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PAL Electronics 600+ tube amp

Unit 75

"TRAINMAN"
Jul 29, 2014
526
1,022
153
Central Alabama
I had this amp given to me for some work I performed. I wouldn't mind re-doing this amp but I cannot find any info on the net about it. I would like to know what tubes it uses, It only had one tube in it when I got it. Thanks.
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If the sockets are wired 6v then 6lf6/kd6/lb6 if 12v 8950 would be my guess as I believe I see 12 pin sockets.
Not too tough to convert to the cheaper 6v tubes. Youre going to have a small fortune in this box before youre done as 6lf6 tubes are $40+/tube compared to $125/tube for the 8950 if you can find them.
 
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Nope, upon further inspection I see 9 pin sockets which means 6lq6/mj6 maybe. In that case 6mj6 will be your better tube but again more expensive. There are other 9 pin tubes it could be also. What tube is in it now?
Edit again:
I see 9 pin driving 12 pin lol so its both.
6lq6 driving 6lf6 maybe?
Anyone see different?
 
Shes due for a complete rebuild. Caps, resistors, diodes, tubes and god knows what else. Unless youre handy and can do the work yourself youre looking at $100+ labor maybe and another $100 in parts if you include a new ebm/pabst fan. That's if that transformer is good. Tubes are another $400-$500 for nos tubes. If you have to ship it to someone add another $120 approx for shipping both ways ($60+$60 for usps priority 2 day)
Its a little much but if you're like me you wont give a shit and do it anyhow lmao.
I just sent a pristine all original 300a black face to a forum friend today to refurbish the entire unit. Ill have $700-$800 in it including shipping by the time im done. But I really like these amps for their sound but also because with some upgrading they are reliable units. Im a little jealous to be honest. Ive been looking for a metal deck palomar. If you ever decide to sell it please let me know.
 
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I can also see where it looks like the deck was partially cleaned but really needs to totally stripped down to get all the gunk out. Looks possible it was in a smoking household for some years. Cigarette tar is an sob to clean out of a ham amp and sometimes impossible to clean so you have to replace components like relays. You might be able to get it cleaner with a bunch wooden cotton swabs, some denatured alcohol and several hours of tedious swabbing lol.
 
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Really looks like one of the big boy amps i hope you get it going and wish i had friends like yours lol
 
6KM6 has 2/3 the rating of a 6LQ6.

First thing I would do is lose the 1-tube pre-driver stage altogether.

Most any base radio has more than enough power to drive the two-tube stage plenty hard enough.

Just about every three-stage amplifier I have ever seen just has too much gain. Makes them hard to keep stable. Hard to find a radio small enough to match a single driver tube.

73
 
unit 75, i hope you didn't break a sweat doing whatever work got you that amp, excuse me, amp case.

the tubes that were in there if they work are worth more than the whole amp.
that amp uses so many tubes that to buy enough of them, you are already on your way to just buying a new amp.

my collection of old sweep tube amp cases that are given to me in hopes of trading for work is growing steadily, and they are each worth a bit less work than the last one.
LC
 
LC: I'm with you brother!
Looking that OLD girl over, the price to retube plus adding more cooling. That amp will be a money pit.
I see new caps, tubes, relays, fan for driver stage, fan for the final stage plus new chokes. Then add the time you're reaching the point where you could buy a nice clean used AL-80B Ameritron and get the same results on the meter.
NOMAD: Agreed, that 1 driving 2 is a meltdown waiting to happen. Today's radios have ample drive or more for even 2 tubes, let alone the single.
GL Bro, even with used tubes that amp is going to be a big investment, 6LQ6/6MJ6 amps in that caliber are just getting too hard to justify.
A 4 tuber is my limit in the final stage, just not enough power vs. investment there.
I have a couple HULK maverick 250's here, won't touch them, I did covert one just to a final deck (4 tuber) removed the entire drive section.
The old amps just with 6,8,10 God forbid 12 tubes, even converting to Rusky tubes looking a couple hundred $$ in tube cost alone. 10/12 tuber more like $3-400 maybe more!
All the Best
Gary
 
Yep, figure about $50+ per tube give or take depending on the tube. 6lb6 can be found for $30/tube but the hard part is finding matched sets. Even finding a complete set from one manufacturer is tough let alone batch or date code matched. Ive got 2 six tubers im refurbishing. Thats 2 sets of 4 matching finals im looking for and its not real easy.
 
Cool. Thank you for all your inputs. lol....Maybe I should put this amp on the back burner just for now. I have already re-capped the amp, LC. I thought that this would be a nice amp for my set of mark III's. I see it's kind of a odd ball amp the way it is laid out. But your all right in it becoming a money pit.

Can anyone recommend a good tube amp (Make and Model) that I can run my Brownings into to get between 6 and 8 hundred watts output on AM ??? The Mark III puts out 15-20w on AM.
 

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