Quote:
Originally Posted by scoots
hey, one more question. i was looking through the kca nos site last night and they have these groove tube 6l6chp's. they recommend these for the deluxe/devilles. does anyone have any experience with these. why would certain tubes be recommend for certain(this) amps. why would these tubes be suggested for this amp. do they offer more headroom? better sound? are they "designed" for these amps? are they a different tube with the groove tube logo stamped over it?aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!
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Hi Scoots
Give him a call, he has a rep for being very helpful. He'll have his reasons. I see he says they are "high power;" maybe he means they can handle the 485V in the Deville.
Output tubes aren't quite a religious discussion, but you will encounter strong opinions.
As far as I know the only tube designed specifically for a particular guitar amplifier (or a guitar amp at all) was the GE6550A for the Fender 400PS. Look at Rich Koerner's site for a very interesting explanation why this was necessary.
Having said that, in the end your ears are what counts. If you don't want to drop a bundle right now on a dozen different matched pairs, then you'll have to rely on other people's opinions and your own experience over the next few years. As a rough guide, look at this document ->
http://www.tube-town.net/info/doc/tt-tubemap.pdf
but don't take it as holy writ; at most it can give you a general idea what different tubes will sound like, and it isn't complete, since it only includes the brands in his shop.
Another resource is Watford Valves in the UK; they have done some interesting testing and put the results on their web page. Go here and read:
http://www.watfordvalves.com/reports.asp
Reading is cheaper than buying, and will give you an idea where to start.
I use, depending on my mood when I buy the tubes, either TAD (Shugang) 6L6WGC (in there now, but soon to be replaced), SED, or JJs. Others like Sovtek, EH, TungSol (all from the Reflektor factory), or GTs (manufactured by whoever). Some put KT66s in there. It's hard to say.
I guess this isn't much help. One thing to keep in mind is that you may be after maximum clean headroom, but a lot of people want early power tube saturation (distortion) and these are obviously two things which are not like each other. The market for distortion may be bigger than the market for clean, so if you contact Mike at KCA make sure you tell him you are looking for maximum clean.
steven