The Tung Sol 5881, offered here as a matched pair, is a rich sounding valve. Tung Sol created the first 5881 in 1954, and have brought back the classic as the brand new Tung Sol 5881.
Note that the 5881 is a 23 watt valve and rated for a maximum plate voltage of 400Vdc. Valve rectified amplifiers with higher plate voltage can use the Tung Sol 5881 without issue. For example, the ’59 Bassman LTD. However, always rebias the amp heeding the 5881’s 23W rating. This will provide a vintage tone and less clean headroom. Leaving the bias at a 6L6GC setting and/or using the Tung Sol 5881 in a high voltage amp with a solid-state rectifier can cause problems not covered by warranty. For high voltage, solid-state rectified amps, consider the Tung Sol 6L6 STR instead. They’re rated for 30 watts and 500V, so they work much better in this application, and their tone is quite similar to the 5881 too.
We test and match each valve at real amp voltages on our suite of vintage, modern, and custom-built valve testers. The pair includes a test certificate showing the valve test results. These valves are also vibration tested at the factory.
Made in Russia.
Includes our class-leading 180 day warranty.
