Tung-Sol introduced the classic pear-shaped 6550 tube in the mid-1950s.
Tung-Sol developed 6550 as a highly linear power tube. The 6550 tube was quickly adopted by the growing American audio market entering the golden era of the Tube HiFi Audio.
Other US manufacturers such as GE and Sylvania produced 6550 tubes, but with a straight bottle. This design is replicated in tubes such as Sovtek 6550WE and Svetlana 6550SV.
Internally, a 6550 is a beam tetrode like a 6L6. The 6550 tube is the uber-6L6, a bigger better version of 6L6.
Tung-Sol designed the 6550 tube to take much higher voltages and generate more power than 6L6.
A pair of 6550 tubes can generate 100W of output. Much higher than what a pair of 6L6 or EL34 can do.
Tung-Sol rated the 6550 tube conservatively, which makes it a very reliable tube. 6550 tubes last a long time, even when pushed hard and used at its limits.
A 6550 tube is a dependable workhorse that takes abuse and keeps going. This makes 6550 tube the output tube of choice in high power audio and guitar amps today.
As with any high power output tubes, the 6550 tubes need to be matched closely as pairs and quads to get the most out of your amp.
We burn-in and precision match all the 6550 tubes in-house. We have years of experience in selecting precisely matched 6550 sets, from pairs to sextets for demanding high power amps.
