-what's a good c.p. EL34?

[sg guy]

-been 20+ years since I had a EL34 amp, just curious what people's thought's are on some current production EL34's before I lay down the ca$h on some NOS tubes, I guess =C= aren't made any more, and from the price's I've seen might be better off going NOS.

-EH 6CA7's sound interesting, thoughts?

-amp came with JJ EL34's-(I'm not a fan of anything JJ)-I've also tried a some GOLD LION KT77's-(they sound good, but would like to check out something that is more in the EL34 camp)-

-amp is a WIZARD MC 1-

 

[FourT6and2]

Electro-Harmonix EL34s are nice. They are clones of the NOS RFT.

JJ E34Ls are nice (not EL34). But you say you don't like JJ.

I have the EH 6CA7 in one of my amps. They sound good. But they are not EL34s. Closer to 6L6.

Other than that... the only EL34s I like are NOS RFT and NOS Tesla (not JJ).

 

[sg guy]

-thanx man, I really like the aggressive, pissed off sounding EH preamp tubes, I was hoping this carried over to there power tubes as well,

-I thought I rememberd a thread about a current production EL34-(BST? or something of that nature that people were saying are even better than =C='s... Can't remember the brand, maybe RUBY's?

-how do you compare the EH EL34's & NOS RFT's?

Electro-Harmonix EL34s are nice. They are clones of the NOS RFT.

JJ E34Ls are nice (not EL34). But you say you don't like JJ.

I have the EH 6CA7 in one of my amps. They sound good. But they are not EL34s. Closer to 6L6.

Other than that... the only EL34s I like are NOS RFT and NOS Tesla (not JJ).

 

[keennay]

TAD & Ruby EL34B-STR's are what I use for all my EL34 amps today. Been there, done that with 'super rare' matched NOS Mullard XF2 Double Getter EL34s.

The only NOS tubes I mess with today (which also need to measure strong) are preamp tubes, specifically Amperex, Raytheon, and Sylvanias. I love that set in both my Marshall JMP 2203 & 2204 amps, which made much more of an impact towards my overall tone than any power tube swap.

You'll love that mix in your Wizard! See if MartyStrat from the Marshall Forum has any left.

Cheers

 

[Mr. Willy]

I like Ruby EL34 BSTRs a lot. Very balanced across the spectrum. I've used JJ E34Ls a few times as well but preferred the BSTR. Both are good cp tubes. Between them, I'd say Rubys for balance and crunchier mids, JJs for bigger bottom and smoother top end.

 

[fusedbrain]

Make sure you check the plate voltage on your Wizard. It can get up over 500v on these amps. I think that why Wizards usually ship with JJ E34L's.
You could also look at the Ruby BHT if the voltage is on the high side. JJ KT 77's will take it as well.
I'm not really a big fan of JJ, but my MCII sounds great with the JJ E34L's it came with from Rick.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

Ive always used Russian power tubes.

The EL-34B by Tungsol is just as good as the SED =C='s i used before that.

Some say they don't like them but whats not to like ?

I use NOS pre so maybe thats it IDK ?

Call Laura Miller she will take care of you.

http://store.valvequeen.com/tubes/el34

 

[Racerxrated]

Make sure you check the plate voltage on your Wizard. It can get up over 500v on these amps. I think that why Wizards usually ship with JJ E34L's.
You could also look at the Ruby BHT if the voltage is on the high side. JJ KT 77's will take it as well.
I'm not really a big fan of JJ, but my MCII sounds great with the JJ E34L's it came with from Rick.

Wizards are sent out with the JJ EL34Ls, as mentioned here. Another option if you can find them are GT EL34LS. They are almost the same tube as the JJ, but seem bigger/wider to me.

 

[Rick Lee]

I recently had a ValveArt EL34 fail just outside of warranty. In another Marshall the JJ EL34s finally died this week. I've had the amp for two years and run it hard. In another Marshall I have =C= EL34s and they sound totally awesome. For what they cost, I hope they last a long time. In my 2204 I have NOS Siemens. I have NOS pre-amp tubes in V1 in most of my amps too. I really wish I new which CP tubes could handle which positions in which amps. I don't think my Marshalls get about 450VDC, but the SLO goes to about 506.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

Make sure you check the plate voltage on your Wizard. It can get up over 500v on these amps. I think that why Wizards usually ship with JJ E34L's.
You could also look at the Ruby BHT if the voltage is on the high side. JJ KT 77's will take it as well.
I'm not really a big fan of JJ, but my MCII sounds great with the JJ E34L's it came with from Rick.

Wizards are sent out with the JJ EL34Ls, as mentioned here. Another option if you can find them are GT EL34LS. They are almost the same tube as the JJ, but seem bigger/wider to me.

They are the same.

GT designation is : S - Slovak [JJ]

C - Chinese

R - Russian

 

[FourT6and2]

-thanx man, I really like the aggressive, pissed off sounding EH preamp tubes, I was hoping this carried over to there power tubes as well,

-I thought I rememberd a thread about a current production EL34-(BST? or something of that nature that people were saying are even better than =C='s... Can't remember the brand, maybe RUBY's?

-how do you compare the EH EL34's & NOS RFT's?

Yeah the EH EL34s are fairly aggressive. They are also inexpensive, which is a plus. Compared to the RFT... they are close. Maybe a little less thick. But the tone is similar, and for considerably less coin.

 

[RedB4Black]

Make sure you check the plate voltage on your Wizard. It can get up over 500v on these amps. I think that why Wizards usually ship with JJ E34L's.
You could also look at the Ruby BHT if the voltage is on the high side. JJ KT 77's will take it as well.
I'm not really a big fan of JJ, but my MCII sounds great with the JJ E34L's it came with from Rick.

Wizards are sent out with the JJ EL34Ls, as mentioned here. Another option if you can find them are GT EL34LS. They are almost the same tube as the JJ, but seem bigger/wider to me.

This. Just put in JJe34Ls if its a Wizard. The guy who built the amp likes those the best - even when other options are available.

That being said. I currently have SED =C= in my MTL and they sound pretty good. Not noticeably different from when I had the JJ e34Ls - so definitely not worth spending extra $ on. IMO.

 

[Rick Lee]

That being said. I currently have SED =C= in my MTL and they sound pretty good. Not noticeably different from when I had the JJ e34Ls - so definitely not worth spending extra $ on. IMO.

This is a dilemma. I've heard SED/=C=s will last a very long time. They may cost 2-3x what JJs cost. But if they sound a little better and last a lot longer, it's worth it.

 

[Racerxrated]

That being said. I currently have SED =C= in my MTL and they sound pretty good. Not noticeably different from when I had the JJ e34Ls - so definitely not worth spending extra $ on. IMO.

This is a dilemma. I've heard SED/=C=s will last a very long time. They may cost 2-3x what JJs cost. But if they sound a little better and last a lot longer, it's worth it.

If it's a Marshall or clone I'd say try to find the Siemens, I have some as well as a quad of =C= and 8 old school Mullards, and the Seimens are every bit as good. They usually run quite a bit less too.

 

[FourT6and2]

That being said. I currently have SED =C= in my MTL and they sound pretty good. Not noticeably different from when I had the JJ e34Ls - so definitely not worth spending extra $ on. IMO.

This is a dilemma. I've heard SED/=C=s will last a very long time. They may cost 2-3x what JJs cost. But if they sound a little better and last a lot longer, it's worth it.

Do not buy "NOS" =C= tubes. They are all factory seconds by this point. SED stopped production a long time ago and sold off all their back stock. I still don't understand how, to this day, retailers are selling NOS tubes from the freakin' '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s. They should all be gone by now. Makes no sense to me. I have a feeling any NOS tube you buy is either used or some kind of b-stock or factory second. I doubt anybody is opening up a warehouse somewhere and just stumbling across a crate filled with thousands of brand new Mullards.

 

[Piero the Guitarero]

Hmm, silimlar thread like ...

-the best c.p. EL34's-

 

[sg guy]

Hmm, silimlar thread like ...

-the best c.p. EL34's-

-EXACTLY LIKE THAT THREAD!!!

-except that amp was traded away before I changed anything but pre's, if you dig deeper I think, if my feeble memory serves me right, I had a 2203 that came with EH 6CA7's... -(but I wasn't sure if it was the tubes or the amp that made it sound like it was pissed off at the world)-I'm a big fan of GOLD LION & ELECTRO HARMONX tubes, and after dealing with KT88's and 6L6's for so long I felt "out of the loop". Its odd that I hear a big difference between different manufacturers of those tubes, but not so much with EL34's...

-oh!! and I knew those amps wouldn't be around long enough to invest NOS $$$ on those amp's

-why the fuck am I even replying to this shit

-anyways, this WIZARD IS GOING NO WHERE!! I already sleep with it, miss it and worry about it when I'm not home, might as well be buried with it!!.... Oh forgot to mention,.. Its been modded by Mark Cameron, haters gonna hate.

 

[keennay]

Hmm, silimlar thread like ...

-the best c.p. EL34's-

It must've taken you some serious digging finding that thread.

Either that, or there's a way to search threads by poster under the phpBB software that I was completely unaware of.

I'm hoping the latter, as phpBB can be a collosal pain in the ass to work at times.

 

[Piero the Guitarero]

It must've taken you some serious digging finding that thread.

Nope - found it (coincidentally) yesterday, I was trying to ivestigate
about Ruby EL34B STR, cause I have the opportunity
to grab some with the "old" Ruby logo...

Was trying to find some info if there is a big change in quality & sound

I bet those are at least ten years old .... maybe better .... or worse than
current production Ruby EL34s

 

[psychodave]

I have a shit ton of power tubes and to date, nothing new production sounds as good as the real Winged C EL34's.

Honestly, I wish I liked something else since the Winged C's are tough to get. Good thing I have 10 quads in my stash.