So I am looking at these tubes and on paper when looking at bang for the buck the GS31b seems to be the better tube. The power requirements for normal operation in grounded grid look very similar but with the GS31 putting out a lot more power and longer tube life.
So my question is in real life is their a significant difference in durability and flexibility in band width???? I know that paper does not refuse ink and often times tubes have weakness's that only reveal themselves in real world use. While the power advantage clearly favors the GS31 that will not mean much if it is prone to failure, difficult to please in the design of the amp or if it is has stability issues, drift or intermod issues when used in common HF+6,12 and 2 meter bands with common modes of operation etc........I made an offer on some GS31's but to be honest I am still leaning towards the GI46's. Why? The GI7Bt has proven to be a little gemof a tube with durability, low cost,tons of flexability in band width and amp design and so far no real issues with arcing etc......I got mine for $19 each and with shipping I think they ran to $27 each so at that price point they are hard to beat and proven so the GI46 being in the same family should be just as fantastic. I have seen more then one design running 2 x GI7bT with 2500V @ 700-800ma doing nice clean 1000 watts of out put and even more 2 x GI7bT amps in the 800 watt area at 2000 volts but no current reading. So it is kind of like dating your best friends sister you kind of know the parents already and they know you and both of you know what to expect. The GS31 is a totally unknown to me at least.
I know it is a powerful tube on par with the 4CX800 in terms of output power but that is about it. Not a lot of amps made by people with english web sites. The few I came across where in Russian and they where lacking a lot after google translation. The other was built by some guy calling himself the "Wizard" and well it is hard to take anyone that calls themselves the "Wizard" seriously and I sent him an email about 2 weeks ago asking a very very simple question and he never got back to me. So just wondering what the word ont he street is about these two different tube families the GI versus the GS series? I am wanting to stay with tubes that I can do in grounded grid configuration if you are wondering why I left Pentodes out the GU43 and GU34 look intersing as well but those are much more complicated because you can not do them in grounded grid well not if you want to get much life and power out of them.So that is why I left them alone at this time. I might pick some up for use down the road or a few GU81's etc but not right now! I really want to play around with the GU81 but I can not get a good deal on them their price is staying rather high.
I look forward to hearing any input on these tubes or even any of the Russian tubes I did not mention that you have a lot of practical experiencing with. I am trying to gain practical field wisdom from those that know more then I do so I can avoid any known lemons or issues.
So my question is in real life is their a significant difference in durability and flexibility in band width???? I know that paper does not refuse ink and often times tubes have weakness's that only reveal themselves in real world use. While the power advantage clearly favors the GS31 that will not mean much if it is prone to failure, difficult to please in the design of the amp or if it is has stability issues, drift or intermod issues when used in common HF+6,12 and 2 meter bands with common modes of operation etc........I made an offer on some GS31's but to be honest I am still leaning towards the GI46's. Why? The GI7Bt has proven to be a little gemof a tube with durability, low cost,tons of flexability in band width and amp design and so far no real issues with arcing etc......I got mine for $19 each and with shipping I think they ran to $27 each so at that price point they are hard to beat and proven so the GI46 being in the same family should be just as fantastic. I have seen more then one design running 2 x GI7bT with 2500V @ 700-800ma doing nice clean 1000 watts of out put and even more 2 x GI7bT amps in the 800 watt area at 2000 volts but no current reading. So it is kind of like dating your best friends sister you kind of know the parents already and they know you and both of you know what to expect. The GS31 is a totally unknown to me at least.
I know it is a powerful tube on par with the 4CX800 in terms of output power but that is about it. Not a lot of amps made by people with english web sites. The few I came across where in Russian and they where lacking a lot after google translation. The other was built by some guy calling himself the "Wizard" and well it is hard to take anyone that calls themselves the "Wizard" seriously and I sent him an email about 2 weeks ago asking a very very simple question and he never got back to me. So just wondering what the word ont he street is about these two different tube families the GI versus the GS series? I am wanting to stay with tubes that I can do in grounded grid configuration if you are wondering why I left Pentodes out the GU43 and GU34 look intersing as well but those are much more complicated because you can not do them in grounded grid well not if you want to get much life and power out of them.So that is why I left them alone at this time. I might pick some up for use down the road or a few GU81's etc but not right now! I really want to play around with the GU81 but I can not get a good deal on them their price is staying rather high.
I look forward to hearing any input on these tubes or even any of the Russian tubes I did not mention that you have a lot of practical experiencing with. I am trying to gain practical field wisdom from those that know more then I do so I can avoid any known lemons or issues.