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Tim Wescott Tim Wescott is offline
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Default What is the most powerful audio output tube?

On Thu, 08 Dec 2016 09:19:23 -0600, boomer#6877250 wrote:

What is the most powerful audio output tube, as far as RMS wattage
output?

I have gotten some powerful sound from four 6L6 tubes in push-pull
parallel. but I want more. I know it's possible to use eight 6L6 tubes,
which I believe is called " push-pull parallel - parallel", but I'm
looking into other possible tubes.

At one time, I thought the 807 tube was more powerful than the 6L6, but
after careful research, it's almost identical, but with a different
envelope (plate on the top cap).

I'm looking to get a full 500W RMS (or more) output (per channel), from
all tubes, .... With four 6L6 tubes in PPP, I can only get around 120W
RMS (per channel).


AM Radio stations used some that would do 50,000W, I believe. Is that
sufficient?

You don't want the "most powerful" tube -- you just want one that fits
your wimpy (relative to "big radio") requirements.

If you're serious about this, get this book. It'll provide hours of
drooling entertainment if you're just a fanboy, so it'll still be worth
it:

https://www.tubesandmore.com/product...be-manual-tt-5

There are a lot of tubes that will do your job that are both in that book
and available.

The 1625 is basically an 807 with a different base and a 12V filament --
all other ratings are the same. It's much cheaper than the 807 from
tubesandmore.com. Eight of them (enough to do 500W) is cheaper than a
pair of 813's, and they'll run at a much less lethal plate voltage.

A pair of 4-1000A tubes would be dandy, but I don't know where to find
them (I'm a fanboy, not an expert).

Note that ALL of the tubes I'm mentioning here are radio tubes, not
audiophile tubes -- if you judge an amplifier by more than how hot it
gets and how much it costs, you may not be happy with the sound.

--
Tim Wescott
Control systems, embedded software and circuit design
I'm looking for work! See my website if you're interested
http://www.wescottdesign.com