EL-34 Survey

[theSeeker]

Anyone tried the more recent EL-34 offerings? Such as New Sensor Mullard Reissue, Tung-Sol EL-34B or Gold Lion KT-77?

Are the SED Winged Cs still the cream of the crop for new production? Other ideas?

[OldSchoolDave]

Are the SED Winged Cs still the cream of the crop for new production?

Probably. Too bad their price is now reflecting that .

I've got a pair of New Sensor Mullard Reissues in my SA112 and they sound good. Will probably replace them with something else, though, when their time is up.

Dave

[menace2u]

I have a set of =C= somewhere in the mail right now so I will hope to be able to add that to my list.

I have the New Sensor Mullards in both my Marshall hand builds and sound great. That being said- they just do not give you the tone your looking for in the Hiwatt.

At this point of the new production tubes I have tried the JJ, NS Mullards, and Electro Harmonics in my DR504 and I have to say the EH units sound the best to my ear.

Great Thread!

[theSeeker]

Are the SED Winged Cs still the cream of the crop for new production?

Probably. Too bad their price is now reflecting that .

That is why I started this thread. I recently went to order a new pair, and whoah!
Now that they are in the same price range as the Gold Lions, it peaked my interest.

I also am curious about the EHX 6CA7?

Jason

[OldSchoolDave]

I also am curious about the EHX 6CA7?

I gotta tell ya, I wasn't EH's biggest fan. Ran into some really nasty sounding 12AX7's that coloured my opinion.

Recently, I've run EH 6L6's and 5881's in a couple of "F" amps and they really do sound good. Given the bad run of luck I've had with JJ's lately, the EH 6CA7 might be worth a test drive.

Dave

[riba2233]

I also am curious about the EHX 6CA7?

I gotta tell ya, I wasn't EH's biggest fan. Ran into some really nasty sounding 12AX7's that coloured my opinion.

Recently, I've run EH 6L6's and 5881's in a couple of "F" amps and they really do sound good. Given the bad run of luck I've had with JJ's lately, the EH 6CA7 might be worth a test drive.

Dave

Could you tell more about it? Thanks

[Zells]

A few years ago, I bought a 1978 Hiwatt DR103 loaded with New Sensor Mullard Reissue EL34. In short time, I cooked those tubes and had to replaced them. The previous owner was a studio only type guy so I don't he played nearly as loud as I do.

Since then, I've only used Blackburn Mullard, NOS Svetlana, and =C= (winged C) which are basically Svetlana reissues built at the same factory in my DR103 or clone type amps. I've been happy with all of those so far.

Given the bad run of luck I've had with JJ's lately, the EH 6CA7 might be worth a test drive.

J/J tubes have both bad and good production runs. I've definitely had some bad preamp tubes from them.

[OldSchoolDave]

Could you tell more about it? Thanks

More about which part ?

Dave

[riba2233]

Could you tell more about it? Thanks

More about which part ?

Dave

About your bad luck with JJ-s

[OldSchoolDave]

About your bad luck with JJ-s

Ah, O.K..

First of all, I haven't seen any outright failures, as I've read about from others. I have had a couple of "matched" quads of E34L's not behave consistently (one tube fairly far out of range from the others, at HIWATT levels). I've also had some ECC83S's not sound as good/lively as I've come to expect. JJ had been my go-to for modern tubes. I'm now at the point where I'm ready to shop around.

JJ would still be my first pick for new production KT88's and 6V6's.

As they say, your mileage may vary .

Dave

[Dr.HI-TONE]

I have had very good luck with GT EL34M. IMO they can handle the hotter bias of some original Hylight HIWATTs better than =C= or JJ's.

I have had terrible experience with the so called Mullard reissues in Hylights.

One thing to note is that I refuse to add adjustable bias to most of the amps in my collection, if the tubes can't handle it, then they aren't worthy.

If your amp has and adjustable bias, more of the modern tubes will probably work fine.

[mhuss]

I still have had good results with the older =C= and the GTs. These seem to match the bias setting of the NOS Mullards better, important for original Hylight amps. JJs are OK (as long as you get a good batch - buy them from someone who screens them). I had one awful experience with a pair of Mullard RIs recently.

--mark

[evel1]

I still have had good results with the older =C= and the GTs. These seem to match the bias setting of the NOS Mullards better, important for original Hylight amps. JJs are OK (as long as you get a good batch - buy them from someone who screens them). I had one awful experience with a pair of Mullard RIs recently.

--mark

Can I piggy back off of you on this one as well, by saying "me too" (regarding the Mullards experience)?

Perhaps you could use this as a tagline.... "VHR, eats Mullards for breakfast!"

[OldSchoolDave]

Perhaps you could use this as a tagline.... "VHR, eats Mullards for breakfast!"

To be perfectly clear, let's make it "eats replica Mullards for breakfast!" Vintage Mullards are, of course, a perfect match.

Dave

[Dr.HI-TONE]

yeah, real Mullards are a match made in Heaven for HI-TONE amps