Matched 6L6C Power Output Tube Medium Duet
Groove Tubes's new 6L6C is a great, high performance update of the classic 6L6 design, with additional heat sink wings on the pure nickel, carbonized black plate. These wings improve reliability and help stabilize your tone and other performance factors when pushed hard. The GT6L6CHPDM has a very linear performance with a strong and very focused output, as compared to other 6L6 designs. It is a good tube for refreshing the tone of any Fender or Marshall amp which came with the common Russian 6L6R vacuum tubes, and is a good choice for creating "vintage tone", but with more punch from the heat sink wings on the plate.
Tubes don’t last forever; they actually wear out with use, and the harder you work them the faster they wear out. When one tube starts to go, it drags the others down with it, decreasing the overall efficiency of the amplifier. In the case of your power stage tubes, most amplifiers use a push/pull, alternating design with an equal number of tubes on each phase. When one tube is off, the other is on; and vice versa. If one tube is weaker, then the stronger tube will have to harder to make up for the weaker tube, and your amp’s performance will be off, and getting progressively worse.
If your amp uses 6L6 power output tubes, then you want to make sure you have a set of matched tubes to put in before your original tubes burn out. Matched tube sets dramatically improve sustain by eliminating phase cancellation ,which occurs when dissimilar tones coming from unmatched tubes are combined and cancel out certain frequencies. You will also have improved harmonic balance, meaning all the notes you play will have the same amplitude. No weak or dull spots in your tone. You will also have longer life from your amp, since balanced tube sets reduce stress that occurs when a stronger tube has to work harder to make up for a weaker partner. Your output transformer will actually run cooler, because matched tube sets drive the output transformer evenly.
Also, when you install matched tubes of the same type as the original tubes, you don't have to re-bias your amplifier to get the original performance back. Groove Tubes tests each tube for power output, gain, and quality variance, then matches them with others with the same performance. This ensures you will get a precision matched set, for optimum performance and tone. Our Grove Tubes GT 6L6CHPDM are sold in matched duets (2 tubes), to ensure optimum balance and performance. But, the best reason to get Groove Tubes is that they will make your amp sound better and last longer, which is why you have a tube amp in the first place.
It's also a good idea to plan ahead for the day when you'll need new tubes to save the gig. Get a set of Groove Tubes before you actually need them. You could put them in early and save your present tube as backups. You'll be doing the right thing, and you'll like the peace of mind and the way your amp will sound.
