Herbert Powertube Choices - EL34 BSTR vs BHT vs SED

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xmartx

xmartx

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Hi, has anyone compared the mentioned tubes in a Herbert? I wanna put a new set of powertubes in mine and I'm curious what the tonal differences between the different EL34 are,
Currently I'm running all EL34B-STR and I was happy until a couple weeks ago when Herbie started to sound a bit dull and liveless to me. As the current powertubes are probably in there for over 2 years now and the amp got used regularly I think it might be the the tubes wearing out and before considering other steps I wanna try with a fresh set. I definitely wanna go all EL34 and while I used to like my B-STR there's always room for improvement and I saw the BHT and the SED =C= recommended a lot on here.

Thanks ;)
 
No difference between the BSTR and the BHT. As far as the BSTR vs. SED thing goes, the search function is your friend ;)

Personally I prefer the SEDs because they are tighter and a bit more agressive.
 
6550 wing C for max chunkage


jj el34s are good too for tasty mids and chime
 
Tried =C= EL34's last week. Compared to EL34B or EL34BHT's they seem a bit less fizzy in the top end.
For the price, the EL34BHT can't be beat though. To tame the top a bit I'm running JJ E34L's in 1 and 6.
Two more days until I go back to =C= 6550's and make a final decision. If you do go with 6550's, you will
have the Fürth and Erlangen Polizei coordinating a search for you in Nurnburg. Freaking loud and percussive.
 
I will rather disagree on the lack of difference between BSTR and BHT. At least with Einstein there is big difference to my ear. BSTR do saturate and breakup a bit earlier with sweeter - excellent drive, not so great cleans, fairly fast responding.
 
Well, Peter told me (and I think he mentioned it on the forum as well) that there is no difference in sound. But I didn't test it myself, so this is second-hand knowledge. Keep in mind that it's often difficult to compare fresh BHTs against used BSTRs, because of the sound difference due to ageing effects.
 
True :)
BHTs in that case were with about 10-15 hours usage and BSTRs were fresh. But there's definitely a difference to my ear. YMMV.
 
synchu":t4lyliht said:
True :)
BHTs in that case were with about 10-15 hours usage and BSTRs were fresh. But there's definitely a difference to my ear. YMMV.
Click to expand...

Interesting :) What kind of difference did you hear?
 
synchu":28w084zt said:
BSTR do saturate and breakup a bit earlier with sweeter - excellent drive, not so great cleans, fairly fast responding.
Click to expand...
BSTR breakup a bit earlier with sweeter top-end and mids tighter low-end to my ear, better (for me of'course) drive.
 
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