RT2/50 power tubes

[Ugg]

RT2/50 owners: What power tubes are you running in your RT2/50? Do they give you a good balance between high gain and clean tones?

I have been running Ruby EL34B-STR and Ruby 6L6CMSTR in my RT2/50 and have been very satisfied with them. They have a nice organic tone and IMO are balanced just right for both high gain and clean modules. Unfortunately they are warn out and it's time to retube...

I ordered three pairs of tubes: a pair of JJ 6L6GC (average distortion), a pair of SED EL34 (average distortion), and a pair of TungSol 5881. I tested all three types last night and found the following:
- The SED's were way too harsh in the highs and the midrange wasn't as round as the Ruby's (less Marshall'y).
- The JJ's sounded great for high gain (very dry, raw tone) but they lacked the glassy highs and the headroom of the Ruby's.
- The TungSol 5881's had a nice in-between sound with the rawness of the 6L6 and the mids of the EL34. I can see why people prefer these in a non-switching power amp. However, since the RT2/50 is a switching amp, I prefer the contrast of the 6L6's vs EL34's.

To be fair to the JJ's and SED's, I obviously haven't given them a chance to break in yet. How long does it take to break in power tubes? Will the tone change once they are broken in?

At this point I think I'm going to match and replace the Ruby tubes. My assumption is that the sonic differences I'm hearing in the JJ's and SED's are characteristics of those tubes. I'm hoping that new Ruby's that match the specs of the old Ruby's will get closer to the tone I want to hear.

 

[hotlicks2go]

Tung Sol 5881's or JJ 6L6's in one side and Svetlana EL34's on the other in mine. This offers a good contrast when switching from Marshall sounding tones to Fender or Mesa, ect. I had a matched set of JJ 6L6GC's and E34L's but I was wanting more contrasting sound between the channels. I've tried tons of different tubes and find the Svetlana to be the nicest sounding EL34 type around. Tung Sol and JJ's are my choice in the 6L6/5881 deptarment. JJ's 6L6 handle much higher plate voltage and can be biased very hot and are slightly dark(sound best running hot..up to 50ma) . Tung Sol 5881's are a little brighter, compared them close in tone to my RCA Blackplates. Spent Loads of cash on tubes... Vintage and new production. Every tube has its own Flavor just as differnt Modules / amps do. These few mentioned are my favorite new production that can be found at resonable costs and consistent quality.