Bogner Ecstasy 20th Anniversary : 6L6 vs EL34

[Rawk]

I have a couple old marshall 2204's one with el34 and 6550/kt88 in the other. I came to the conclusion that el34's are more my sound as it's a bit warmer and had better gainy sounds. (Had more of the classic Angus Young tone with el34's) There is a difference in sound but to me the el34's have that classic marshall crunch.

Kt88/6550's in comparison had better clean tones but crunch/gainy sounds were just a bit sterile sounding with tighter lower end imo. Just think of Zakk Wylde's tone. Even though this isn't with a bogner some of the tubes tonal characteristics will overlap.

Hope this helps but as the saying goes....there's only one way to find out!

 

[se7en]

I have a couple old marshall 2204's one with el34 and 6550/kt88 in the other. I came to the conclusion that el34's are more my sound as it's a bit warmer and had better gainy sounds. (Had more of the classic Angus Young tone with el34's) There is a difference in sound but to me the el34's have that classic marshall crunch.

Kt88/6550's in comparison had better clean tones but crunch/gainy sounds were just a bit sterile sounding with tighter lower end imo. Just think of Zakk Wylde's tone. Even though this isn't with a bogner some of the tubes tonal characteristics will overlap.

Hope this helps but as the saying goes....there's only one way to find out!

Mostly I'd agree, especially with "old Marshalls". But, it depends on the design and how much of a role the pre and power sections play. So then what tube gives the amp your preferred balance of frequencies/characteristics. In the 20th XTC, the power section doesn't impart as much character IMO as say a 2204 or Plexi with the power section cooking. Same with the Twin Jet or SLO. A lot of the tone is from the preamp and reliant less on the power section for breakup/tone shaping.

 

[DRC]

There is a 6V6 version which I have played, and if you really insist on avoiding 6L6's, the 6V6 version is a better choice than EL34's in my opinion. They have a midrange shape that's closer to EL34's, more low-end and definition than EL84's, and sound as good as 6L6's for clean an crunch sounds... in my opinion of course. I'm not going to argue 6V6's vs. XXX, I'm just saying what I've experienced.

I know this an old ass post but where did you try a 6V6 XTC? I see they sell the 20th on a German site but I've never seen one in America. I think this would be the perfect amp for me but that's an expensive chance to take knowing resell on a non-EL34 XTC wouldn't be good should I not like it. If I could get the green channel on a 45 watt XTC close to my Deluxe Reverb I'd be set!

 

[FourT6and2]

My 20th Anniv XTC was the 6l6 version. I loved it and believe one of my clips is included in the YouTube links above. It was seriously one of the best tube amps I ever owned and could do just about anything. The Plexi mode was just killer. I just plain loved that amp.

Here are a couple of clips I recorded with mine:

Red Channel w/ Boost engaged
https://soundcloud.com/gibson5413/xtc-d ... ou-love-me

Blue Channel w/ Boost engaged

Blue Channel w/Plexi mode (used a BB Preamp for the lead)

Sounds incredible. Nice job!