6C33C-B power triodes

[richidoo]

Here's a nice quad for you sleepyguy, just listed today.

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/tubes-6c33c-b-tubes-for-bat-graaf-joule-elecrta-ayon-tenor-new-w-p-p-shipping-2013-05-06-accessories-07026

[sleepyguy24]

Thanks Rich for the lead. I'm going to talk to the seller now. I think I've seen this ad a couple of times already so I don't know if the guy has had trouble selling them or if he is just selling a large supply off in small lots.

Also Thanks TMazz for the input and additional perspective. Some of the prices I'm finding are wide ranging. Some mark up the 6C33C tubes to $50/tube. One seller who tests and matches them wants $75/tube. When I called New Sensor directly for Sovtek 6C33C tubes they wanted $120/tube. My jaw hit the floor after hearing that. I thought New Sensor themselves would be a bit cheaper.

[richidoo]

Ask Jim McShane for some 6c33 advice.

[sleepyguy24]

Hi Rich

We think alike. Jim is my go to vendor for tubes. He has always been fair and honest to me and the tubes I've gotten from him have been great. I thought you would get a kick out of Jim's reply to my query about 6C33C tubes.

"On the 6C33s - in 14 years you are just the 2nd person to ask about them, so as you can imagine I don't carry them.

I wish I could do more to help!"

Thanks for the tip.

[rollo]

My buddy has a bunch of them from Lamm. Test perfect and are the real deal. I will ask him how much he wants for them.

charles

[sleepyguy24]

Hi Charles

I appreciate the help. Sending you a PM. Thanks

[cddeluca]

I know this is a very old thread to revive but I feel compelled to share. I bought a bunch of 6C33C tubes from a Yuri (Yuriy) from the the Ukraine and to my dismay after winning the auction on eBay I'm not able to pay the guy. Ebay keeps telling me that Paypal accounts in the Ukraine can only send out payments but not receive them. I've contacted Yuriy a bunch of times to no avail. I don't know if this is the same Yuri mentioned here but I figure I'd give people the heads up. Normally when I google something audio related an Audionervosa discussion thread is in the search results a majority of the time.

I just am having no luck with these Russian Federation 6C33C tube vendors. I paid for a batch of tubes in late March and I still have not received them. Ebay quoted me a delivery estimate of mid April. I think I should have received them now. Should I give the vendors more time?

Also has anyone heard of Soutek 6C33C tubes? I've heard of the Sovtek ones as well as the ones from the Ul'anov factory but never these Soutek ones. Searches on google don't return much info.

Thanks

I'm no expert but I do have a fist full of these tubes and the picture seems more than odd - "Made in Russia"? Soutek? I think somebody got access to a laser engraver.

[richidoo]

Welcome to AudioNervosa cddeluca!!  I hope you stick around and chime in often.

All 6C33s are made in Russia. Russian based, US owned Sovtek brand makes the generic quality 6C33s for us mere mortals, but the original vintage 6C33s were used as power supply regulator tubes used in Russian military airplanes. Their high current ability makes them special among audio tubes. I think the original vintage tubes are sometimes called 6C33C-B but I'm not sure.

[cddeluca]

Thank you for the welcome.
I do know they were made in Russia. The reason I don't think they are legit is because there was no Russia when they were made - it was the CCCP and they wouldn't have used the Latin alphabet anyway. I have over a dozen examples from over twenty years time and none have a "Made in Russia" engraving. In fact I have a few hundred NOS Russian military tubes and none of them say "Made in Russia" either.

Also Svetlana  does not recognize that factory.

http://www.ominous-valve.com/russtube.html

They might be legit but they are nothing like I've ever seen before.

[richidoo]

Yes, that is strange. Maybe they are gyps.  Soutek seems like the kind of deliberate misspelling they do. Marked as 6C33C-B like the originals.

Here's a pic from tubestore of original 6C33C-B


Compare innards to sleepy's Souteks:


Looks pretty close, but much of tube quality is invisible, metallurgy, vacuum strength. Are these counterfeit copies? There is no Soutek on google.

[Russian_Glass]

Sorry to join this converstation so late, but:
First of all, Svetlana has not made the 6C33C in quite some time.  While they did, they made BOTH the 6C33C (6S33S in our alphabet) AND the 6C33C-B (6S33S-V, a higher-endurance version), but most manufacturers (including Lamm) included them interchangeably.  (Some claim the non-V version sounds better, but I've yet to detect a difference).

Secondly, Svetlana (the original one with the winged "C" logo) shut its door three years ago; New Sensor owns the Svetlana brand name now, as well as "Sovtek" and Electro-Harmonix" and manufactures all of their current tubes at Xpo-Pul, formerly the old Reflektor facility.  They buy 6C33C(-B) from Ulyanov, who (after Svetlana stopped making them in the '70s) was the sole supplier to the military and to other manufacturers, who re-branded them.

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BUY RUSSIAN:
I have a small quantity of STILL-SEALED (Ulyanov) 6C33C's from (prep-Perestroika) 1978-1979 (when they were made to stricter standards) as well as instructions for properly "burning them in" (they are a picky in terms of settling/gettering).

You may email me: "the"<dot>"audio"<dot>"technician"<at>"gmail"<dot>"com" with any questions you have regarding these (or any other) Russian tubes - I'd be happy to clarify anything I can.