Tung sol 6550 tube smell??

What they said. Generally, if you look at the tube anode plates in a darkened room, they should not be glowing red, even slightly.

The ink on the tubes smells a bit when first powered up. It goes away in a few hours.

ok thanks guys, i can listen with no fear now lol

What you smell is the silk screen printing on the glass envelope curing with the heat. It will go away with use.

This is a common issue with Russian-built power tubes, but not really a problem otherwise.

I experienced the same thing when I first switched power tubes in my Jolida a while back...new KT120s. Freaked me out but it stopped, so I can only assume the tubes have some external coating or an adhesive on the tube base or something, as it happened again when I stuck a new pair of 88s in the thing. I now simply call it the "new tube smell." It went away after the tubes were in use for a day or 2 and never came back. I bias according to the amp specs, not the tube type recommendations and that seems to work for my amp as it sounds fine and the 120s are holding up well.