Today we are going to take a look at how RCA tube boxes changed over the years and talk a bit about their early history. Link to our online store: valvesnmore.com/ Link to Mellow Tone Kits: valvesnmore.co...
Novice tube guy; love the video. Just discovered your channel. I put an old (60s?) RCA 6NS7GTB tube into my Schiit headphone/preamp. Warming it up now... we'll see how it goes with my Meze cans. Thanks!
If you look hard enough, you can find just about any tube for sale or its modern replacement. I purchased some power supply/amplifiers from the 1920's and wanted to buy replacement tubes for them. I was thinking 100 years from now replacement tubes would be hard to find. I found replacements and/or military equivalents.
Another informative video, thanks! OKTYABR in Vinnytsia, which is where the infamous massacre took place during the Great Purge shortly before the war in 1937/1938.
Love your videos, I'm a novice tube amp tech and have learned so much from you guys and appreciate all the work you guys put into these videos. Congratulations on 4000 subs. Keep up all the GREAT work.
You mention a gain in volume. I remember trying to purchase and sort tubes. It is very interesting that those components can very widely in their performance. Tubes have such odd compression characteristics. I always question my ears . I grew up working at guitar shops and it was always amazing how a 50-watt tube based guitar amp would shame a 100-watt solid state amp. (Even in just shear volume...let alone the sound.)
Yup, but a 40wrms solid amp will have identical power to a 40wrms tube amp, if they're tested using the standard method. The difference happens at the top end, when a tube amp starts to clip it's really hard to tell (a guitar player may even like the sound), however a solid state amp starts to sound awful really quickly. The other difference of course is BS ratings, when you see an amp rated at peak power, that's not rms, but peak to peak or twice the power, and all of that extra power rating is useless the minute you apply a load! Our Kit Amps may look low powered, but they're conservatively rated, the GU-50 will do 8.25wrms all day long.
The 5692's are an extremely well made mil spec version of the 6sn7gtb, and because of the heavy duty construction are low noise, But as a resullt are also low in second harmonics, making for a very neutral sounding tube. This would be great for a recording studio or a system that is already very lively sonically. But most people will probably prefer something liike a Sylvania 6SN7GTA, which has a warm/rich midrange, the opposite sonically of the red base line.
@@tubelab194 I really value your sonic impressions and understandings of this tube. I will certainly take this into account going forward if I ever decide to own a pair. They are quite rare and expensive. Also not often sold as a matched pair as well. Certainly I will keep checking your website if any come in. Thank you again for all that you do. 😎
In 1929, RCA purchased the AMERICAN Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey. Victor, was the American distributor for recordings made by the British Gramophone Company Ltd. (Which became EMI in 1931) who held the rights to the "His Master's Voice" trademark in most territories except the Western Hemisphere and Japan.
In 1970, my high school class went on a field trip to the RCA factory in Harrison, NJ. Even back then, those bldgs were incredibly old. They were actually purchased by RCA from Edison, they were 3-story brick buildings from about 1880. I was actually into electronics quite a bit and it was somewhat incongruent to think that RCA, god of the electronics world, was making tubes (or anything else) in these really gritty old and primitive brick bldgs. The floors were loose 3 x 12" planks. We spent the most time on the floor where tubes were actually being manufactured. They had these 8-10 foot in diameter carousels, all chain driven, with maybe 40 stations on the perimeter. The carousels would dwell at each station, I dunno, maybe 12 seconds. Then KA-CHUNK they would advance a notch. At every station, either a tube base would fall down a ramp and get situated in a die, or little teeny arms would come out and fold over the sheet metal of a plate, or teeny electrodes would fold up and make some spot welds, or cathodes would be fed in, then micas, or gas flames would seal the thing up, and finally the tube passed under a water cooled coil and the getter would go off. As a tube afficianado it was far beyond fascinating. At the same time, cool as it was, if you had to work there with 17 of these things chunking every 12 seconds all day long you'd go batty. Best field trip ever! I think I got a free sample 11CY7 tube or something equally useless.
I have a question about RCA Radiotron 6SN7 tubes. I have a pair of AWA (or AWV) 6SN7 tubes that are RCA tubes manufactured under license in Australia. They can also be found with RCA and Radiola branding from the same factory. I am guessing that RCA tubes have been made under license in other countries as well. Would all these different factories produce tubes of similar quality or are some better than others?
RCA made 99% of their tubes in the USA factories, as far as I know they did very little licencing or even rebranding of other manufacturers, they were an early leader in the tube industry and held many first patents (RCA was built on Marconi USA). Australia probably had high importation duties that helped convince Philips/mullard and RCA to make tubes in Australia or to licence the production. Most tubes made away from the main factories are inferior in every way, but exceptions exist.
@@tubelab194 Apparently AWA set up a tube manufacturing licencing agreement with RCA in 1923 that continued through to the 1970s with AWA also making RCA semiconductors by then. I have seen comments in hifi forums stating that AWA tubes are "second to none" but I always take such forum comments with a grain of salt.
Congratulations on 4000 subs! You guys are great and I am very appreciative for everything I have learned from the both of you and for the tubes I have purchased from you which I love! One question about this great video, the box the 5691 tube that has the "His Master's Voice" logo on it has Montreal, Canada on it. What was in Montreal at that time? Was it another RCA plant? Thank you!
In Montreal was a huge Marconi plant, one of the earliest tube and radio plants in the world, they made everything there including commercial and military radio stuff. My dad grew up not far from the plant and he said it was four square blocks! That's city blocks. So probably RCA took over the plant - but now I'm just guessing.
@@tubelab194 Thanks so much for the fast reply and great information! That plant must have been a site to behold. That is a massive plant! Thanks again!
I have a question. I have a 1952 RCA TV 📺 that is in very nice condition. My question is this. I notice a lot of the tubes have a white dot on them. Why is that?
I've never seen just one white dot on a tube, now if they have a tight pattern of small etched dots, that's the GE factory code (used only by GE). Or if the white dot was a dab of paint that's normally a testing signifier made either at the factory or later on by some tech wanting to signify something, like "tested good".
45 is magic ...................better than 300B..( and any current production triode ).............2A3 is a double version but not as fine lacy sounding.....one would wish the same musicality with more power , but used with high efficiency speakers you're in music heaven , almost nothing comes close besides some older and rare german triodes and the genuine 5O triode .........and the AD1 ( Loewe -opta ).. There are also rare Cunningham UV245/345 ( Balloon shape ) even better sounding ..........these tubes are scarce and sought after .............in my amps i use them for sun - days listening.......
