5150 II tubes?
5150 II tubes?
I 100% agree with Jaffis.
JJ 6L6GC's are killer in my 6505+, I like 9th gen. Chinese 12ax7's as well (Shuguang's). I've heard nothing but good things about Tung-sol's as well...I'm actually looking in to getting at least 1 for my V1 slot.
I've also used EH pre tubes and did not like them at all.
I have yet to hear good things about JJ per tubes, but their power tubes (well, 6L6's) have a nice aggressive character to them in my 6505+. I've also played Sovtek's, Ruby's and Svetlana's (which are in my 6505+ now).
My favorites so far have been the JJ's. The Ruby tubes seem to have a tad bit more low end than the JJ's, but the JJ's are just more aggressive. The Svetlana's I have are pretty good, too. They are kind of like the mid point between the JJ's and the Ruby's.
I think the Sovteks were the worst sounding of them all.
I think you definitely get more tone change with the pre tubes vs. power tubes. So, tonal differences between power tubes are pretty subtle, IMO. However, changing pre tubes really made my 6505+ shine...Or, maybe I just hate the harshness that is EH pre tubes!
I have a 5150, in the power section I have tried SED =C= 6L6GC, Svetlana 6L6GC, Ruby 6L6 GC-STR, Groove Tubes gt-6L6r, Mesa, and JJ GCs. I preferred the JJs in the 5150 by a pretty big margin. I didnt like them as much in my Recto (i liked SED) or .50 cal + (Ruby). For the preamps, Ive got 2 Mullard RI 12ax7s then 2 Chinese 9th, and an EH 12at7 in the PI slot. That combination took a while as well. In slots 1 and 2, definitely use either the new production tung sol 12ax7 or the mullard RI. I use Tung Sol in v1 and v2 of both my Recto and .50 cal +. The Mullard RI seem to round off the aggressiveness of the 5150 that is really apparent if you run a full tube set of JJs. Good Luck!
That's the stuff I play, and let me tell you, If you want a killer sound then spend the $80 and get that thing converted to run EL34 power tubes. I ran a cheap $50 quartet of Electro Harmonix EL34s in my 5150II before I sold it and it raped stock ones. EH EL34s are awesome. Also the best sounding preamp tubes I have ever used for metal are Tungsols. I ran those in every slot in my pre-amp.