NAD + NCD EVH 5150iiis EL34

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bro KV
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Bro KV

Bro KV

Well-known member
Been wanting an amp with EL34s to complement my Herbert. Did a lot of research and played my buddies Stealth 6L6 and really liked it. This thing has a micro ton of gain on tap. Had to grab the matching cab, cause why not. Really happy so far.
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The absolute best of the 5153 line in my opinion by far, the EL 34 100. Congrats man. Simply the best over all high gain production amp out there right now on the planet in my opinion.
 
Fordman65 said:
That's nice!

What made you get the 100 vs the 50? I've started looking at these
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Out of all the tube amps I’ve owned, my 85 watt Mark IVA was the lowest. Just never ventured into the lower wattage boxes.
 
Fordman65 said:
That's nice!

What made you get the 100 vs the 50? I've started looking at these
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They aren’t the same amp… at all. There’s numerous posts about this. Most people assume the lineage between a 50 watt compared to its 100 watt big brother amp is the same, and usually that’s pretty true, minus the differences between 50 vs 100 amps that normally exist. This is not the case with the el 34 50 watt, and the 100 watt.
 
VESmedic said:
They aren’t the same amp… at all. There’s numerous posts about this. Most people assume the lineage between a 50 watt compared to its 100 watt big brother amp is the same, and usually that’s pretty true, minus the differences between 50 vs 100 amps that normally exist. This is not the case with the el 34 50 watt, and the 100 watt.
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Yep. There’s a slight difference in the circuit; the blue on the 50 is loose and needs a boost to tighten it like an old Marshall. The 100w doesn’t have that problem.
 
Racerxrated said:
Yep. There’s a slight difference in the circuit; the blue on the 50 is loose and needs a boost to tighten it like an old Marshall. The 100w doesn’t have that problem.
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This was my question. I couldn’t gel with the Blue on the 50 for this reason. I understand it’s a simple mod, tho.
 
Fordman65 said:
Cool. I haven't read up on these at all yet. Owned the first iteration of the 5153 back in the day and didn't care for it much and haven't paid much attention to them since.
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The 100w Stealth and 100w EL34 have Depth controls where the original 5153 doesn’t. It makes a huge difference. Their Blue channels are also quite a bit hotter.
 
PurityS.L.G said:
Damn thats a sexy looking rig. There's just something about a head with its matching cab. Kind of like womens bra & panties...the right mismatch is still hot and cool looking but matching looks better :cool:
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I agreed with you.
 
I’ve never had a chance to try a real one yet but on my Quad Cortex it is my favourite factory amp on there.
I did see a used one in the store and couldn’t believe how big and heavy it was and all the tubes required. I’ve been trying to downsize so it turned me off at the time but sometimes you just need to lug in a fire breathing monster and just live :rock:
 
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It sounds like I should avoid the 50W versions. Are there any big differences between the 100W Stealth and EL34 versions besides the tubes?
 
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