Question for BAT 6H30 tube owners

check tube world... they have "r"version.....

i think $50 for a reliable premium tube is a pretty good deal.... it beats $100 - $200 for a single 6922/7308..

Mikesinger: What's the diff with the r version?? I didn't see the 6h30's on their website call em?

I retubed my vk50 se after 3.5 years of use. Could hardly tell a differnce. The original tubes were still going strong I suppose. I did buy my replacements from BAT, I didn't mind giving them a little extra $$ b/c I like the company. Anyway, I'm guessing 5+ years before you should really care about changing those 6h30's.

(fyi, I could tell a bigger difference by cleaning the tube pins and sockets that new tubes-which is something else to try for you)

I've been retubing BAT units for years now using $18 6H30s from tubestore.com. They a have premium gold-grid version for $50, which I have not tried.

Dave

BAT's versions are not items that can be obtained by any source other than BAT. This has been common knowledge for years.

Oh? Have you asked about this BAT lately?

Tabl10, I knew that BAT had purchased a lot of the 6H30's to provide to their customers of which I'm one--I bought a new VK51SE from them. Are you saying then that the tubes you buy from BAT are a different "vintage" and sonically better than what you would get from, say, The Tubestore? I'm still a little confused and have missed it if this is common knowledge. I think BAT is great to deal with but it's a pretty substanital outlay to retube with them. If they are in fact a better tube I would pay the extra and buy from BAT when the time comes. Thanks to everyone for responding.

Hello,

Please check with the fine folks from BAT on this. BAT did buy up the entire stock of the NOS 6h30 tubes. These are called the "BAT Super Tubes". They sell these with their new SE" gear and they are available to costumers at a premium price. BAT also sells other 6h30 tubes that are available from other sources. These are much cheaper. The "BAT NOS Super Tube" does sound better and it's a personal choice if you feel it's worth the extra money.

Good luck,
Tom

Thanks Tom--and again to everyone else!

I spoke today with Victor Komenko of BAT about this. He mentioned that they are almost out of stock of the NOS 6H30s and would shortly be converting to new production. He stated that his NOS versions are also available in the general market, and are designated 6H30PI-DR. He also mentioned that there is some junk out there to be avoided. He is unaware of the gold-grid version-- his versions have white grids. I can report that the Sovtek -EB version I acquired from Tubestore.com for my VK75SE sounds fine. So there it is.

Dave

Electro Harmonics makes the gold pin version of the 6H30. Works fine with BAT.

Even the REX does not come with the NOS DR tubes, only the Sovtek current production 6H30. The remaining DR tubes that Victor has will be sold by BAT separately for whatever the market will bear.

to all out there the 6h30 is now so much in demand that
ELectroharmonix -which is indeed a part of Sovtek
a little better quality control I am told. To get the most out of the tubes here is a little tweak I found and this applys to all connectors ,1st go to cvs or any drug store get 90% alcohol clean all connectors and pins , Furetech sells Nanafluid which is pure gold particles this fills in all the fractures in the pores of the metal it makes anything that comes in contact a far superior contact,for in a sub atomic level there is electrical arching,this stops this .
the tubes now sound like a good vintage or DRs and a bottle comes less than 1/2 full is $125 but well worth the effort the best on the market I have tried every top brand out there this is a permanent fix !!