6CJ3, 6DN3, 6CM3, 6CH3 and 6DW4B tubes for use in tube amplifiers

When going through the photos in my blog post on the Leben CS-600 amplifier by Japanese Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company, I noticed that the damper tube in this photo:

6CDN3 damper tube in a Leben CS-600 tube amplifier.
6CDN3 damper tube next to a cathode switch, a 6CS7 and an EL34 tube.

was marked 6DN3, which I, funnily enough, hadn’t noticed before. I was of the impression that the CS-600 uses 6CJ3 tubes, which is stated on Leben’s official site.

In the folder that came with my amplifier, the CS-600 produced around 2007 the tubes are listed as: 4 X 6L6GC (5881) tubes + 4 X 6CS7 tubes + 1 X 6CM3 damper tube (6CJ3), which adds to the the confusion as they 6CM3 is equivalent to the 6DN3, and not the the 6CJ3.

I’ve looked up both tube types (or rather all force) on Radiomuseum and see slight differences in the specs.

Box of four 6CJ3 tubes from General Electric - marked 6CJ3/6DW4B.
Box of four 6CJ3 tubes from General Electric – marked 6CJ3/6DW4B.

6CM3 (6DN3) versus 6CJ3 (6CH3)

6CM3 (6DN3) – 2.5 ampere; plate dissipation 12; average plate current 400.

6CJ3 (6CH3)- 1.8 ampere; plate dissipation 6.5; average plate current 350.

I guess the two types of damper tubes are sufficiently closely related to both function without any risks, but I’ll try and have this confirmed by Leben in the days to come.

For the output tubes, 6L6GC and 5881 are both mentioned and these are fairly different in output (30 watts vs 24 watts respectively).

Four 6CS7 tubes & one 6CJ3 tube from General Electric.
Four 6CS7 tubes & one 6CJ3 tube from General Electric.

Tubes that can be used confirmed by Leben

Yoshi Hontani from Leben has kindly confirmed by mail that the following damper tubes can be used in both the CS-600 & CS-600X amplifiers: 6DN3, 6CJ3, 6CM3, 6CH3 and 6DW4B.

That’s good news, I think, as supplies of the 6DN3 seems to be drying up.

Also see: Kasper Bergholt Photography, Copenhagen

Four General Electric 6CJ3 tubes

6CJ3 NOS tubes from General Electric. The Leben CS-600 design uses one of these for a damper tube function.
6CJ3 NOS tubes from General Electric. The Leben CS-600 uses one of these for a damper tube function.

Also see:
Experiences with Audio Note UK

6X5GT Tubes in the Leben RS30-EQ RIAA
Objects for an Ideal Home