Who makes the highest gain EF86 preamp tubes Today?

[Rod]

I have a Whitney Penta 66 that I'm trying to get for front end drive out of, and was wondering who makes the highest gain EF86 tubes?? thankx guys...rod;) ;) ;)

[donnyjaguar]

They are all supposed to be the same. You may be better off modifying the circuit to get more gain out of the EF86 you have. Pentodes are versatile this way and it shouldn't be difficult. If I had a schematic of your unit I could make suggestions here.

DJ

[Shea]

Who makes ANY EF86s today?

I know the St. Petersburg Svetlana factory used to, but I'm not sure if it still does

Shea

[jivebaby]

Blast the preamp with a treble booster. My matchless used to love the beano boost and the DAM stuff looks good. Cant wait to try my hayseed 30 on order. Oh yea get a mullard ef86 tube. NOS tubes sound great.

Mike

[Blue Strat]

Who makes ANY EF86s today?

I know the St. Petersburg Svetlana factory used to, but I'm not sure if it still does

Shea

I think they've given up. Probably the horrible reliabilty and relatively small market.

NOS is the only game in town. EF86s in general have HUGE gain. The ciruit they're used in is the determining factor of how they operate.

[Blue Strat]

To my knowledge nobody does. According to a source close to Svetlana, the last St Petersburg run of EF86s were made in the early 80s and warehoused at various locations. I have a Winged C one with a 1981 date code and a few supposedly "new" ones labeled Phillips that are identical visually, internally and sonically to the Svet. Caveat emptor....

Yeah, I've seen those Russian EF86s with various noteworthy lablels. The dead giveaway is the "flying saucer" shaped getter.