I have several amps with 6550's and have not had your problems. Maybe your tube source is questionable. Or maybe the bias levels can be changed to get better results. Sometimes a slight bias change can extend tube life. I would suggest upscaleaudio.com He tests all the tubes before selling them. I have also had succes with the pricier EI KT 90's
Am I living in a vacuum? Or has anyone noticed
Has anyone noticed the crap Svetelana is selling lately for 6550c output tubes. I purched two sets of 12 in the last 6 months, they've had a 25% failure rate within two months. My amp has been thouroughly inspected and tested.
The conclusion is that the tubes are crap. One tube lasted about twelve hours before the grid current began to cause that beautiful blue glow, followed by noise and a red hot tube, not to mention a red hot audiophile running across the living room to shut down the reactor. After pulling the suspect tube out of my amp, I noticed what looked to be like 'snow' inside of the glass. When are Svetlana going to address this current obvious lack of quality control? One tube even has minute bubbles in the glass and is 'out of round'. I'm sure this one is soon to go as well. I don't mean to rant on, but anyone out there using 6550 output tubes, or for that matter KT88 and EL34s are eventually going to require replacements, and will be at the mercy of one factory- Svetlana/Sovtec/Electro Harmonix- it's the same factory with different names on thier tubes.
Buying NOS GE6550s is not the solution, as the supply is limited and expensive. Playing with tubes like they are lightbulbs, 40$ a piece short lived lightbulbs, is not the solution either. Buying a Levinson/Krell/Rowland solid state amp will keep my tunes playing for now, and ironically seems far more economical than my current situation. However, this does seem ridiculous and should be unnecesary. Any suggestions? Anyone else noticing this trend? At what point do tube equipment manufactors light a fire under Svetlana's ass? Is anyone on the verge of ressurecting the GE tube facility, and is it even possible?
HELP!
The conclusion is that the tubes are crap. One tube lasted about twelve hours before the grid current began to cause that beautiful blue glow, followed by noise and a red hot tube, not to mention a red hot audiophile running across the living room to shut down the reactor. After pulling the suspect tube out of my amp, I noticed what looked to be like 'snow' inside of the glass. When are Svetlana going to address this current obvious lack of quality control? One tube even has minute bubbles in the glass and is 'out of round'. I'm sure this one is soon to go as well. I don't mean to rant on, but anyone out there using 6550 output tubes, or for that matter KT88 and EL34s are eventually going to require replacements, and will be at the mercy of one factory- Svetlana/Sovtec/Electro Harmonix- it's the same factory with different names on thier tubes.
Buying NOS GE6550s is not the solution, as the supply is limited and expensive. Playing with tubes like they are lightbulbs, 40$ a piece short lived lightbulbs, is not the solution either. Buying a Levinson/Krell/Rowland solid state amp will keep my tunes playing for now, and ironically seems far more economical than my current situation. However, this does seem ridiculous and should be unnecesary. Any suggestions? Anyone else noticing this trend? At what point do tube equipment manufactors light a fire under Svetlana's ass? Is anyone on the verge of ressurecting the GE tube facility, and is it even possible?
HELP!
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