6SN7  Page

6SN7 Generic tube. 
6SN7W military version of 6SN7. Long life version, with 10.000 hours life
6SN7GT Quick heat up version.
6SN7GTA Upgrade of 6SN7GT, max 450Volt Ua, 5Watt per system, 7.5Watt total. Special requirements for TV sweep applications, like higher peak power and better  impulse capabilities. 
6SN7GTB Same as GTA,  PLUS specified for series heating, as in TV's. Fast heat-up  (11 seconds). And no, Heat-up time is not related to sound whatsoever.  And yes, GTA sounds the same.
6SN7WGT Can have same appearance as 5692
6SN7WGTA 6SN7WGTB "W" =  military version of 6SN7GTA / 6SN7GTB.  They are the better HiFi tubes, because they were selected out of normal tubes, by the manufacturer. Must comply to better specifications. Long life version, with 10.000 hours life
6BX7 Secret tip!  Data like 6SN7, but 10 watt per triode.
6BL7 Secret tip!  Data like 2x 6SN7 in parallel, but 10 watt per triode.
6CG7 6SN7 in Noval socket.  Check at Electro Harmonix in the menu of this website. 
6DN7 One system (N) of 6SN7, other system (D) is comparable, but has 10 Watt.  Great HiFi tube.  Undiscovered tube
6H8C Russian Version. Can do higher plate voltage. 
6J5 1/2 Section of 6SN7, octal based tube.
L60 Mullard Version of 6J5
7N7


7N7 is a loctal socket version of 6SN7 with shielded metal tube base. (look below here, for pictures)
12SN7 12 Volt version of 6SN7
12SX7 Military long-Life version, with spiral filaments. Hard to get, and sometimes expensive.
13E1 25Volt version of 6SN7.
33S30A Swedish military versions of the 6SN7.  Very rare. 
33S30B Swedish military versions of the 6SN7.  Very rare.
1633 25V/0.15A heater version of the 6SN7.
5692 Military Part number, for shock-proof tube. Introduced 1948. The famous "red base".  Weight is much higher, and has different construction inside.  In the top-five list of most wanted 6SN7 tubes. Mind, this tube differs somewhat from "real" 6SN7. The 5692 has TWICE the filament current, which is a LOT more, and it has another bias point. By itself the bias is not problem, but the tube comes out "bad" on some specific testers while they are fine in fact. Ask for 5692, tested on a tested with 5692 settings! Otherwise you may have a problem.
6042 25V/0.15A heater version of the 6SN7.
6180 military version of 6SN7, with 10.000 hours life
B65 12SN7 by Osram. 
B65 6SN7 by Osram.  In the top-five list of most wanted 6SN7 tubes.
CV181 military version of ECC32
CV925 military version of 12SN7
CV1986 military version of 6SN7GT. Great sounding and rare tubes like VT231
CV1988 military version of 6SN7GT. Great sounding and rare tubes like VT231
CV2627 military version of 6SN7W
CV2821 military version of ECC33
ECCXX No an equivalent, but some of those are close though grid voltage,  gain,  transconductance are all a bit different. 
JAN 6SN7 JAN=  our secret tip!  JAN stands for Joint Army Navy. To be JAN specified, the tube factory must do stress test (above normal specs) on samples of standard tubes. The sample is a few percent from the whole lot, and must be taken from a table that is in the JAN handbook. From the samples tested,  a certain percentage must survive.  When yes, the whole lot is now  life-time-expectation approved, and may now be marked with the quality prefix JAN.  The samples that are  actually used for the stress tests must be destroyed.  JAN Specs are still in use for electronics today! JAN stands for Highest  reliability. You can be happy that the average amateur has no idea at all what JAN means, and will not understand it even when explained. So they just associate it with "something military", which is not connected with good sound. So these tubes are not more expensive (great!). If  you expect highest lifetime out of your tubes,  our advice is:   JAN = the Nr1 HiFi choice! 
VT231

Military Part number, for  6SN7.  P/N used until 1945, and a guarantee for real old tubes. The older Sylvania VT231 with long glass and parallel plated are beautiful, top quality, and unfortunately hard to get and expensive. In the top-five list of most wanted 6SN7 tubes. Also very exclusive are the RCA VT231 smoked glass, with Chrome getter. Also found under NU and KR brand name.

6SN7 NOS brands

CBS/Hytron
 Unique, and disappeared as a brand after the 1950s or so. Eventually was bought and merged with CBS. Construction is very similar to tall-boy Sylvania GT. Nice sound, better than many later types.
GE
 Their GTA's are actually quite good, easily comparable with GTA's from other brands and exceeding some in quality. Their GTB's beat any new-production 6SN7.
Ken-Rad 
 Legendary for great bass and smooth slightly warm mids and highs. Considered among the best 6SN7s by many people. They mainly only had one type of construction, with angled parallel plates. Glass could be black or clear, both are built and sound the same.
RCA
 GT tubes by RCA with bottom getters are regarded as a rich, smooth tube, very good tonally. Most of the GTA/GTB tubes had similar construction to the GT tubes, using the same plate stamping, mica construction, etc. The gray glass ones are similar to the clear-glass variety with the exception of the graphite-coated glass. Generally the gray glass versions are earlier than the clear glass versions.
Sylvania
 One of the best manufacturers of 6SN7s, Sylvania made many varieties spanning the 1940s to 1970s. As with most tubes the earlier ones are considered to sound better. One of their notable innovations was having the plates set at angles to each other (triangular plates). One of the best brands of 6SN7 available.
Shibuara
 Secret Tip. Made tubes for some Japanese and USA companies. Long plate version, very similar to Hytron tubes or tall boy Sylvania GT (the older type).
Tung Sol
 A manufacturer that did nearly everything right when it came to 6SN7s. Their early black-glass round plate versions are legendary and sought after. Their 1950s-60's GTB tall boys are quite good, better than many other brands of GTB's.

THE (not so very good) STOCK SITUATION WITH NOS 6SN7

The original Sylvania Chrome tops.  (what's that?)

The supply situation of NOS, Originally boxed 6SN7's is disappearing quickly at the moment. It is weird, at the moment we BUY 6SN7 for a higher price than we sold it for some years ago. Even Chinese NOS is gone.  The only NOS tube that is good available is Russian NOS. All NOS tubes we get in are just a few of each. We do have a good stock of used 6SN7's  that test as good as new ones.  This may be an alternative.

How these tubes are tested

FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

Attention: This is an export Price List, valid for companies in the European Community with a VAT Identification number, and for companies or private persons outside the European Community.    Inside Europe,  please ask for a quote, including VAT (MwSt). 

Tube
. 
 .
Item
nr.
Prices are for one tube, unless otherwise indicated
 Condition
Qty.
EURO

5692

CBS, RCA or Haltron

 

1960's
 25

For more information, click on the article picture on the the left. 5692 was the ultimate tube, in a family series of three.

5690=rectifier
5691=high gain replaces 6SL7
5692 is medium gain replaces 6SN7

5692 was an interesting product of the cold war, it was for used in American atomic weapon rockets. Atomic weapons with semiconductors inside, must have those covered in a lead box, a few Inches thick, or the electronics can fail. Tubes however don't need that protection, and for rockets and airplanes,.weight is a number one factor.
NOS. 
Small qty. Pleas inquire
155,-

Some 5692 information. With less weight, flying weapons can increase the range significantly. This is because most of the fuel is used to bring it up in space, at a speed faster than sound. Less weight of electronics, means more fuel inside, and that will contribute extremely to the range. So if you can fire the engine just one tenth of a second longer, while you are at 4x the speed of sound, this is 200 km more range. After the fuel is used up, the rocket flies without engine, which is most of the time. During that time it navigates on tube electronics. So, in no way these tubes may fail. Also stock life is extremely important. So these rockets can be installed "ready to go" for 15 years, and when (President Nixon) presses the red button they must work. Inside those tubes were many extras to ensure these extreme requirements. In literature, I find almost nothing about what is inside, but that makes sense, it was a war product. You can read here about the GE five star tubes, but that is a quality level below 5692.

Besides 5692 was rated for 500G shock, meaning if they drop them on the floor, and the glass is not broken they are still good.

NOS  5692 is the tube to use, when you want the BEST 6SN7 ever made.

Important note about 5692 testing: This tube differs slightly from 6SN7, thought it is a replacement is almost any application. However it can NOT be tested accurately on any avarage 6SN7 tester. 5692 tester setting are DIFFERENT from 6SN7, no matter what the tube uncle tells you, do NOT buy 5692 that are tested in 6SN7 settings and come out good. They may just as well be not good. There is no work around, you HAVE TO USE 5692 settings. So any tester like Amplitrex 5692 or Russian L3-3 can be programmed for it. Check the datasheet here for the differences. (mind the load time, this is a 90Mb pdf file).

Another quality concept is the VT231. This is a military part number for a NAVY version of 6SN7. The older ones (most wanted version) have a chrome getter, and/or gray smoked glass.

6SN7-GTB
GE
1960..70
19
Normal Version, with white print, White boxes.
NOS
5
30,-
6SN7-GTB
GE
1960..70
19
Normal Version, with white print, Original boxes
NOS
10
35,-
6SN7-GTB
GE
1960..70
1

Normal Version, with red print. Original boxes.
NOS
2
40,-
6SN7-GTA 
6SN7-GTB
GE
1950..1970
11

Used, testing like new, and sold with guarantee on good functioning.
Used 
Stock
12,-
GE
1960..70
  12
Very special filament construction, with one single U-shaped filament. This tube glows much brighter than other tubes, and also the top of the filament is lighting up.  Never seen this before. First choice Collectors item. Sorry for the  price, but you won't find those again. Original boxes. 
NOS
3
70,-
12SN7
Mullard
England
.
.


Click on image to enlarge.

No 6SN7, but 12 version of 6SN7. Original blue Mullard boxes.

NOS
3
45,-
6SN7-GT
Nation Union
1945

National Union CNU-6SN7GT. Very beautiful and exclusive US NAVY tubes. These are the WWII series, of highest quality ever made 6SN7's. In this family is VT231, and the RCA smoked glass as well. Used in ships communication systems, made by USA workers, that knew the soldiers out there need to win the war with those. Lots of effort was made and very reliable audio tubes were needed.

These have gray glass, and you can only look in from above. Pic1 Pic2. These are either NOS, or from unused equipment.

I bought those from an experienced and reliable collector, selling off his complete inventory. Pic1 - Pic2. These are perhaps the best 6SN7 ever made, together with 5692 and VT231 Chrome getter.

NOS
6

85,-


The ones pictured here are sold, but I have more from Ken Rad. Identical appearance

VT231
Ken-Rad
    
Same as above tubes, but these are marked Ken-Rad and have the much sought VT231 part number. The getter is visible, must a small edge above the socket, and then the smoked coating comes. Yes it is the higher quality Chrome getter :) So REAL VT231 from WWII. This is the ultimate 6SN7. Sorry I have no camera at the moment, you can ask later if important, but appearance is identical with the ones above, and from the same source.
NOS
4
155,- (one)
6SN7-GTB
Philco
.
.
 Very clean tube, nice red print, in original colored box.
NOS
1
40,-
6SN7
Pinnacle
     Looks like a Haltron UK tube to me, but I can't guarantee what factory it comes from. The Tube is used, but appearance is factory-new. Nice, clean bright-white print. Tests good.
Used
1
25,-
JAN 
6SN7GTB
RCA
. .
These are up testedJAN tubes. From very nice lot of 12pcs.    There is a lot of religion about GTA versus GTB in the internet. Facts are:  GTA is the older type and more rare.  So perhaps we must charge more for it.   GTB is for no-transformer series heaters, like in Televisions.  So GTB is a "must" for your Television repair.  When operated with a mains transformer,  GTA and GTB can be used the same way.  
.
4
57,-
6SN7GTB
Raytheon
Date code H20
16
Nice, large yellow print, tall glass. White boxes.
NOS
4
40,-

6SN7GTB
Raytheon
1939
21
Normal version,  yellow print. White boxes.  8x large  base.  3x small base. (check picture).  The picture show dark glass,  but that is shadow from the flash light.  The glass is bright and totally clean, also inside. 
Used
11
15,-

Reflektor
6SN7-GTB
Order Number
114-045-85
Reflektor

1969...
1970

 

 

Original Reflektor boxes, red boxes or blue boxes. Note: This is almost 40 years old NOS!

NOS
Stock
See
price list
6SN7
RFT
    
EXTREMELY RARE tubes. Only very few were made ever. These are EAST GERMAN made original RFT 6SN7. Version with NO ceramics inside, but mica.
Used
1
155,-
6SN7
RFT
    

EXTREMELY RARE tubes. Only very few were made ever. These are EAST GERMAN made original RFT 6SN7. Version with ceramics inside, no mica.

Used
6
155,-

6SN7-GT
RSD Germany
1995
15
NOS
4
29,-

JAN6SN7-
WGTA
Sylvania
1976
.
Top getter flash. July 1976.  These are up testedJAN tubes, from very nice lot of 15pcs.   There is a lot of religion about GTA versus GTB in the internet. Facts are:  GTA is the older type and more rare.  So perhaps we must charge more for it.   GTB is for no-transformer series heaters, like in Televisions.  So GTB is a "must" for your Television repair.  When operated with a mains transformer,  GTA and GTB can be used the same way.    
NOS
2

57,-

6SN7GTB
Sylvania
1940
 6
The original Chrome tops.  (what's that?) From Bulk pack.  These come from a music store, and were spare parts for organs. Untouched. and These are mint quality items.  Look like new and all test above 100%.  Are send in matched pairs with test data
NOS
.

55,-
Sorry. sold out.

6SN7-GTB
RCA
1950..1970
11

Used, testing like new, and sold with guarantee on good functioning.
Used 
Stock changes, pls ask.
18,-
Sylvania
940
.
The original Chrome tops.  (what's that?)
Used
6
20,-
6DN7
Sylvania
1970
13
This is NOT a 6SN7 (see above). It is something better, but it won't replace a 6SN7.
NOS
12
29,-

6SN7-GTB
Order Number
114-080-07
Toshiba
1960
114-080-07

Toshiba Japan. 6SN7-GTB. Absolute mint quality items. Very rare to get such a beautiful lot of NOS. Very clean, very beautifully long plate tubes, with long glass. These look so amazingly similar to Telefunken 6SN7, perhaps it is no coincidence. Well it is just a speculation, but it looks like this to me.

Transconduction of the Toshiba 6SN7 is amazingly strong. Same as with Telefunken.

NOS
Stock
See
price list

6SN7 GT Telefunken

 

The tube is in an older white box, with a Telefunken stamp on it. Original Telefunken. Sorry for the price, I have seen them even go for higher prices. Perfect Test data. FULL TEST PORT HERE.

NOS
1

500,-

Sorry this tube was sold

I just want to leave the pictures in here .

6SN7-WGTA
Order Number:
125-121-77
Tung-Sol

 
.

Perfectly testing tube, white box. Amplitrex test report inside tube box.

NOS
1
35-
6SN7
Westinghouse
.
.
Nice, long glass tubes, of older construction. Clean, blue color original boxes.
NOS
2
55,-


7N7-Sylvania
Order Number:
114-142-90
Sylvania
    

This 7N7 is a loctal version of 6SN7-GTB. It is an upgrade of 6SN7, with a ground shield around the base. This may solve some hum problems.

Loctal is a similar socket as Octal, but the pins are thinner, as with EL84, and two connections are exchanged. So almost pin compatible, but not fully. The METAL SHIELD is connected to the centering pin of the socket. The original loctal tube sockets have a connection to this, so you can now use the metal shielding electrically as well, and because it's thick, and in the center, this works well. In case you don't want to use the ground connection, just don't connected anything to it.

If you want to replace 6SN7 by 7N7, we have very nice gold plated loctal sockets already for 2 Euro. Or, we have a small stock of German NOS sockets, which cost a little more, and then of course the Teflon ones from Yamamoto.

Why use 7N7? Well first of all because of the metal base shield. Another reason is, NOS is nicely available, in fine quality. So not "so called" NOS, but prime quality in never opened boxes. I have very good stock of Sylvania here. When you look inside the glass, you see the angled anodes, same as with 6SN7-GTB Sylvania. Also they perform out of the box very close to the average operating point, must better than new production. The price is a give away, but please search for 7N7 in the general price list.

NOS
Stock
See
price list