EVH 100 Watt Stealth 6L6 vs El34

[MetalThrasher]

What are differences between the 6L6 stealth and the EL34 stealth? For those who have played both which one would do thrash and death metal the best.

 

[bhuard75]

Ive had the 6l6 and sold it to get the el34. Red channel on both has you covered. Id try and play both to see what tube variant suites your ears. Both amps are different enough for me to warrant owning both. So i got my eyes in the secondary market for a 6L6 stealth.

 

[MetalThrasher]

How does the blue channel compare between the two?

 

[bhuard75]

Blue channel on the 6l6 is pretty aggressive and not to far off from the red channel.
Blue channel on the el34 is still tight but definitely has a less aggressive profile compared to the 6l6. But the channel is still aggressive. Boosting the blue easliy puts it in the red channels territory on the el34.

My favorite channel between the two is the blue on the 6L6 with a clean boost (creative audio labs mk 4.23).

 

[Beyond Black]

I've had the 6L6 Stealth and it would kill for doing death and thrash metal. I've only heard clips of the EL-34 model, and while it also sounds great, it definitely accentuates the midrange more, as any EL-34 amp will do. I would say that the 6L6 Stealth would probably be more aggressive with a lower midrange focus, therefore would be the heavier sounding of the two for teh brootz.

 

[7 Stringer]

What are differences between the 6L6 stealth and the EL34 stealth? For those who have played both which one would do thrash and death metal the best.

Both are great for thrash and death, the 34 version has a damn nice clean channel. But it is very noisy and has way too much gain, i sold it cause of that. Gain at 9 o clock on the red and it was plenty, unusable after that, imo.

But thats me, i am not a gain maniac, i fight my amps a bit, more rewarding.

I liked the el34 version better than the 6l6, more aggressive in the mids and throatier, more Marshally.

 

[technomancer]

Can't go wrong with either one really. The EL34 has a better clean channel. The EL34 has a different mid character but both sound great. Both have more gain than anyone could ever need

What are differences between the 6L6 stealth and the EL34 stealth? For those who have played both which one would do thrash and death metal the best.

Both are great for thrash and death, the 34 version has a damn nice clean channel. But it is very noisy and has way too much gain, i sold it cause of that. Gain at 9 o clock on the red and it was plenty, unusable after that, imo.

But thats me, i am not a gain maniac, i fight my amps a bit, more rewarding.

I liked the el34 version better than the 6l6, more aggressive in the mids and throatier, more Marshally.

I still think you had a bad tube as the EL34 I had was not noisy and definitely not any more noisy than the 6L6...

 

[7 Stringer]

Can't go wrong with either one really. The EL34 has a better clean channel. The EL34 has a different mid character but both sound great. Both have more gain than anyone could ever need

What are differences between the 6L6 stealth and the EL34 stealth? For those who have played both which one would do thrash and death metal the best.

Both are great for thrash and death, the 34 version has a damn nice clean channel. But it is very noisy and has way too much gain, i sold it cause of that. Gain at 9 o clock on the red and it was plenty, unusable after that, imo.

But thats me, i am not a gain maniac, i fight my amps a bit, more rewarding.

I liked the el34 version better than the 6l6, more aggressive in the mids and throatier, more Marshally.

I still think you had a bad tube as the EL34 I had was not noisy and definitely not any more noisy than the 6L6...

In general they are both quite hissy, compared to my other amps, my VHT UL witch is so damn quiet.

With the amount of gain they have, it is normal to have the noise, i just dont understand the need to have that much gain. One of,my favorite tones is the blue channel of the original 5153, gain dimmed and it is just perfect.

 

[Rick Lee]

My 6L6 version was not noisy at all. The high gain can be tamed with a 12AU7 in V1, and that still leaves plenty of gain on tap for blue and red. I had mine modded at the board to tame the green channel, which was just way too gainy, even with the gain turned down. Haven't tried an EL-34 version yet, but I'm happy with my Marshalls, so probably not going to be serious about getting another EVH head unless it's too good a deal to pass up.

BTW, the 6L6 Stealth heads can be had for pretty reasonable money these days.

 

[Bronco]

BTW, the 6L6 Stealth heads can be had for pretty reasonable money these days.

Yeah for sure...if you're paying more than $1300 used, you're paying too much.