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For Tube Folks...

Hi All,

I am rather new to tube gear and recently purchased a 'NOS' GE 6550 Power Tube. 

 

A. It was advertised as:  "New old stock in original or OEM box. A nice USA tube that will outperform any current production 6550 made. An excellent lot, matched to within 5 percent and then aged in a hi-fi shop demo unit. Very low hours, burn-in time only, and the performance has been verified by us..."

B. The seller also sells used GE6550 tubes that are advertised as: "Light use, tested good with good match, and white box..."

 

The large black spot on the glass where it GE is etched makes wonder how many hours of usage this tube has seen...

My question -  Within reasonable certainty, is this tube is NOS or is it USED?  

Thanks in advance for any clarity.

 

 

inagroove

Showing 1 response by daveyf

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
3,012 posts
 

I still own a quad of matched GE 6550’s. I have them because they are a superb sounding tube and quite robust. I removed them from a Melos tube amp that I bought new and that used these as the power tubes. Replaced them after just a few hours use with a quad of KT88’s, which gave me a little more power.

If the GE 6550’s that you bought work well in your system, then you have some of the best power tubes out there. I went through a number of tube amps in the interim years, some with Winged C 6550’s, still have the GE’s to this day..if that tells you something.

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