6H30 replacement

@astolfor

sounds like you are on the right track and you will find the answers you seek

my thought on talking to andy baumann was not to have you source ruskie 6h30’s from him, but to seek his thoughts on suitable old stock usa and euro alternatives, which i think is what you are ultimately seeking, yes? 

for example would a 7dj8/pcc88 work in your case? in modern c-j linestages that run the 6dj8’s at 6.3v and at full gain, many classic 6dj8’s lose it too soon, and as a result, it has been discovered by we c-j users that the 7dj8 is a stronger version of the same tube, can stand greater plate voltage for a much longer period and maintain top performance, and so it has become the new standard in those units

as you can imagine, anyone who has that kind of knowledge on vintage tubes is not young, and so how folks like andy they respond and how helpful they are willing to be with advice and knowledge is affected by how they are approached and asked... :)  (btw - don't get him started on old stock g-e's... hahaha)

questions like this should always be directed at the manufacturer... who would know exactly how the spec'd tube is being run, and thus what substitutes, if any, could be used

@astolfor

not sure which continent you are on

if in n america/usa, i second @tomic601 ’s recommendation re calling brent jessee... the other go-to’s are jim mcshane in illinois and andy baumann in michigan (vintage tube services) - they have been at this forever, exceptionally knowledgeable (and honest) and will tell you about 6h30 options...

if you haven't already, you might also read up on when how and why audio research went from 6dj8 input and driver tubes to pretty much exclusively 6n1p's and 6h30's for their highest tier gear... instructive...

a quick google search will yield you web and phone contacts ...

indeed jim...

one person’s bright and bleached is another person’s transparent and extended

one person’s luscious and romantic is another’s muddy and homogenized

one person’s lively and fast is another’s strident and zippy

this hobby is about defining and realizing one’s personal happiness with the music played, one’s own notion of ’just right’

i am lost all of a sudden

op was asking for 6h30 equivalents for a pathos unit

how come we are talking about 12ax7’s now?

to be honest, if it is a nice, expensive piece of tube gear, and the manufacturer or dealer won't give straight answers about how the tubes work in the circuit, and speak to reasonable substitutes (or lack thereof), it would be enough for me to move on to something else