6550 tubes


Hello,Out there.Has anyone found decent 6550 tube,I have tried several,Like Gold Lion KT88,Tung-Sol 6550 EH6550 Russian knock off, all of which failed within one month or DOA out of the box.
Fact is the only 6550 I found that did work for more than a month was Valve Art 6550 but has filament noise issues.
Any info would help.
350b
Hello,The problem here is not the amp I'm using. I am a certified electronic tech,I just tring to find a decent 6550 that works without any issues. I have tried several that are in production these days but found them to be not so good. I have stock on new old stock 6550. I do agree the SED 6550 are worth while do work well in AR amplifiers. Anyone try any of the new KT120 or KT150?
350b,
When I was primarily using my push pull amplifier (6550/KT88) failing tubes were a problem with various brands. I had the most sucess by far with the SED Winged C 6550. In contrast, my SET amplifier uses the 300b tubes which are 100% reliable(so far after 4 1/2 years) and are true work horses in comparison( and sound much better).
Charles,
Agree 100% with Jea48, especially re Upscale Audio. I've heard that the Russian factory that made Svetlana Winged "C" tubes burned down, but Audio Research has a supply on hand.

As Jea48 just said, Upscale Audio burns tubes in for 72 hours and does a very good job of matching, which is very important in push/pull type amps.

Don't know the amp you are using but check out Tung Sol KT-120s. ARC dropped in KT-120s as a replacement for 6550 Winged C tubes several years ago. But be careful. Not all amps can handle the extra power draw demanded by the KT-120s.

Regards,

Bruce
If you can find them NOS GE solid grey plate 6550 tubes are my favorite 6550 type power tube. Another favorite also are NOS Sylvania 6550 tubes. I've used these tubes in a Jolida JD-502P amp at various times.

If you are going to go for KT-88 type power tubes my favorites are JJ Blue Glass KT88s and the Penta Labs solid plate KT88s. I believe Doug's Tubes on Long Island has the Penta Labs in stock.