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RE: My homemade EL34 amp sounds better with 5881s

Posted by Michael Samra (D) on April 2, 2014 at 14:38:14

In Reply to: My homemade EL34 amp sounds better with 5881s posted by PeterI on April 2, 2014 at 13:38:39:

Of course it sounds better..It's a 6L6..No bias on my part..LOL

Anyway,I have found the same thing with the stock Dyna st70 where the 5881s sounded better IMHO.The same holds true with the VTA version.

Here is the thing Pete.EL34s typically load from 4.2k to 5k at about 420vdc on their plates. The 6L6 family, typically loads at 6.6k.
The 5881 if you look at the tube data,would have you closer to optimal operating points if you drop the B+ to about 380vdc at the plates.
Are you running an ultra linear or pentode circuit?

5881 Application Data
Class Va Vg2 Vg1 Ia Ig2 Ra S Zout Pout
A S/E 350 250 -18.0 53.0 2.5 48,000 5.2 4,200 11.3
A S/E 250 250 -14.0 75.0 4.3 30,000 6.1 2,500 6.7
AB1 P/P 360 270 -22.5 88.0 5.0 3,800 18.0
AB1 P/P 360 270 -22.5 88.0 5.0 6,600 26.5

"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

Edits: 04/02/14

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