Racerxrated
Well-known member
Just some tube observations after a few weeks of tube rolling. My MC100 came with JJ EL34s and 12AX7s throughout. Sounded killer of course, but I have a nice stash of pre and power tubes so I put them to the test...
These are not in order of preference.
1. Vintage Mullard XF2s-these are used but strong tubes, and sound a bunch clearer and organic at volume. Big step up from the JJs. Not matched but biased up from 30-34ma. Great upper mids but the low mids are also prominent.
2. Siemens (from the 70s I believe)-Great tubes and share the same attributes as the Mullard but a tad bit more open and less congested at volume, biased between 32-34ma. Also used but strong.
3. Winged C-Most open sounding of the 4, and has this great upper mid snarl that the others don't quite get. Fantastic.
4. GT EL34LS-Best low end of the 4, but is very open and 3D with great mids. Not to be confused with the JJEL34L, which do not have the same 3D effect of the GT. I know they are supposed to be the same but there are obvious sonic differences. These have the larger heat wings vs the smaller ones that I see now on most websites, so this tube may well be out of production. Which really sucks.
I would put the Winged C at the top, followed by the Siemens and GT, Mullard 4th. But all 4 are really great and the differences are very minimal at best.
Pre tubes...
1. JJs throughout...sounds good of course, this is what Rick uses and no complaints here.
2. Vintage Mullard in V1-V3, Tungsram in V4-Very full and more open sounding, improvement overall from the JJs. More detail in the mids.
3. Vintage Mullard in V1-V2, Chinese 6n4 in V3, Tungsram in V4-More hair on the highs, yet even better upper mids. This is the combo for me.
After the last combo I stopped since it sounded so damn good. I don't think this amp would sound anything less than great no matter what tubes one tries, as long as the Wizard doesn't fry your power tubes due to the high plate voltage.
These are not in order of preference.
1. Vintage Mullard XF2s-these are used but strong tubes, and sound a bunch clearer and organic at volume. Big step up from the JJs. Not matched but biased up from 30-34ma. Great upper mids but the low mids are also prominent.
2. Siemens (from the 70s I believe)-Great tubes and share the same attributes as the Mullard but a tad bit more open and less congested at volume, biased between 32-34ma. Also used but strong.
3. Winged C-Most open sounding of the 4, and has this great upper mid snarl that the others don't quite get. Fantastic.
4. GT EL34LS-Best low end of the 4, but is very open and 3D with great mids. Not to be confused with the JJEL34L, which do not have the same 3D effect of the GT. I know they are supposed to be the same but there are obvious sonic differences. These have the larger heat wings vs the smaller ones that I see now on most websites, so this tube may well be out of production. Which really sucks.
I would put the Winged C at the top, followed by the Siemens and GT, Mullard 4th. But all 4 are really great and the differences are very minimal at best.
Pre tubes...
1. JJs throughout...sounds good of course, this is what Rick uses and no complaints here.
2. Vintage Mullard in V1-V3, Tungsram in V4-Very full and more open sounding, improvement overall from the JJs. More detail in the mids.
3. Vintage Mullard in V1-V2, Chinese 6n4 in V3, Tungsram in V4-More hair on the highs, yet even better upper mids. This is the combo for me.
After the last combo I stopped since it sounded so damn good. I don't think this amp would sound anything less than great no matter what tubes one tries, as long as the Wizard doesn't fry your power tubes due to the high plate voltage.