6L6WGC/5881 Tube choices for Amp

My Manley 200 mono's use eight 6l6GC/5881 each. Since purchasing the amps several years ago I have used NOS GE's, NOS Tungsol 5881's (expensive!), Sovtek's, and Svetlana Winged C. To my ears, and IN THESE AMPS, the GE's are excellent overall if slightly dry sounding, the Tungsol's are a beautiful sounding tube but ultimately too romantic and dark sounding, the Sovtek's are OK but dry sounding and a little glary. The Svetlana's are fantastic for the money (about $65 ea), and while a little brighter than the GE's, they are very smooth and overall on a par with the much more expensive GE's. A no brainer IMO. I hope this helps and good luck.

Thegoodarcher, I believe that the "W" is a military-spec designation re tighter tolerances, but same electrical characteristics and interchangeable. I am sure someone more knowledgable here can give a more detailed explanation. The Svetlana's in your link are not original Svetlana made in their St. Petersburg factory before the company was sold to US-owned Sovtek. As I am sure you are finding out there are many different opinions re the quality of tubes manufactured at different facilities even when by the same company. The general concensus is that the original St. Petersburg Svetlana's are the best. The one's in your link are not those; I referred to these:

http://www.upscaleaudio.com/sed-winged-c-6l6gc/

More expensive than when I bought mine a couple of years ago, but Kevin at Upscale Audio is as good a person to deal with and as knowledgeable as anyone, so I would encourage you to contact him.

These are described as older production as well, but if you look closely they are not the same as the one's from Upscale. Again, contact Kevin.

http://www.thetubestore.com/Tubes/6L6-5881-Tube-Types/Winged-C-SED-6L6GC

You may find this interesting:

bin/documents/testreport_44.pdf>http://www.watfordvalves.com/cgi
bin/documents/testreport_44.pdf

Lastly, and especially since you are interested in trying a different input tube, personally I would do that first. My experience IN MY AMP has been that it makes a bigger difference than the power tubes. My favorite is the W German Telefunken 12AX7. Good luck and have fun with this, you will hear many different opinions and it can get very confusing; but good tubes make a big difference and well worth the investment.

I'll bet that the stock tubes are Sovteks. The cynic in me would ask "why would a manufacturer admit that they are not using the very best tubes to begin with and that they will simply use a good solid tube that is cost effective and reliable?". Nothing wrong with that; and to be expected. Welcome to the world of tube rolling. Only you can decide what sounds best. Personally, and in my experience, the Sovtek is clearly sonically inferior to the Svetlana Winged. Good luck.

Thegoodarcher, I would refer you to your own comment:

****I currently have the stock tubes on em - not bad, but i feel with the
power tube change, things can go really sweet.****

I assume that by "sweet" you mean the sound. I am all for
following the advise of the manufacturer, but I stand by my previous
comments re manufacturer recs, and would add that nothing that they may
have said says anything about which tube sounds better. I am sure that the
Sovteks sound nice in your amp which is why it was chosen; as well as
perhaps "withstand higher plate voltage" which, again, says
nothing about the sound. As I said previously, and in the opinion of many,
the Svetlana "Winged C" is a better sounding tube than the
Sovtek in many applications (and more expensive); it clearly was better in
mine. Maybe not in yours.

A couple of things that are confusing and possibly misleading re what the
manufacturer said: Sovteks are tubes manufactured by Reflector and
branded Sovtek; same tube. I have little doubt that all of the mentioned
tubes will work fine in your amp. Which one will sound better only you will
be able to decide by trying them. Remember the manufacturer may want
the last bit of ruggedness at the expense of the last bit of sound. IMO.
Good luck.

valve.com/russtube.html>http://www.ominous-valve.com/russtube.html

I would imagine that you can probably do a little better price wise if you shop around, but as far getting tubes that are the real thing goes, as well as great advise from Kevin, this is what I would do:

http://www.upscaleaudio.com/sed-winged-c-6l6gc/

For $89/quad I would try them.

http://www.tubeman.com/item676.htm

Call/email Kevin Deal, he will give you solid answers. The plate voltage concern is an easy one, get the specs and see; personally, I think that in your cases you are worrying too much about that one issue.

http://6streetbridge.blogspot.com/2014/02/tube-review-reflektor-6p3s-e-power.html

I am surprised, but if there is any doubt I wouldn't use them.