? Wondering if there's a 6V6 equivalent.

[NippleWrestler]

Can you link to the seller? Wondering if there's a 6V6 equivalent.

I believe that would be 6n6c tubes.

[Starfire]

Can you link to the seller? Wondering if there's a 6V6 equivalent.

I believe that would be 6n6c tubes.

Can you link to the seller?

[NippleWrestler]

Www.ebay.com

[MikeC]

Interesting! Did you check how they were biased in your Mesa?

Nah. The DR is fixed bias cold as from factory. My tung sols were at around 38% if memory serves so hardly any chance of running the power tubes too hot. I've got a bias mod in the works so will check then to dial it in.

Should be OK then but it pays to check! Cold bias on Mesa spec'd tubes may be roasting on non Mesa spec'd "foreign" tubes.

[NippleWrestler]

I have faith. 4 sets of power tubes and none of them have been Mesa. It's apathetic.

I'll need to check down the line when I install the bias pot though.

[MikeC]

I have faith. 4 sets of power tubes and none of them have been Mesa. It's apathetic.

I'll need to check down the line when I install the bias pot though.

I have a pair of bias probes that plug into your valve sockets & bring out Plate Voltage & Plate Current that is measured with 2 x multi-meters. This is an extremely accurate way to measure your Plate Dissipation using P=VI - simple! If you're in Auckland (well I'm in Red Beach) I'm happy to check it for you. No mods necessary but I suppose if you use non Mesa spec'd tubes you'll need to mod your amp to have adjustable bias at some stage.

[NippleWrestler]

I have faith. 4 sets of power tubes and none of them have been Mesa. It's apathetic.

I'll need to check down the line when I install the bias pot though.

I have a pair of bias probes that plug into your valve sockets & bring out Plate Voltage & Plate Current that is measured with 2 x multi-meters. This is an extremely accurate way to measure your Plate Dissipation using P=VI - simple! If you're in Auckland (well I'm in Red Beach) I'm happy to check it for you. No mods necessary but I suppose if you use non Mesa spec'd tubes you'll need to mod your amp to have adjustable bias at some stage.

Nice! I'm the other side of the city to you in Mt Roskill but should you ever find yourself in the area I'd love to have a coffee with you.

The mod I'm referring to is installing a bias pot instead of the 2 fixed options of 6l6 or EL34, which will finally allow some control over the tubes. Hell, maybe EL34s will sound decent in there for once.

[MikeC]

That'd be good sometime Out of interest do you have the specs on your 6P3S tubes? My understanding is that 6P3S tubes are 20W max plate dissipation and 6V6-GC's are 30W. There could be a bullet coming...

[NippleWrestler]

That'd be good sometime Out of interest do you have the specs on your 6P3S tubes? My understanding is that 6P3S tubes are 20W max plate dissipation and 6V6-GC's are 30W. There could be a bullet coming...

There's a datesheet floating about online but how relevant it is or where it even came from is open to question. I run my amp in spongy mode, which is 70w output, and use tube rectification. Anathema in recto world but sounds cool. So maybe I'm ok with 70w output and 20w x 4 tubes.