EL34s. Question for valve fans

I'm looking to replace the EL34 output vavles on my amp, and was wandering if anyone has any recomendations. There is nothing wrong with the sound I have, (cheap chinese valves), but I have a spot of upgraditis, and figure messing with the valves would be the cheapest way to change the sound.

My listening is mostly classical, opera, then female vocals, and then some rock/pop.

On my short list are Svetlana, Golden Dragon, and NOS russian tubes, but all suggestions would be welcome.

Cheers.
Ian.

 

I cant say about specificaly EL34, but i had some Golden Dragon 12Au and AX 7's.
To my ears they were thin sounding. I now use NOS mullards, much less noise and a fuller sound
This is on my phono amp

 

Hi,

Some of the best sounding EL34 are perversely the cheap chinese "fat bottle" 6CA7 which are basically not EL34's at al, but beam tetrodes. They sound like a good mixture of EL34 & 6550. I like them better than the skinny Svetlana & Electroharmonix Valves.

Some EL34 based Amp's can also run 6550/KT88 and most require only minimal mods to do so. Another thing that tends to improve the sound of any Tetrode/Pentode in the output stage is to re-wire the output stage to triode operation (again, minimal mods).

Ciao T

 

I run the amp in triode mode normally. It has a switch on the front to enable toggling between that and 'ultralinear' whatever that is.

 

what i understood from my "EL34 friends" is that nos mullards are the best (but not cheap), russians and JJ are not bad at all.

i don't think that there are "NOS russians".

i also suggest you to check prices in US - usually tubes much less expensive there.

 

smile and nod - I see you are near me (bucks).

there are loads of good places to get valves from in the UK, and your 34s are not expensive ones (as you probably know) so... bonus!

watford valves
wilson valves
langrex supplies
www.hificollective.co.uk
www.diyhifisupply.com

and one that Lee uses
www.tube-town.de

My advice (and I dont know as much as SubSonics/Lee/Dean or many others) is to try to get a set that have been tested on a valve meter for microphonics etc. Just because they are supposedly good brands means little with sample to sample variance. You can get them matched for power output too if you want. I have some NOS military spec Philips that are microphonic as hell.

There are so many good ones, Id hardly know where to start. Try getting some reccomendations from the shops you call is a good idea IMO. If you have really cheap chinese ones, it should make a sonic difference..

 

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/thetubestore/index.html

 

i have a quad of chinese big bottles and a quad of svetlanas (the winged c ones). the chinese are good and much better than they used to be, but the svets are much much better. i have also used sovteks in the past, but certainly wouldn't recommend the older ones (the newer ones are apparently much improved, but i haven't heard them...) electro hamonix do a big bottle 6ca7, which is supposed to sound sublime, but i was warned by the maker of my amp, that the reliabilty is an issue, and a failure can take out a screen grid (something though simple to repair, i'd rather avoid..)
the svets are a great all rounder, and i would tend to say stick with them. the nos mullards are outrageously expensive, and considering you'll likely have to replace them every 3 years or so (depending on how much you use your amp) i don't think make any economic sense. the svets are supposed to be "similar" in sound to them anyway, and you can get a matched quad for as little as 40 quid if you shop around. enough said.

 

yep, that's the good one.

 

Thanks for all the replys and recomendations.
I have plummped for a set of Svetlanas from tube-shop.com as they seemed the best prices.

Will update when I have tried them out.

Bottleneck, where in Bucks are you then, it's a big county

 

you might try getting your tubes cryogenically treated too. this has a profound impact on the sound of the tubes. so far i've only tried it with input tubes (courtesy of rewster) but it had an amazing effect. i am informed that the bigger tubes react even more favourably.

 

I live in MK mate.

Not so far away.

Weve got some good local valve companys with the likes of W.A.D and Glasshouse, and a few ex-marshall people Ive met.

Plenty of local valve people to reccomend you if you should ever need people reccomended for repairs/supply of bits/bobs or any valve gear.

Cheers
Chris

NB Im sure your Svetlana's will serve you well. They are a good stepping stone between the cheap stuff and the exotic.

 

I was going to say svets were about the pick of the current crop, mullards nicest in the past, but silly prices now, I have a feeling I know which amp it is, and the stock valves actually are excellent, you can get valve arts off ebay, and I really like them a lot, chinese, and I don't really think others are superior. I would plump for them any time. I have not had them long enough though to comment vs others as far as performance over lifespan/failures goes.
jj teslas, sovtek(electro harmonix are sovtek under a different label, pretty good)