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Verellen Octal

#42
I bought a quad of them. Considering a quad of JJ 6550s is ~$240 right now or Mullard KT88s is ~$280 (on Tube Depot) it feels worth it to me to have a quad of these around to put in my day-to-day amp (a 200 watt Verellen Meatsmoke). I could also pop them into another amp if I end up using it frequently enough like my V4 or Bassman.
 
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#43
I just ordered 3 sets of two octals 🤦

I built an exact Hiwatt DR405-clone with six 6550 and a anode voltage of 650V, which works fine and delivers 300W.

And I built another Hiwatt Clone with a modified driver for separate BIAS (12BH7) and six KT120 at 800V anode voltage, which delivers more than 500W.

First I'll check the Octal in the 300W amp, I'm curious at sound and power!

May be I check them in the 500W too, if Verellen says that they withstand 800V.

And the Octal, if they work as expected, would be a good alternative choice to (KT88 and) KT120, which are very bad to match.
 
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#44
tallchris said:
I bought a quad of them. Considering a quad of JJ 6550s is ~$240 right now or Mullard KT88s is ~$280 (on Tube Depot) it feels worth it to me to have a quad of these around to put in my day-to-day amp (a 200 watt Verellen Meatsmoke). I could also pop them into another amp if I end up using it frequently enough like my V4 or Bassman.
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I got a quad too. I tend to run my 4x6550 or 4xKT88 amps most so I’ll give them a shot in one of those amps. If these last and I don’t have to worry about future KT88s given their currently dodgy production then all the better.
 
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#51
I have mine. Im still waiting on early testing confirmation. Things are tricky. Internal bias needs to be monitored beyond my limited capabilities. More to follow- i picked these up as a potential replacement set for an amp i really like. Nothing wrong with the amp, i just wanted something to back it up beyond the supplied tubes.

I looked into NOS tubes and read some things. Total Dunning- Krugar here. Im trusting Ben. I don’t have any way to quantify this experiment for the time. I hope not to see smoke.

I contacted the builder of the amp im considering with replacement. He is silent. Can’t say i blame him. While i have no immediate plans to replace the tubes in the pre-mentioned setup- if it aint broke- i remain curious as well.

These were a long time coming. Ima talk to my amp person who will most likely attempt to disabuse me from using them. I am not a smart man, though…Ima do it eventually.
 
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#52
Gorilla Monsoon said:
I have mine. Im still waiting on early testing confirmation. Things are tricky. Internal bias needs to be monitored beyond my limited capabilities. More to follow- i picked these up as a potential replacement set for an amp i really like. Nothing wrong with the amp, i just wanted something to back it up beyond the supplied tubes.

I looked into NOS tubes and read some things. Total Dunning- Krugar here. Im trusting Ben. I don’t have any way to quantify this experiment for the time. I hope not to see smoke.

I contacted the builder of the amp im considering with replacement. He is silent. Can’t say i blame him. While i have no immediate plans to replace the tubes in the pre-mentioned setup- if it aint broke- i remain curious as well.

These were a long time coming. Ima talk to my amp person who will most likely attempt to disabuse me from using them. I am not a smart man, though…Ima do it eventually.
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Interesting. So it's not fully plug & play, is it? You need tech skills to play safe?
 
#54
It’s unfortunate he ended Verellen to do this. There’s been a handful of solid state tube replacements before, and they’ve not exactly been successful. This seems like an odd basket to put all his eggs into.
 
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#55
Gorilla Monsoon said:
I have mine. Im still waiting on early testing confirmation. Things are tricky. Internal bias needs to be monitored beyond my limited capabilities. More to follow- i picked these up as a potential replacement set for an amp i really like. Nothing wrong with the amp, i just wanted something to back it up beyond the supplied tubes.

I looked into NOS tubes and read some things. Total Dunning- Krugar here. Im trusting Ben. I don’t have any way to quantify this experiment for the time. I hope not to see smoke.

I contacted the builder of the amp im considering with replacement. He is silent. Can’t say i blame him. While i have no immediate plans to replace the tubes in the pre-mentioned setup- if it aint broke- i remain curious as well.

These were a long time coming. Ima talk to my amp person who will most likely attempt to disabuse me from using them. I am not a smart man, though…Ima do it eventually.
Click to expand...
As I understand the Octals, they work with a fixed internal BIAS, which is not changeable and the built in BIAS-voltage of the amp doesn't matter. That's the announcement.
 
#58
What did i just read? Im a little confused here. Please fill us in . Im getting conflicting reports. Please elaborate. Are you suggesting the Octals are less than advertised? That is a pretty damning claim without evidence. Id like this cleared up.
 
#59
I don't believe that there will be low demand in future.

Valves become more expensive and less reliable every year, the future of valves seems unstable to me.

A good sounding, reliable solid state substitute would have a great demand imho - if it works as announced.
 
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