Best sounding current production EL34, what are you guys using ?

S

screamindemon

Well-known member
This is for a custom build Marshall/ Friedman 100 watt amp.
What are your thoughts ?

Also what are you using for preamp tubes in your High gainers? I was using the Ruby HG and HG plus 12AX7s but they are no longer available.
Thanks
 
This topic comes up frequently. Friedman stopped using JJ due to a high failure rate. Tung Sol, EH and new production Mullard all get their fair share of praise. A lot of folks including me use the EH and I doubt you'll find a better price than here.

EDIT: you might want to contact Nesstone about those tubes I linked above. They were EHX-labeled just a month or two ago but now they are Nesstone-labeled so I'm not 100% sure they are EHX.

For preamp tubes I use the older square getter Beijing tube. Looks very similar to the newer Shuguang tubes you are using but have a square getter. Similar tone too just a little warmer with a little better mids to my ears. Those Ruby's are just tested Shuguang tubes, nothing special about them other than that.
 
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SpiderWars said:
This topic comes up frequently. Friedman stopped using JJ due to a high failure rate. Tung Sol, EH and new production Mullard all get their fair share of praise. A lot of folks including me use the EH and I doubt you'll find a better price than here.

EDIT: you might want to contact Nesstone about those tubes I linked above. They were EHX-labeled just a month or two ago but now they are Nesstone-labeled so I'm not 100% sure they are EHX.

For preamp tubes I use the older square getter Beijing tube. Looks very similar to the newer Shuguang tubes you are using but have a square getter. Similar tone too just a little warmer with a little better mids to my ears. Those Ruby's are just tested Shuguang tubes, nothing special about them other than that.
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Thanks for the link, 39.00 for a whole quad seems really cheap. Might be worth checking out for that price!
 
JJ KT77’s are the finest EL34 type to my ear, better than the E34L even. I get the lowest current draw tubes available and they perform well idling at 30w each in my cathode biased Zinky.
 
SpiderWars said:
This topic comes up frequently. Friedman stopped using JJ due to a high failure rate. Tung Sol, EH and new production Mullard all get their fair share of praise. A lot of folks including me use the EH and I doubt you'll find a better price than here.

EDIT: you might want to contact Nesstone about those tubes I linked above. They were EHX-labeled just a month or two ago but now they are Nesstone-labeled so I'm not 100% sure they are EHX.

For preamp tubes I use the older square getter Beijing tube. Looks very similar to the newer Shuguang tubes you are using but have a square getter. Similar tone too just a little warmer with a little better mids to my ears. Those Ruby's are just tested Shuguang tubes, nothing special about them other than that.
Click to expand...
They have the EH also on the website. I just picked up 16 of them in the last few weeks. They sound excellent to me.

I have KT77 and 6CA7 tubes around here. They sound great too. But they each have a unique sound that is different from a EL34.

I have a lot of EL34 type tubes here. Winged C, SIEMENS, Mullard xf2 from the 60's, etc.

Sure they all sound slightly different. Some sound pretty different. But to be honest I don't think the old tubes really sound any better than the new tubes. They just sound different.

The EH sound pretty similar to the SIEMENS.

I have been told by someone I completely trust the EH will not last long in a Class A amp. But fine in a Class AB.
 
stephen sawall said:
They have the EH also on the website. I just picked up 16 of them in the last few weeks. They sound excellent to me.

I have KT77 and 6CA7 tubes around here. They sound great too. But they each have a unique sound that is different from a EL34.

I have a lot of EL34 type tubes here. Winged C, SIEMENS, Mullard xf2 from the 60's, etc.

Sure they all sound slightly different. Some sound pretty different. But to be honest I don't think the old tubes really sound any better than the new tubes. They just sound different.

The EH sound pretty similar to the SIEMENS.

I have been told by someone I completely trust the EH will not last long in a Class A amp. But fine in a Class AB.
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Yeah the EH are here https://nesstone.com/product/electro-harmonix-el34eh-power-tube/

I've got a couple of the Nesstone tubes as well, haven't had a chance to try them yet but you can see the wire etc in them are thinner than the other Shuguang rebrands I have from a couple other places (the Nesstones are made by Shuguang)
 
Groove Tubes EL34M Mullard FX2 wannabes. They sound great, handle high plate voltage better than other modern Mullard copies and last a long time. I have used them for years now.
 
I was using KT77 a lot. Recently I tried E34L in one of my builds and I’ve been using them ever since. Super punchy and aggressive. More so than KT77. The 77’s have a little more vintage feel to them.
 
RedPlated said:
I was using KT77 a lot. Recently I tried E34L in one of my builds and I’ve been using them ever since. Super punchy and aggressive. More so than KT77. The 77’s have a little more vintage feel to them.
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E34L’s do get throaty with 70-80% of 30-32 watts bias and cranked.
 
Anyone with experience using the Tungsol EL34B? Looking at a quad of them for my Splawn nitro.

Thanks
 
Well i experienced my EL34 tubes to react differently... i guess it all depends on the amp itself... i gotta VHT pittbull classic loaded with EH EL34 and it was great... but transfered to Diezel Herbert with outer two KT88 i immediately hear a sizzle or fizzy topend with a loose bottomend.... i changed the same 4 el34 to TADbstrs and it sound tighter almost like qualities of the KT77... maybe with the mids filled in... no sizzle like the EXH EL34... and like many said the TADBStrs are very clean tube...
 
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