6SN7 tube, some types
| 2C22 | For "Hardcore" users. A "better" 6SN7, but it has a plate cap and a grid cap, and only one system per bulb. So not what you call a direct replacement. |
| 6SN7 | Generic tube |
| 6SN7GT | GT means glass tube, though never a steel version was made. |
| 6SN7GTA | Upgrade of 6SN7GT, max 450Volt Ua, 5Watt per system, 7.5Watt total. |
| 6SN7GTB | May also be used for series heating. Also faster heat-up. (11 seconds). |
| 6SN7W 6SN7WGTA 6SN7WGTB |
"W" = military version. Long life version, with 10.000 hours life. Sometimes 5692 was rebranded as such, which is like downgrading 5692, but I think it was done to enable military purchasing, if the parts list says for instance 6SN7WGTA or SN7WGTB, you may as well use 5692, but the purchaser is not allowed to do so. This is where rebranding can help. |
| 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 |
|
| 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. |
