6L6WGC/5881 Tube choices for Amp

Funny feeling, do you think Magico - :) had anything to do with it?

No not at all. There are people so proud they own a product that they believe there is no better therefore everything else is junk. In this hobby I have never met anyone who hears the same as me and knows what I expect from sound reproduction. You should have seen the cr@p I got on a Dynaudio forum when I said I found a better speaker than the Dyn C1 signature being the D1. It was a LOT worse than what we saw here. I still post there too because for the money I still believe Dynaudio has the best price to performance ratio. But the Raidho sound just haunted me for months. One member who posted like MB1 finally came here to buy some Dyn C2 Platinum's and finally heard the D2's and was shocked how good the D2's sounded. But has 3 boys to put through college. He also bought a pair of Scansonic MB-1.5's for his office and started a new Raidho/Scansonic thread on that forum.

I found the Raidho superior, in every aspect.

I disagree. The Magico has better bass extension. Fine sounding speaker but the Magico sound just didn't draw me into the music like Raidho does. I do agree that for what the Raidho does do it's much better.

Xti16 - Indeed, i feel a music should be able to reproduce magic some aspect atleast for it to be declared "superior in every aspect" did not find that in magico the bass modules are better, but no insight to the music like
the D2.

Back to Tube Discussions - Guys the manufacturer says 6L6WGC by sovtek is probably the best, and moost durable - theres one german manufacturer who also makes 6L6WGC - but at this point i am confused which is superior, manufacturer says sovtek is better? that disqualifies other tubes?

Thegoodarcher Like I said I can't help with 6L6 tubes. My amp uses EL34-6550-KT88-KT90-KT120 and KT150.
That said I do own SED tubes (not Sovtek) and for the money they were a very good tube. Not great and IMO not the most durable either but a really good value.

manufacturer says sovtek is better

Could be that the amp was designed and spec'ed for Sovtek's. Which usually means they last longer too. The original Octaves were designed and spec'ed for the SED and the later versions were designed for other brands.

I'll bet that the stock tubes are Sovteks. The cynic in me would ask "why would a manufacturer admit that they are not using the very best tubes to begin with and that they will simply use a good solid tube that is cost effective and reliable?". Nothing wrong with that; and to be expected. Welcome to the world of tube rolling. Only you can decide what sounds best. Personally, and in my experience, the Sovtek is clearly sonically inferior to the Svetlana Winged. Good luck.

01-04-15: Frogman
I'll bet that the stock tubes are Sovteks. The cynic in me would ask "why would a manufacturer admit that they are not using the very best tubes to begin with and that they will simply use a good solid tube that is cost effective and reliable?". Nothing wrong with that; and to be expected. Welcome to the world of tube rolling. Only you can decide what sounds best.

I think the answer is simple
1-Profit
2-Does it sound bad? - No Then proceed to #1
3-Could it sound better? - Yes Then proceed to #2
That said manufacturers have to what look at what is available today and guess for tomorrow. That can be a real cr@p shoot.