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Thread: Help with a BDRI and 6v6s

  1. #1
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    Help with a BDRI and 6v6s

    Hello everyone !

    I have a BDRI that i cherish and love. The amp sounds great since i got rid of the stock speaker and replaced it whit a Jensen Tornado. My concern is that i would like to throw a pair of JJ 6V6's into it since i tried it once and really liked the result but i'm afraid of damaging the OT (I know that the JJ's can handle higher voltages).
    Some people recommend a simple bias setting, but others claim that the 6v6's will hurt the OT (they talk about changing the speaker from a 8 to a 16ohm, change the wiring etc...).

    Many thanks
    Last edited by Ajoep; 11-22-2015 at 09:36 AM. Reason: error

  2. #2
    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: Help with a BDRI and 6v6s

    to the forum!

    I dont understand your question, what amp do you have?

    If you have the time, start an introduction thread so we can properly welcome you.
    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

  3. #3
    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: Help with a BDRI and 6v6s

    I know a lot of guys like to think that the reason that 6V6s can't be used in this amp has to do with plate voltages - but there's more to it than that.

    JJs can handle the high voltages of the BDRI/Hot Rod amps, but the core of the difference is the power tubes' plate dissipation. 6L6GCs are a 23W max, while the 6V6 is a 12W max. You have to consider that the power transformer bias tap is designed to give the -V needed to throttle the 6L6GCs not 6V6s. While you can get the bias in range for a 6V6, there's more to the power amp than just bias.

    Plate current, filament current and output impedance come to mind as well. 6L6s require about twice the filament current of 6V6s, and output impedence is different - 6V6s look for a higher load than 6L6s; e.g.: 16ohm vs 8ohm total load.

    Point I'm making: yes, you might be able to get away with JJ6V6s in a 40W amp designed for 6L6s, but this is not what the iron and speakers are in place to work with. Maybe the resulting sound is what you're after, but you will likely go through tubes like candy.

    Just my pair of pennies.
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

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