What are your favorite 6V6 tubes?

[StingRay85]

6V6GTA from RCA

 

[Mark_G]

I had great experience with original RCA (US made) 6V6's. After that, Sylvania and GT's (rebranded) and in more recent times JJ and Ruby did the job for a variety of tubes in general. I recently got a pair of Electro-Harmonix branded 6V6's and so far, so good. But they aren't time-tested enough for me to really feel confident in recomendng them.

 

[DirtySteve]

So my Raytheon 6V6s came today and swapped them out with the JJs. It seems they might be a little more musical (sweeter/smoother) in the top end and a little less as thick in the bottom end compared to the JJs, but overall not very much of a noticeable difference. I guess the JJs were ok, but these sound a tad nicer so I'm glad I got them.

 

[DirtySteve]

BTW @fitz , that boomy bass I talked about at the beginning of this thread when you asked me those questions, I took that Canadian Mallard out of the PI and the boomy bass went away. I guess I put that in there the same time I swapped the power tubes and just wasn't thinking about the pres anymore so I blamed it on the power tube swap. That tube sounds good in my SC20, but not so much in this amp.

 

[fitz]

BTW @fitz , that boomy bass I talked about at the beginning of this thread when you asked me those questions, I took that Canadian Mallard out of the PI and the boomy bass went away. I guess I put that in there the same time I swapped the power tubes and just wasn't thinking about the pres anymore so I blamed it on the power tube swap. That tube sounds good in my SC20, but not so much in this amp.

You've got a unique amp there Steve.
My NMV amps tend to react more to different tubes than my MV's
Even when I have an idea to try a certain tube in a certain place, while I'm in there I usually try a bunch of different tubes to see what works best.
Sometimes something I know I didn't like the last time, now seems to work because I changed speakers since then.
Like cooking and throwing in whatever you have till it tastes good.

 

[DirtySteve]

You've got a unique amp there Steve.
My NMV amps tend to react more to different tubes than my MV's
Even when I have an idea to try a certain tube in a certain place, while I'm in there I usually try a bunch of different tubes to see what works best.
Sometimes something I know I didn't like the last time, now seems to work because I changed speakers since then.
Like cooking and throwing in whatever you have till it tastes good.

Yeah, this amp is very sensitive to tubes, way more than thought before I started trying to get it up and running again. I played this amp for 10 years and never questioned the tubes once I put in what Marty recommended (out of the tubes he sent me) when I first built it. Of course I never suspected I had a power tube dying when I finally started to roll preamp tubes to see if that was the issue. Right now it sounds better than it ever has!

 

[Wildeman]

I've mostly just used JJ's in my Haze15 and never had an issue with them.
Only other 6V6 amp I had was the Egnater Rebel that had both 6V6 & EL84 with a blend knob for either-or and in between (also all JJ).

Still have the stock Shuguang 6V6GT's from the Haze that I took out a long time ago.
Black glass wide base Marshall VLVE-00038. (if you're interested)

Are you looking for brighter / darker, or tighter / looser kind of thing, or are you concerned with longevity / reliability?
Might be hard to guess how your custom amp will react to different brands.

My Haze 15 still has its stock Shugs, still kicks ass too. I have lots of 6V6s too, from new JJs to old RCAs and GEe, never felt like changing them though.

 

[johan.b]

I know I'm in minority here, but I have a pair of JAN RCA VT-107 wich is the JAN designation for metal sleeve 6v6 and they just have that "something" and are tough as nails.. I also have a pair of modern JJs which I think sound as good a most older 6v6's... my least favorit is the black glass etched with "made in USSR" from the 90's... often rebranded as GE or Fender..just meh...
There are a few sets of NOS glas such as raytheon but I never plugged them in.
J

 

[TassieViking]

I recently bought a Joyo 6V6 tube online from a music shop because the price was nearly half of what everyone else wanted for a 6V6 tube.
When I got the tube it had TAD stamped on it as well which I am hoping means Tube Amp Doctor.
It's for a single ended amp I am going to make for myself to use with stomp boxes at home.( RobRobinette amp and Sushi Box pedals)