6CA7 vs KT77 vs EL34L sound clips.

midnightlaundry

Well-known member
So I got my set of JJ 6CA7's. They have the most lowend out of all the tubes I've tried in the Express amp.

They all sound good, it's just a matter of which one you hear first. More highend seems to imprint your ears, making anything less sound dull. So I put the clips in order with the thickest lowend 1st. The amps settings were the same for all clips.

Solo kicks in a 35 seconds.

JJ 6CA7
http://home.comcast.net/~leadfootdriver/6CA7.mp3

JJ KT77
http://home.comcast.net/~leadfootdriver/KT77.mp3

JJ EL34L
http://home.comcast.net/~leadfootdriver/EL34L.mp3
 
Are the JJs even real beam power tetrodes? I thought the only true 6CA7s around were old Sylvanias and a few of the now extinct brands like GE
 
FourT6and2":1i83fjrg said:
Are the JJs even real beam power tetrodes? I thought the only true 6CA7s around were old Sylvanias and a few of the now extinct brands like GE

Nope just another flavor of EL34 in a bigger bottle and higher vacuum. Correct, the Sylvania and GE were the only true 6CA7's.


On another note, dig the tune and playing. :rock:
 
All three sounded good...you could definitely hear the bigger bottom to the 6CA7, but I missed the sweetness to the top end that the EL34 had. The KT77 was kind of a happy medium and may be the best choice for some. I preferred the EL34 overall but there were no losers here.

I think you should get another Express and run one with 6CA7s and the other with EL34s...I'll bet it would sound huge ;)

Very cool playing and tones...I dug the tracks :thumbsup:
 
Those are great cleans. The bass makes the 6CA7 sound a bit fuller so I prefer that, but I'd be very happy with either for the clean sounds.

The difference is much less pronounced for the gainier sounds. I hear the 6CA7 has some more bass, the KT77 is the most balanced one, and the EL34L has a bit more presence. I'd go for the KT77 or EL34L because I like bite and growl, but I'm not sure I'd hear the difference in a live situation.

Thanks for the comparison. It's always interesting to notice that the guitar, pickups, amp and speakers seem to play a much larger role than the tubes.
 
duodecim":3h3bmz2i said:
It's always interesting to notice that the guitar, pickups, amp and speakers seem to play a much larger role than the tubes.
^^Truth ^^
 
rupe":2ua61nw1 said:
duodecim":2ua61nw1 said:
It's always interesting to notice that the guitar, pickups, amp and speakers seem to play a much larger role than the tubes.
^^Truth ^^
This is true, however, I think changing tubes can allow you to keep the same guitar, pickup, speakers etc. and still get the tone you need. That's the nice thing about customizing a tube pre and power amp. You can easily change the tone and feel with certain tubes.
 
Nice tune! I dig that vibe.

A mix of the 34's and 6CA7's would be sweet.

Oh yeah. That is what I have been running in my RM100 for a while now! I get the crunchies from the 34's with the extra girth of the 6CA7's.
 
Thanks for checking it out.

I had the tone controls the same for each tube so I could hear how they compared to each other.

You could tweek the tone controls to suit the tube you liked best.
 
Back
Top