How would you rank the following USA tube manufacturers as far as tube
quality? Is one manufacturer better/worse or are they all about the same?

Westinghouse
RCA
GE
Sylvania
Zenith

Thanks,
David

Sometimes they are literally the same. Many times tubes were made by one
manufacturer and sold under various labels. Other times the tubes would
vary based on the most recent design of the plates, etc. For example, I
have Zenith 6SN7s made by a number of manufacturers. The only thing that's
the same is that they all say to make sure you replace them with a genuine
Zenith tube. The same with CBS/Hytron. I believe that internal tube
components were also sourced from some of the same places by different
companies. The triangle plates in many CBS/Hytron, Sylvania, and Tungsol
manufactured 6SN7s look suspiciously the same, even when the tubes are
clearly from different factories.

I think that sometimes we pick our preferences based on how the tube
interfaces with our ear and our amplifier design. I have about 300 various
6SN7s. I prefer GE and Tungsol 6SN7s. I also like Sylvania and CBS/Hytron
which are very similar to the Tungsols. The 5692's I can take or leave.
Others will probably disagree with me. That's to be expected. I have heard
differences in the sound of various tubes. Others may make their
compromises in different areas than where I do or they may just like red
bases. Tube rolling is one of the fun parts of tube audio. Listening to
the music is better, though.

Rob



"David Axt" wrote in message
...
How would you rank the following USA tube manufacturers as far as tube
quality? Is one manufacturer better/worse or are they all about the same?

Westinghouse
RCA
GE
Sylvania
Zenith

Thanks,
David

On Wed, 9 Jul 2003 22:12:35 -0700, "David Axt"
wrote:

How would you rank the following USA tube manufacturers as far as tube
quality? Is one manufacturer better/worse or are they all about the same?

Westinghouse
RCA
GE
Sylvania
Zenith

Depends on which tube you are talking about.There's thousands of
types, and you've left out a few manufacturers, like CBS Hytron,
National Union, Taylor/Cetron and Western Electric.

I would note that unless you are talking about CRT's, Zenith
didn't make tubes. They and other Chicago TV manufacturers
(ie: Motorola & Admiral) tended to buy GE, but they all played off
suppliers against each other for the best deal they could get.

I don't think there's much argument that Western Electric made by far
the best quality tubes ever made in the USA,(possibly the world)
however, unless you like using tubes like 408A's for audio, most of
the WE stuff either is prohibitively expensive or useless for anyone
who's not a DIY/experimenter type.

BTW, just to let Fred know, Northern Electric tubes that were actually
made by NE AFAIK are fully equivalent to their WE counterparts.
So if you find a box full of NE300B's, don't toss the things just
'cause they weren't made in Kansas City.

That brings up another question...who actually made tubes in Canada,
anyway? And where? There certainly were tubes made there, but
determining the provenance is difficult.

Hi RATs!

Life ain't fair. Despite the claims of marketing morons and hifi gurus, each
tube has a unique sound. Like snowflakes, sort of.

The joy of spouting my learned opinion is shared by many. Telling it like it is
enjoys less chatter.

Like Steinway pianos, each tube is as good as possible for the cost, but, each
is unique.

It is popular fiction that only Steinway's sound great. Great pianos and tubes
sound great. Brand names are just noise, get over it. Build an amp and listen.
That is the fun part.

This newsgroup stuff is just to keep your fingers busy while listening

Happy Ears!
Al


Alan J. Marcy
Phoenix, AZ

PWC/mystic/Earhead

Ned Carlson wrote:
[...]

BTW, just to let Fred know, Northern Electric tubes that were actually
made by NE AFAIK are fully equivalent to their WE counterparts.
So if you find a box full of NE300B's, don't toss the things just
'cause they weren't made in Kansas City.

Thanks Ned, I'll keep that in mind. Ironically, the one and only 300B I
own came from a piece of gear owned by BC Tel -- and it's a WE!
Somewhere in Kansas there must be an old 100 kHz generator full of NE's.

That brings up another question...who actually made tubes in Canada,
anyway? And where? There certainly were tubes made there, but
determining the provenance is difficult.

Presume you mean "province".

Probably Ontario and/or Quebec. East of that is the Maritimes, and they
only have fish there. Actually, nowadays they don't even have that. And
out west here we've got nuthin' but trees. We tried making toobs out of
wood, but they sounded kind of ... um ... hollow and woody.

Cheers,
Fred

determining the provenance is difficult.

Presume you mean "province".


Hi RATs!

Naw, provenance is one of them Brit Antique Roadshow geekspeak terms so popular
these days in major TV markets

These days, when governments just borrow money from rich people to fix the
roads and murder people in far off lands, nobody much worries about provinces.

Active interest in government is pretty much the hot topic in countries that
ain't got any.

Like Mark Twain said: "Just be thankful you don't get all the government you
pay for."

The mythology about magical assembly of wires and stamped metal pieces in
evacuated glass envelopes is amazing.

The sound is even better

Happy Ears!
Al


Alan J. Marcy
Phoenix, AZ

PWC/mystic/Earhead

Ned Carlson wrote:

BTW, just to let Fred know, Northern Electric tubes that were actually

made by NE AFAIK are fully equivalent to their WE counterparts.
So if you find a box full of NE300B's, don't toss the things just
'cause they weren't made in Kansas City.

Northern Electric became Northern Telecon & then Nortel.
Most of us have probably read of their slide down in the stock market.
Seems to me the NE tubes were built in Montreal. That's in the
"Provenance" of Quebec for all of those Stateside.

While I was working at HP semi sales they were my largest account.
I have two NE 416B's in my stash. Don't think they will fit
anything I do now!!

That brings up another question...who actually made tubes in Canada,
anyway? And where? There certainly were tubes made there, but
determining the provenance is difficult.

Serious tube manufacturing in Canada started when a young (25)
hot shot Edward Samuel Rogers on a visit to the US saw a small tube
designed to be operated on ordinary AC power. He got the patent
rights & then procceeded to make large improvements since the
original was not useable in commercial applications. He called the
radio using three of these tubes the "The Rogers Batteryless" & later
started a broadcast station in Toronto, CFRB, the RB in honor
of his "Batteryless". See Gerald Tynes book for reference.

He died young, but his son is still a major shareholder in the
media conglomerate that still exists today.

There was considerable tube manufacturing in Toronto by GE,
especially during WW2..

Cheers, John Stewart

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 12:04:05 -0400, John Stewart
wrote:

Serious tube manufacturing in Canada started when a young (25)
hot shot Edward Samuel Rogers on a visit to the US saw a small tube
designed to be operated on ordinary AC power. He got the patent
rights & then procceeded to make large improvements since the
original was not useable in commercial applications. He called the
radio using three of these tubes the "The Rogers Batteryless" & later
started a broadcast station in Toronto, CFRB, the RB in honor
of his "Batteryless". See Gerald Tynes book for reference.

Yes, I've read the stuff in the Tyne book. I was more curious about
tubes that were made later.

Seems I've seen ones where the glass was etched in the same
style as RCA (with the octogon around the numbers) and others that
didn't have the octogon. I guess that would indicate two factories at
least.

I'm guessing that RCA, Canadian GE, Canadian Westinghouse,
and Marconi all were made in the same place at one time
since they were all called Radiotrons up to some point,
which was later than this practice ended in the US, 'cause the
court ruling that busted up the AT&T/Westinghouse/GE/RCA
cartel in the USA wouldn't have applied in Canada.


Ned Carlson Triode Electronics
5633 W Irving Park Rd Chicago,IL 60634
Ph 773-871-7459 11AM-7PM CT
Fax 773-871-7938 On 24 Hrs
www.triodeelectronics.com

(Ned Carlson) wrote in message ...
On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 12:04:05 -0400, John Stewart
wrote:

Serious tube manufacturing in Canada started when a young (25)
hot shot Edward Samuel Rogers on a visit to the US saw a small tube
designed to be operated on ordinary AC power. He got the patent
rights & then procceeded to make large improvements since the
original was not useable in commercial applications. He called the
radio using three of these tubes the "The Rogers Batteryless" & later
started a broadcast station in Toronto, CFRB, the RB in honor
of his "Batteryless". See Gerald Tynes book for reference.

Yes, I've read the stuff in the Tyne book. I was more curious about
tubes that were made later.

Seems I've seen ones where the glass was etched in the same
style as RCA (with the octogon around the numbers) and others that
didn't have the octogon. I guess that would indicate two factories at
least.

I'm guessing that RCA, Canadian GE, Canadian Westinghouse,
and Marconi all were made in the same place at one time
since they were all called Radiotrons up to some point,
which was later than this practice ended in the US, 'cause the
court ruling that busted up the AT&T/Westinghouse/GE/RCA
cartel in the USA wouldn't have applied in Canada.


Ned Carlson Triode Electronics
5633 W Irving Park Rd Chicago,IL 60634
Ph 773-871-7459 11AM-7PM CT
Fax 773-871-7938 On 24 Hrs
www.triodeelectronics.com

I'm no historian but, in the sixti'es our neighbour in St-Bruno (south
shore of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was V.P. of Northern Electric.

I remember him asking me if i would be interested to tour the place
(big huge plant near Lachine canal).

Did not care for N.E. or Rca Victor at the time and i reckon they were
big on tubes. Too busy wanting to be a Beatle and learning a few
chords!

I was more than happy to go to the local pharmacy to test the tubes
for the black and white R.C.A. TV

Today i still play that electric guitar, listen to music on tubes,
tweak audio and guitar tube amps and order Dyna board and tubes from
Ned.

If i could only go back in time ...i would bring my camera.

Twang

Rob,

Couldnt agree more most tubes could have been made by anyone this was
exsecialy true during the WW2 when we were scrambling to keep up
production for the war.
6SN7 i tend to like the older round plates like the tung-sol but
the other manufactures can sound good also try a 6n7g some time,
or a 6a6 these where the pre runners of the 6sn7 and to my ears sound
better.
the 5692 is way over rated the CBS version made by RCA most of the time
is probable the best of these but not even close to the round plate 6sn7
or the 6N7G if you only need half a tube the 6j5 is that but, the 7193
is much better sounding if you dont mind the plate caps.

Bone43




"2B" wrote in
:

Sometimes they are literally the same. Many times tubes were made by
one manufacturer and sold under various labels. Other times the tubes
would vary based on the most recent design of the plates, etc. For
example, I have Zenith 6SN7s made by a number of manufacturers. The
only thing that's the same is that they all say to make sure you
replace them with a genuine Zenith tube. The same with CBS/Hytron. I
believe that internal tube components were also sourced from some of
the same places by different companies. The triangle plates in many
CBS/Hytron, Sylvania, and Tungsol manufactured 6SN7s look suspiciously
the same, even when the tubes are clearly from different factories.

I think that sometimes we pick our preferences based on how the tube
interfaces with our ear and our amplifier design. I have about 300
various 6SN7s. I prefer GE and Tungsol 6SN7s. I also like Sylvania
and CBS/Hytron which are very similar to the Tungsols. The 5692's I
can take or leave. Others will probably disagree with me. That's to
be expected. I have heard differences in the sound of various tubes.
Others may make their compromises in different areas than where I do
or they may just like red bases. Tube rolling is one of the fun parts
of tube audio. Listening to the music is better, though.

Rob