Will be interested in hearing your opinion of the Tekton Lore's after you have them and they have settled in.

Hi Everyone...... Dennis announced a new phono pre! There were some here asking him for this a while back. Here's what he says and some photos (evidently with a faceplate still to add). No other info or pricing:




http://i.imgur.com/LaPQreEl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xHgI3iPl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1hcaeNul.jpg

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Nice! If I were still doing vinyl I'd go for it in a heartbeat. :music:

Peter, please report to the Audio Porn police.

6F8G Tube
 

The 6F8G is a 6SN7 with an anode cap. You need a socket converter to use it.
They are less expensive than their 6SN7 counterpart. So why use it? Because, for example, you can get a round plate Tung Sol 6F8G for a lot less than a 6SN7. Ditto for other versions. I would not use this if you have little kids at home due to the voltage at the cap.

http://i61.tinypic.com/ek19uw.jpg

BTW, the TS 6AR4's are settling in and they sound superb single run ended. :thumbsup: :music: They will probably last 4ever too.

Stuff like this is just one of the reason I love tube stuff. I just think it's crazy that some rectifier or power tube from JAN 1942 stock I've got in an amp/preamp could've been in a battleship in WWII. Such a cool connection with the past that's more than just looking at a picture. What great engineering that these things still WORK after sitting around for so long!

Great story - thanks for sharing!

I can't help but wonder what these tubes cost to produce back then. A product of Cold War paranoia for your listening enjoyment. :D Western Electric made all the internals and TS assembled them. At $20 or so they are a bargain. Dennis said they would likely last 'forever'. I don't usually recommend tubes but these are absolutely wonderful. Texture, detail and depth in spades.

The *ube Store has NOS for 19.95. Use them with a 5U4G.

I think you mean a 350A, no?

Yes, 350A. Dennis is building a couple of amps with this tube. I also read that the rounded plate, 1951 or 1952, version sounds better but cannot confirm. I don't have those. I put GL KT77's in after these and was underwhelmed. YMMV.

2002 post from another forum:

"Hello; I've been doing some experimenting with these two types; I got a box of Tung Sol 6AR6s that look like Western Electric 350Bs in a small bottle, and a quad of the Bendix 6384. Having read the raves and ludicrous claims some sellers use to push the 6384, I was predisposed to dislike it; then I got my quad in the mail. WOW! I instantly looked down my nose at the puny-looking Tung Sols. Then I A/B compared quads in a modified Dynaco ST 70 (ARC mod) WOW again! Let me first say that either of these tubes is so amazing that I simply couldn't believe it!! They reminded me of a Western Electric 350B, with about 50% more power. The soundstaging, treble shading and "airiness" are unbelievable, as is the warmth and musicality of the midrange. As the day progressed, I began to develop a decided preference for the Tung Sol! The Bendix is strong, great bass, but HARSH highs! Kinda reminded me of the Tung Sol 5881, ironically. The Tung Sol 6AR6 was built by TungSol under license from Bell Labs, the original designers. The cathode chemistry and metals purity, according to the guy I bought my quad from, are straight W.E. quality. At the end of the day, I completely dismissed the Bendix; I never would have believed this, given it's incredible appearance and implied build quality, but the Tung Sol makes MUSIC wheras the Bendix produces AC voltage waveforms. The 6AR6 is directly competitive sonically with a 1950s Western Electric 350B; I have owned both and can say this with experience to back it. Best of all, the Tung Sol handle 630VDC plates and 300 VDC screens; basically 350 type "A" W.E. ratings, with no anode cap and a nice small bottle. If someone put a NOS quad of Tung Sol 6AR6 and a quad of 1950s 350Bs in front of me, my head would reach for the Westerns (my wallet, too!) but my ears favor the 6AR6. I'm going to adapt my ARC D76 to use them; at 585 plate volts and regulated 300 volt screens, I will get about 45-50 watts continuous, but watts are only a small part of what the 6AR6 makes. What a tube! I paid $32 with shipping for an NOS quad of 1952 Tung Sols in crisp boxes. If I can work out a means of running 4 per side in the D76, I'm going to stop worrying about 6550 types forever!"

Another 2002 post, same author.

"The TungSol 6AR6 continues to blow my mind; forget the Bendix 6384 completely-- the TungSol has an organic, natural, smooth presentation while the Bendix is hard, metallic in the treble and thin in the upper midrange. The 6AR6 completely blows away 1960s GEC KT66, Mullard EL34 and EL37, and any 6L6 ever made. Using octal adaptors I installed 8 6AR6 in a friend's Audio Research D115; the results were incredible! $48 worth of tubes held their own against the $800+ TungSols in sonics, but were a bit down on power. The sound is more textured and deep, rather like a GEC KT88 or Western Electric 350B. As far as medium-power beam tetrodes are concerned, the $6-$15 6AR6 is every bit as good as the $125 Genelex KT66 and 99.99% of the way to the $300 Western Electric 350B. That's close enough for me!"

After spending more time with this tube..nothing has changed. It's quite good.

I also got a pair of matched and tested Shuguang black glass 6V6's and they, for $25 or so are also very good. No they are not Pope's but work well for casual listening.

You might want to try the 807 tube. It is quite nice too! 807 to 6L6 adapters are available on that auction site.