CT 5 tubes

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j2d2
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CT 5 tubes

Post by j2d2 »

Does anyone know of tubes that substitute for the 6n30p tubes that come with the CT 5? Do they improve the sound? In what way?
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Re: CT 5 tubes

Post by admin »

Welcome to the site! Perhaps somebody with more experience can give a better answer, but I think ECC99 and E182CC tubes have close characteristics to the 6n30p. I'm not sure whether they are interchangeable however.
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Re: CT 5 tubes

Post by joeinid »

http://thetubestore.com/conrad-johnson-ct5.html

http://thetubestore.com/6h30types.html

I am not sure you have too many choices. These pages should be a start. You could call Ed at CJ service. He is awesome to talk to on the phone.
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Animal
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Re: CT 5 tubes

Post by Animal »

Short answer: no.

The 6N30P replaced the 6922s that were used in previous designs. What it took five 6922s to do, a pair of 6N30P could accomplish. This is a quote from Lew Johnson:

"The 6N30P has some unique advantages -- mainly exceptionally high transconductance, allowing it to substitute for three to four of the 6922s. However, it has commensurately high current demands on main B+ and heater supplies, so costs are roughly comparable to a unit using three to four 6922s for each 6N30P."

The 6N30P is considered extremely durable (life expectancy is between 5,000 and 10,000 hours). You may run across to references to a 6N30P-DR (or 6H30P-DR) which are the so-called "super tube" variants, my understanding is that these were the original production milspec tubes and currently finding NOS of these is either brutally (BRUTALLY) expensive or you are looking at counterfeits.

This will sound awfully boring, but I would strongly advise going through CJ for any replacement tubes.
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