opinions on ruby tubes please

First, understand that Ruby Tubes is not a tube manufacturer. They are a tube testing service - and a very fine one at that. They re-brand tubes from different manufacturers, so you need to find out who really made the tubes in question, prior to judging them against another manufacturer's tubes.

There is no way your guy is going to put in NOS GE power tubes and not charge you more - they will cost at least four or five times more than the tubes you got. You'll have to adjust your expectation, if that was truly what you believed.

- Thom

 

i just put 3 ruby tubes 12at7s in my blues deluxe... they all turned out to be JJs so im pretty happy with that... cant complain honestly

 

I had a tech do the same, he put Ruby 6V6 power tubes in my original Deluxe Reverb.

You know what? They sound very good for the price. Actually, they sound good with out regard for the price. I have some question about whether they will hold up to the plate voltages of an old blackface amp. A lot of modern power tubes (6V6 anyway - which is NOT what you have) will not have a long life in old Fenders. JJ's seem like good choices for this application.

For your Twin, I dunno. The Ruby tubes were probably reasonable things for the tech to install to complete your repair. If you don't like them, they were probably $20 or less. You'll just need to re-bias the amp if you change to NOS tubes. Maybe the tech will help you with that.

 

probably Chinese tubes, definitely screened by Ruby.. I have no complaints in regards to Ruby Tubes as they've served me well.

 

I had a pair of Chinese Ruby 6L6s in my VR when I got it - they didn't sound terrible and lasted a fair while before they started getting dull.

FWIW, Ruby seems to be selective and you hear far less horror stories than some other tube rebranders. In fact I can't remember a one on this site, in many years. Some Chinese tubes are tough, even tougher than other modern manufacture, and the 6550s/KT88s seem very popular with hifi glass audio nuts.

 

Ruby is a test house and re labeler just like GT. They do a good job. I'm NOT fond of their Chinese power tubes, but the others are fine.

 

Suggest you talk to your tech about the experience his customers have had with the Ruby tubes. He's probably stuffed a few into sockets. I had a very good tech in Austin work on an amp for me, and in some cases, they're as good as you're going to get for anywhere near reasonable coin.

 

I guess I am lucky while my tech friend tested my tubes I am using for my amp build a pair of winged C's and a Mesa and a Groove tube 6l6's and they tested good and he does more than the standard testing with them he also has plenty of good used and NOS tubes available. So for me getting good tubes or having them tested under a load is not an issue.

 

svetlana power tubes are awesome but try to get a tested, matched pair

vintage tone, vintage tube

 

I have Ruby 6L6's in a 1964 BandMaster. I have gigged with this amp and had no issues. Mine are Chinese. They were inexpensive tubes and they sound OK.

 

Ruby tubes came in my new Supro amp. They sound great. I love the amp!

 

I prefer the sound of Ruby 6L6's in my VR and TR over some other brands I've tried... sweet tone and long lasting. Recently put Ruby 6V6's in an old PR and they sound wonderful. I know they are a rebrander but good is good.
YMMV

 

After 12 long years, it is again Ruby tubes day.

 

Howdog, good one! That deserves a listen....






As to tubes, as noted in post #7 long ago, Ruby, GT, Audio Glassic and some others are re-branders. They sell tubes made by JJ, Russian manufactures, and Chinese manufacturers. I have seen people who did not like JJ tubes buy Ruby tubes to replace the JJs only to spend money buying rebranded...wait for it.......JJ tubes just like the ones they did not like. And surprise....they liked the Ruby tubes better!! Eeeehaw.....
when replacing power t7bes...cathode or fixed bias circuits...the amp is rebiased by the tubes’ performance specs. If you have an adjustable fixed bias circuit, one can set the bias to get to the same plate dissipation and therefor make a good comparison between different brands..manufacturers. A cathode biased amp is not adjustable, so one needs to f8nd what plate dissipation they like in that amp and buy tubes that will yield that operational spec. Matched tubes....from old to new....sets buy the same performance specs.
Different bias levels can make more difference than different brands of tubes, ime.

 

My only experience with them is the ones that came in the Supro I bought at the end of November.

They sounded fine, but rattled like freakin crazy. Any volume on the amp at all and they sounded like little metallic maracas playing in the background. I replaced them right out of the box. Sonically they seemed fine. I just couldn’t deal with the ridiculous rattle. Especially on a brand new amp.

 

I don't have anything to add beyond what's been said. However, the first question that came to my mind is why were the tubes replaced? What were in the amp and how do you know they needed replacement? Sometimes old stock/original tubes get replaced when not necessary. Not saying your tech did anything underhanded but I always want to get old tubes/parts back (unless they obviously failed).

 

The Ruby labeled JJ EL84s were always cheaper than regular JJs offered at most other vendors. Back in the 90s I thought their chinese 12ax7s were good sounding tubes. They were cheap and I wish I would've bought a pile of them back then. My last one gave up a couple years ago and I miss the sound.

 

6 month warranty! Whats not to like!

 

I don't have recent experience with Ruby, but I had a built-to-order amp with all the preamp and PI tubes Ruby 7025STR. I'm pretty sure that they were Chinese as neither the Russian or Slovakian factories do STR's (special tube request) variations. They were great sounding tubes. It seems that they are no longer available, but I was impressed that Ruby did such a good job at selection and wouldn't hesitate to buy Ruby tubes again.