Guitar Amp Power Tube Comparison Listening Session
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ต.ค. 2024
- In this video, we will compare the sonic differences between 11 types of power tubes in a single-ended guitar amp: 5881, 6L6GC, 6V6GT, EL84, EL34, 6CA7, KT66, KT77, KT88, 6550, and 7581A. Below is a link to a free .pdf to take notes to help evaluate each tube.
www.insideoutg...
I highly recommend doing this comparison in a critical listening environment as some differences can be quite nuanced.
Clean amp examples:
2:44 7581A
3:10 EL84
3:36 6V6GT
4:02 6L6GC
4:28 KT66
4:54 EL34
5:20 6CA7
5:46 6550
6:12 KT88
6:38 KT77
7:04 5881
"Edge-of-breakup" examples:
7:49 7581A
8:19 EL84
8:49 6V6GT
9:19 6L6GC
9:49 KT66
10:19 EL34
10:50 6CA7
11:20 6550
11:50 KT88
12:20 KT77
12:50 5881
Maxed amp examples:
13:30 7581A
14:17 EL84
15:06 6V6GT
15:54 6L6GC
16:42 KT66
17:30 EL34
18:18 6CA7
19:06 6550
19:54 KT88
20:43 KT77
21:31 5881
Copyright © 2023 Colin Sapp. All rights reserved.
www.insideoutguitar.com
Spread love not hate.
Thanks for making this video I can't imagine the undertaking it was to produce, film and edit. The 6V6 has a noticeable bottom end I don't think any other tube compared to. I'm a classic EL 34 guy myself seeing as I play heavier music but it was interesting to hear the characteristics of other tubes. Thanks for the work my friend..
great video! some examples stood out to my ear, maybe subtly, but still noticeable mostly in overtones on the maxed setting of each. thanks for putting this together!
Awesome video, Colin! Really enjoyed listening to each example. My favorite tube was the 6CA7, followed closely by the KT77. I have never heard of either of those tubes (or a lot of the tubes in this video, actually). I appreciate you taking the time to make something so comprehensive, so we could really listen to the subtle differences between each power tube. I cannot wait to see what you put out next!
That was very interesting! Thanks. For me, the best all rounder was the 6V6. It maintained clarity without being harsh in the high end. And it was at less "honky" in the mid-range. Another standout was the 6CA7.
DAM DUDE ! THAT TOOK A LOT OF WORK TO DO !
Thanks for all that and sharing this. Very well done.
As for my feedback, I listened carefully with my studio monitors that always seem to bring me musical information on songs that I never notice before. Trusty little things.
Anyway, here is my take on what I heard.
I started off by thinking I am sitting down at a club, there is a band ready to play and the guitar player starts off the 1st tune. ( Thats is your playing )
Now being a musician, I have a deeper ear than a regular person in the audience but for the most part, What will turn my head towards you when you start playing.
I tried to make this simple.
First the sounds that attracted me the most were from these mikes ( No favorable order )
- 7581 sonic, bright enough and did not seem to hold back your attempt to play the amp
- 6V6 Always seems to get the job done. Does not compress and sonic tones all there
- 6L6 Your basic American live guiar sound. No fuss but live, it allows the mids to be there
- EL34 Sweet sound and again does not seem to fight the guitartist and holds all tones well
- KT88 Gave a slight brittish sound but still held a good amount of Guitar control, no fuss.
The rest were very good but held back the attraction for the player. Its like it was an amp that didnt bring everything the guitar player wanted but was good enough for the show.
I will say the wors was the 6ca7 being small it had its limits.
Thanks again for sharing this video. Going to share it with my musician buddies.
I agree with @jonnychrist69 the 6V6 has a little something extra than all the rest. Thanks for the vid, well produced, cheers!
thank you!!! Well done.
Liked and subscribed for what you played in the clean example. Liked the el84’s and kt88s the most.
I saved this video for later comparisons. A useful tool.
I hadn't realized what a KT88 fan I am! Would love to have this comparison repeated with a push-pull amp, but am guessing that'd be far more difficult to set up. Going to watch all your other videos now (this was my first).
This Video is remarkable, Thank You
I recently bought my first tube amp, and I just can't get it to sound right for what I do. It's already got a set of EL34s, but they're a little too bright, and lack the low-end I need for playing baritone. In this comparison, the 6CA7 has a low end that's more pronounced, and a less brittle high-end, which I'd normally cut quite a bit anyways, but cutting too much sounds muddy. I believe, based off of this comparison alone, I'll be trying out some 6CA7s. Thank you for doing the hard work comparing them so that people like me can get right to finding tones that suit what we do.
Excellent Tonal presentation! I use 6V6s and EL34S In our stereo amps. I know that was a lot of work. Well done!
The EL34 is hard to beat when driven into distortion 👍
Excellent content Colin! Always been a fan of EL34s. Hope you are well mate! 🙂
The 7581, 6l6gc and KT66 had a similar tone with slight variances. The 6V6GT have a very unique sound of its own. The EL84 stood out because it had the stereotypical jangle they are known for. The EL34, 6CA7 and KT77 were similar up to a point, but the 6ca7 had slight 6L6GC thing to it. The 6550 sounded like a big 6L6GC. And the KT88 were similar to the 6550 but with more midrange, something I also noticed about the KT66 when compared to the 6L6GC and 7581, it had more midrange than the other two. The differences between tubes in my opinion are not huge, only slight. Someone in an audience would not be able to tell much. Tubes are fascinating, because they can change the sound of your amp ever so slightly, especially preamp tubes. Old technology that is fun.
The differences are so minute that I conclude it's not the tubes that make the sound of an amp.
all sound very similar besides EL84 that really stands out with its distinct characteristics
EXACTLY!
A speaker swap is where you get the proper differences, as it is the actual unit that produces the sound/moves the air.
This is next level tone junkie geekery and I love it so much. Hats off to you, good sir
Muy buen trabajo!!!
That was very cool. By the way your amp sounds great. I have done some controlled shootouts in the past and one question i have for you: do you think it's a better comparison to fix a variable like plate current to get "same conditions" on every tube? OR... to optimize the bias for each tube so you get it in what seems to be each tube's sweet spot? I know there's subjectivity in that. But in a real world situation people will likely or at least hopefully have their amp biased "right" for the tube. I just wonder if the choice of controlled variable leads to some of these tubes operating closer or farther from their sweet spot. Thanks again!!
I was looking for a video that could demonstrate the differences between Power Tubes. Overall, I did get some good ideas of what Tubes I might want to use in the future, I did find it rather difficult to assess some of the sounds. This wasn't so much an issue with the Tubes themselves, but the choice of scales and chords used in this demonstration. My issue was that there was almost too much Jazz style scales and chords used, which added a lot of dissonance in the video. I would suggest using simpler chords and scales in any other video going forward. Simple major or minor scales and chords might be more appropriate for this purpose. It's just a suggestion.
Same output transformer load for all tubes? So it is optimized better for some tubes and not others?
Noob question: why 6L6 is very popular used in high gain amps?
I was looking for a high gain amp so i focus on 6L6 like Triple Rec or 5150. I own a VOX AC15 C2 which has EL34. It wont do much gain i need
But in this video i hear other tubes that are sound better or similar with 6L6 for my needs
The 6V6 is the best clean. I liked it distorted too but the other tubes had more treble
I am interested in the amp you built. Did you get an videos from the build process? Did you install extra types of tube sockets?
Nice Fazio shirt! 💪🏽👊🏽
P.S. I also like the 5881 maxed. It was very balanced.
5881 Clean KT66 dirty for that particular amp sounds wonderful.
I'm a KT66 fan for everything. The old Shuguang KT66 featured here does sound very full, tight and round, but I compare everything to the JJ 6CA7 and the 6CA7 has a certain umph and exciting dynamic character I like for everything as well. Maybe just not as rich for cleans. I have also imprinted on the 6CA7 character because I had a pair of Sylvania in a late 70s HiWatt DR103 1x12 combo from '79 to '84. I paid $300 in excellent cond and sold it for $250. I still dream about finding that amp.
Sounds like the JJ is doing it for you.@@GCKelloch
@@BradRocker Yes, in this case. I also like their KT88 and KT77. Weird, because I don't generally like JJ tubes in comparison videos. I do like the ShuGuang KT66 for the most part, but I've preferred the smoother GL KT66 in the few comparisons I've heard. I think it's better for a cranked JTM45/100. The ShuGuang has a parameter spec that makes it a bit more chirpy like a 6L6GC. I think it has to do with resonance damping. Still a very nice sounding tube.
The 6CA7 just has a certain "whomp" and a round clip knee none of the others quite have. Like it breaks up later, yet rounder, giving it a more punchy/lively dynamic. It's like the opposite of the EL84, which breaks up evenly throughout the dynamic range. It generates the most upper harmonics, but lacks the whomp factor, which may have to do with compression.
Thank you for your explanation. Good details to know for sure.
@@GCKelloch
Very cool. It's a bit tricky because the output and character varies between tubes. FI, the KT77 sounded loudest and EL84 the quietest, but has the most harmonics. The different tubes also have different voltage limits. That being said, I kinda' like the JJ 6CA7 for all gain levels, but the KT66 is just awesome. Both have a bold round chime and fat punchy bass. A bit smoother than the KT88, less compressed than the 6550, and the KT77 is maybe a bit too "refined" (some might say "sterile"). The 7581A definitely beats the 6L6GC for me. I'm not big on EL34's, but it's too bad this didn't include the TAD Redbase EL34. The Redbase 6V6GT-STR is very round, and cleaner than I expected. The 5881 is pretty nice, but more compressed than I like in a tube.
Man, the KT88 really stands apart. Balanced and broad.
There seems to be a tube missing from this comparison... The 7591A
Yes, it's pinout is different.
The speaker and cab make more difference i think
Careful now.... Cork Sniffers do not take kindly to scientific facts...
It shines too bright of a light on their ignorance and their misplaced money on NOS tubes, making the Trolls come out from underneath their bridge...
This was interesting, BUT the quality of you tube audio across internet really isn’t good enough to be able to judge the differences properly. What I took from this video is that listening in this way suggests the differences are subtle, but might not be if you were in the room with the amp. I was also interested why you chose to run the tubes at the same idle current. I think this would put an el84 and a 6l6 (for example) at different levels of dissipation, so despite best intentions it’s not really comparing like with like. I appreciate you are probably trying to help someone who is thinking “how would different tubes sound in my amp”, but that in itself is not a simple thing. It seems to me that in building an amp that there are many things that you would want or need to change to suit particular tubes.
Are you serious? ...not changing the bias when swapping power amp tubes?
IOW: Only the original tube that the amp is designed for is biased correctly and has correct plate dissipation, but all the other tubes are mis-biased and get the wrong plate voltage.
This is a great way to get perfectly flawed test results.
(COLIN: If you would be so kind as to share your thoughts on this.) I was wondering about that too, but some of the other testers do the same thing. Personally I could not understand about leaving the bias current equal as when I swap power tubes out of my linear ham amp, the output would be quite remarkable by not changing the bias. OTOH the object is to run those amp linear.
Remove the visuals. Try again.
Strangest choice of notes I've ever heard. None of the chord changes make any musical sense? Weird. thanks for the video though.
How does one determine "musical sense"?
Knowing what I know about guitar strings...the worst possible guitar string for demoing sound is probably the GHS Boomers. WHY would you use those? That fact alone ruins this whole test for me.
Hmm, interesting. David Gilmour made some of the best sounding and selling albums ever with GHS Boomers. Please enlighten us on why these strings are so bad.
Like the kt88 best
I like it a lot, too. A/B it with the 6CA7 though. Both very good and very similar sounding JJ tubes. I think the 6CA7 has a slightly smoother break up character.