Forums - Favorite EL34s?

Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register

05/01/25 at 08:33:53

Most recent 50 posts

Forums › OLDER DECWARE GEAR SUPPORT › SE34I.5, SE34I.4, SE34I.3, SE34I.2

‹ Previous topic | Next topic ›

Pages: 1

Favorite EL34s? (Read 8520 times)

Lon

Seasoned Member

"Love without
guts is
worthless!"
Philip K. Dick

Posts: 25750

Favorite EL34s?
10/13/08 at 21:25:11

You know how it is, we're always looking for that "sound" and ever since my first guitar amp I've been playing around with power tubes to get that just right "flavor". . . .

Today I did a long and leisurely comparison in my Decware SE34 Monoblocks between EL34s from JJ (cryo'd), Mullard (Svetlana, cryo'd), Svetlana Winged Cs, and Valve Art E34Ls (cryo'd).

The winner is the Mullard reproductions followed by the Winged Cs. The Mullards have surprised me; I remembered Eddie V's preemptive disdain for the tube, but tried a cryo'd pair out just for kicks. They took a long time to "season" but once they did, they became my favorites. . . detailed and dynamic, with a nice rich, tight bass. They best the Winged Cs with clarity and openness.

Anyone done any comparisons lately they'd like to share?

HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK3,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects;Stack EQ; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1

IP Logged

Randy in Caintuck

Seasoned Member

Tube be ... or not
tube be ... it's a
no-brainer.

Posts: 981

Re: Favorite EL34s?
Reply #1 - 10/14/08 at 20:54:40

Howdy Lon,

You seem to have a nice collection of cryoed tubes .....

Are you getting any of them from Cryoset ?

I recently ordered a matched pair of cryoed TAD EL84s and a matched pair of the cryoed Russian milspec 6N14N-EB tubes for my Select.

The prices seem reasonable. They also have the cryoed Mullard EL84s for about the same price. Based on your findings, I wish I would have ordered a pair of them while I was at it .....

Take care,

Randy

Cambridge Audio Azur 851N DAC / Streamer
Schiit Audio Saga+ preamplifier
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Silver-10 Magnum Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii W-15 Magnum Open Bass Baffle

IP Logged

Lon Seasoned Member "Love without guts is worthless!" Philip K. Dick Posts: 25750	Re: Favorite EL34s? Reply #2 - 10/14/08 at 22:52:06 Hi Randy, Yes. My Mullard EL34s were from Cryoset (via ebay). All my ohter cryo'd tubes are from www.tubeman.com --- I can certainly recommend that outfit.
Back to top	HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK3,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects;Stack EQ; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1 IP Logged

Lon Seasoned Member "Love without guts is worthless!" Philip K. Dick Posts: 25750	Re: Favorite EL34s? Reply #3 - 10/16/08 at 15:53:02 Well as you recommended Cryoset, and Bob recommended RCA 12AU7s for the ZCD, I ordered a pair (I like to run the same tube in ZBox and ZCD, seems a good thing) of the cheapest RCA black plate 12AU7s that Cryoset offers. . . .
Back to top	HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK3,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects;Stack EQ; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1 IP Logged

Pages: 1

Forums › OLDER DECWARE GEAR SUPPORT › SE34I.5, SE34I.4, SE34I.3, SE34I.2

‹ Previous topic | Next topic ›