Members 78pbass Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 Hey guys, I need your tubey knowledge. I am in the process of acquiring an 50w Laney AOR (I know, I know - its for g--tar) that needs new power tubes. I wanted a suggestion for a quality set of tubes at a reasonable price. Some tubes I'm considering are:Electro-Harmonix EL34 EHElectro-Harmonix 6CA7 EHJJ / Tesla E34L / EL34 (I've read your JJ thread earlier this month, so they may be out)Sovtek EL34WXTTung-Sol EL34B New Production Also, I konw that 6CA7's are the military grade EL34's, but have read that KT88's can be used in 6l6 and EL84 amps - what's the truth on interchangeability? thanks in advance!!!Corey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ToeJamFootball Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 I've been told that EHX are "cleaner" Tubes. (or was that JJs) Let me know how it goes man, I've going to re0tube my 40watt Laney soon too.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 13, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2009 I'm only a few weeks into my first first-hand EL34 experience. As for my bad JJ experience, I have heard a lot of folks with similar problems with their preamp tubes, but I have not heard the similar complaints about the EL34s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bluescout Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 Not a guru but I think KT88's are similar to 6550s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 13, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2009 Also, I konw that 6CA7's are the military grade EL34's, but have read that KT88's can be used in 6l6 and EL84 amps - what's the truth on interchangeability? KT77s are interchangeable with EL34s. KT88s are not direct subs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members collinwho Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 listen to kindness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 13, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2009 listen to kindness It's much more fun to listen to the drunk guy. Get back to your thread. You're not done until I see you posting like Roger in the sky. :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members collinwho Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 It's much more fun to listen to the drunk guy. Get back to your thread. You're not done until I see you posting like Roger in the sky. :poke: I'm too good at editing myself to get there, but still, I'mthere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 78pbass Posted March 13, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 bumpo for the morning crew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ToeJamFootball Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 bumpo for the morning crew. Morning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bryan316 Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 I've been seeing a LOT of really positive reviews and experiences with Tung Sol tubes. My brother plans to give them a test when he retubes his whole setup. The price seems fair, so it'll happen in a week or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bluescout Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 I've been seeing a LOT of really positive reviews and experiences with Tung Sol tubes. My brother plans to give them a test when he retubes his whole setup. The price seems fair, so it'll happen in a week or so. What do you hear? I have EH tubes in my PV CL400 and it's good but very clean. I'd like to dirty it up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 Hey guys, I need your tubey knowledge. I am in the process of acquiring an 50w Laney AOR (I know, I know - its for g--tar) that needs new power tubes. I wanted a suggestion for a quality set of tubes at a reasonable price. Some tubes I'm considering are:Electro-Harmonix EL34 EHElectro-Harmonix 6CA7 EHJJ / Tesla E34L / EL34 (I've read your JJ thread earlier this month, so they may be out)Sovtek EL34WXTTung-Sol EL34B New ProductionAlso, I konw that 6CA7's are the military grade EL34's, but have read that KT88's can be used in 6l6 and EL84 amps - what's the truth on interchangeability?thanks in advance!!!Corey i had a laney aor years ago and used electro harmonix el34's in it without issue. i've also had 2 sets of the jj e34l's go kablooey in different amps. the tung sol are just rebadged new sensor (russian made) tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L. Ron Hoover Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 Like Kindness said, you can't directly sub a KT88 or 6550 for an EL34. I have had good experiences with EH tubes in general, but I can't comment for certain on the EL34s because I don't have any direct experience with them. We were treated quite well by New Sensor after getting a batch of defective 6SN7s from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 13, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2009 the tung sol are just rebadged new sensor (russian made) tubes. While Tung Sol is a New Sensor brand (just like Sovtek and EH), they aren't simply rebadged tubes. They are different tubes from different machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bluescout Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 Found this: http://www.watfordvalves.com/reports.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bryan316 Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 What do you hear? I have EH tubes in my PV CL400 and it's good but very clean. I'd like to dirty it up a bit. Ahh, okay, you want to keep the very clean tubes in the clean channel, and put hotter-running tubes in the crunch channel. So far the opinion of the Tung Sols are less noisy so cleaner, but excellent for breakup and saturated overdrive. I'd say, experiment. But a pair of Tung Sol preamps tubes, and test em out. I dunno what the tonal/dirty difference is yet for their power amp tubes. Dunno anyone using them in a non-master-volume amp and just cranking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ThudMaker Posted March 13, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2009 KT77s are interchangeable with EL34s. KT88s are not direct subs.What is the tonal difference between the KT77 and EL34? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 13, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2009 What is the tonal difference between the KT77 and EL34? An EL34 is a pentode. A KT77 is kinkless tetrode, a.k.a., a beam tetrode. There are significant physical differences between the two designs. Pentodes have appreciable third harmonic distortion, which is attenuated in beam power tubes. Beam power tubes have significant second harmonic distortion, but that is effectively "cancelled" in a push pull design (with identical matched sides - which you never actually have). The further the amp is pushed towards full power, the greater the differences in the power tubes become. The classic beam tetrode is the 6L6. It may simply be easier to say an EL34 is more like an EL34 and a KT77 is more like a 6L6. (I need to go back and revise a portion of my JTM45 thread. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted March 13, 2009 Members Share Posted March 13, 2009 While Tung Sol is a New Sensor brand (just like Sovtek and EH), they aren't simply rebadged tubes. They are different tubes from different machines. did eh move the tungsol machinery to russia? everything i've read shows them as coming out of the reflektor plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 13, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2009 did eh move the tungsol machinery to russia? everything i've read shows them as coming out of the reflektor plant. It isn't the "original Tung Sol" equipment, it's simply different equipment. It's all the same plant. The buying and selling of trademarks is confusing in the tube industry, but I think that's how they like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ThudMaker Posted March 13, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2009 An EL34 is a pentode. A KT77 is kinkless tetrode, a.k.a., a beam tetrode. There are significant physical differences between the two designs. Pentodes have appreciable third harmonic distortion, which is attenuated in beam power tubes. Beam power tubes have significant second harmonic distortion, but that is effectively "cancelled" in a push pull design (with identical matched sides - which you never actually have). The further the amp is pushed towards full power, the greater the differences in the power tubes become. The classic beam tetrode is the 6L6. It may simply be easier to say an EL34 is more like an EL34 and a KT77 is more like a 6L6. (I need to go back and revise a portion of my JTM45 thread. ) Thanks, Kindness. I may have to try the KT77 tubes at some point. I assume that since they (EL34/KT77) are both larger bottles, that the difference in wattage output is minimal. Would that be a correct assumption? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 13, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2009 Thanks, Kindness. I may have to try the KT77 tubes at some point. I assume that since they (EL34/KT77) are both larger bottles, that the difference in wattage output is minimal. Would that be a correct assumption? They are close enough. If pushed to their limits you will likely notice differences in response characteristics/tone rather than "power." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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