EL34's

[Nigel]

What's your favorite new production, and old stock?

I've sampled the JJ KT-77, EL34L, EHX, New Sensor "Mullard" label, and have come to love the EL34L's.

Tell me what you think!

Dad's got a few quads of the brown base teslas and some old siemens. His dynaco's will probably see those teslas before I do. hehe.

 

[hunter]

NOS: RFTs
Current: Ruby EL34BHT and SED =C=s

I actually didn't like the New Sensors, find them a bit flat tbh.

 

[parntz145]

Winged C are my faves. I also like the new tung sol's. The jj always sounded to dark and muddy to me. I only liked them in my Uber's.

 

[killertone]

NOS: Siemens/RFT hands down. I run them in my JVM and my 50 Watt Plexi and they absolutely rule.

New: SED #1, TAD EL34BSTR #2

 

[Nigel]

The Zinky runs 550+/-, so the JJ's grind just right.

 

[Marshall Law]

What's your favorite new production, and old stock?

I've sampled the JJ KT-77, EL34L, EHX, New Sensor "Mullard" label, and have come to love the EL34L's.

Tell me what you think!

Dad's got a few quads of the brown base teslas and some old siemens. His dynaco's will probably see those teslas before I do. hehe.

I have never had a problem w the E34L's, they sound great to me, and I have even done side by side comparison w nos mullard XF2 tubes, not much difference between the two

 

[Nigel]

Hot bias and high voltage!!! (Think AC/DC voice) HIGH VOLTAGE!!!

 

[skoora]

I've had good luck using the JJ EL34L. I like that tube. I've yet to try the =C='s and would like to try them in my plexi build.

 

[D-Rock]

The cheap New Sensor made Svetlana's I put in my amp have been great.

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

If you don't want to ruin yourself just stay away from your dads stash of old tubes. Those brown base Telsa's are the next best thing to Mullards imo and the RFT/Siemens are great too. Sadly nothing being made currently can hang in terms of tone and feel. I'd agree with the suggestions above for the winged c's, it's the best thing going and a good tube in it's own right. The JJ e34l's feel too way stiff to me and they seem like the highs don't want to give up the grain and smooth out when being driven. But take my opinions with a grain of salt, I'm generally referring to what I hear cranked up in amps that really push the power tubes, ymmv quite a bit depending on what amp you're playing through.

 

[Nigel]

I hear the suggestion that the JJ EL34L is hard or sterile or harsh from many sources. At less than 18-20 watts/idle, that has been observed. Get them hot though, and the tone opens up and what everyone else reports occurs: XF2 Mullard like performance, etc.

 

[droptrd]

Never tried any NOS EL's. My current favs are the SED Winged =C= hands down. Right now I have some JJ E34L's in my new Trident that came with the amp when I got it. While ive tried them in the past with my recto and did not like them, they dont sound bad in my stiletto and seem to be holding up well. This is the only set of tubes ive had in my stiletto so I cant compare. The next set will deffinately be =C=. Ive also wanted to try the Tung Sol EL34b. Ill also add that I think =C= has the best 6L6s out too.

 

[Nigel]

I hear those Mesas have one or two bias settings and tend to be cold from the factory.

 

[droptrd]

I hear those Mesas have one or two bias settings and tend to be cold from the factory.

yep. I metered my DR at 16 on the 6L6 setting and 25 on the EL34 setting. Thats cold IMO. I should meter my Stiletto. I used to bias my jcm 900 w/ 5881's at 28 and I thought that was cold

 

[Nigel]

Yah mayn. I played with teh harsh toanz for years until I did my homework and got "mine own arse tomeward bound."

Rules, I say eff 'em. Looks like the touring brothers are using the SED's, at least, from what I can gather, Diamond Amps are stockin' em, and Marshall.

I tried their 6L6 against the JJ and liked the JJ much more. Have yet to try their EL34...will probably get motivated when I kill an EL34L.

Funny, how they call that tube a 25W that has 20% more headroom. Bogner specs the Über at 120W, which suggests 30W a tube. I'm convinced you have to bias it like it was a 30 watt tube to get the correct toanz. Sounds hard, sterile, plain mean below 18W.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Siemens / RFT hands down - I like 'em more than original Mullards.
(just my opinion)

Keith

 

[blackba]

Big fan of =C= EL34's. I think the EH EL34's are pretty nice as well, but I have seen warnings that the EH's can't take plate voltage over about 450VDC.

I would love to try some NOS EL34's or some of those TAD EL34's....