EL34's For Dual Rec

[Leuchty]

After many recommendations by all you fine people on here , Im going to put some EL34/E34L/KT77 in my Dual Rec.

What would you recommend between:

1. JJ/Tesla
2. Tung Sol
3. Electro Harmonix
4. MESA

These are pretty cheap on the bay for new matched quads.

reps for suggestions,

cheers

 

[m3ta1head]

JJ E34Ls are bomb killer in rectos. Highly recommend.

 

[petereanima]

soundwise, out of these, the JJ E34L cant be beaten. i (and many others) hat quality problems with them, but as the Mesa-bias isnt that hot, i guess that will work.

Mesa Tubes are just relabeled Sovtek tubes, and i would not recommend them. If you still want them, i'd get the normal Sovteks, as these mostly sell cheaper than the relabeled Mesa ones. According to Eurotubes - the Electro Harmonix EL34 AND the tungsol is also the Sovtek made tube. so basically, besides the JJ, all of these are the same (with - due to production - slightly differences in characteristics, but nothing you will hear if not compared side to side).

my personal vote would be that you see if you can get SED winged Cs. best EL34 out there, quality- and soundwise.

 

[Leuchty]

Thanks!

So, E34L seems like the way. Yeah Mesa tubes seem a bit pricey, especially here.

I will look into the SED's.

 

[LordOVchaoS]

My favorites were always SED and Ruby EL34BSTR. Do NOT buy tubes on ebay unless they have a good return policy!

 

[petereanima]

Ruby EL34BSTR.

i totally forgot this one. very good tube, i had these stock when i bought the Diezel, good sounding!

 

[Leuchty]

My favorites were always SED and Ruby EL34BSTR. Do NOT buy tubes on ebay unless they have a good return policy!

Roger that.

Most of these places are shops. I did find this aussie place:

12AX7 EL34 KT88 EL84 6L6 6V6 SOVTEK JJ ELECTRO HARMONIX SED WINGED C TUNG SOL

there are a few on there.

 

[budda]

mesa gets the best of other brands, so I'd probably go with them or SED's.

 

[Leuchty]

there is a sweet deal for a quartet of E34L's and I may pick up some SED's.

The E34L's run hotter, so do I have to rebias the Recto? or just plug in change to EL34 and rock out?

 

[cycloptopus]

I'll second the endorsement for the Mesa tubes. A ledgendary electronics guy in my area recently told me that he trusts Mesa and Rivera for good tubes. The reason is because they test the ones they re-label extensively for reliability moreso than a guy who got a tube tester and set up shop on the internet.

Personally I've had some JJ 12ax7's go bad recently on me, so going forward I will be staying away from JJ.

 

[budda]

Mesa gets the tubes that work best in their amps, which is why I would go that route.

 

[HighGain510]

My favorite, albeit pricey (), EL34 is the SED Winged-C. Sounds great to my ear, only downside is the price IMO. Second place would definitely be JJ EL34 and E34L, although with a recto I'm not sure I'd want the extra low-end that the E34L provides... I think you have more than enough with EL34s and I don't think the E34L adds THAT much tightness to the sound either. All three would be good choices, but I'd rank them in order as SED EL34 -> JJ EL34 -> JJ E34L.

 

[petereanima]

Mesa gets the tubes that work best in their amps, which is why I would go that route.

yeah, but often what WORKS best is not what SOUNDS best.

i mean: my experience with Rectos is limited, but i havent heard a single one where a retubing with other than stock tubes did not bring a huge imrpovement with it.

 

[Leuchty]

Ok, Im gonna get JJ E34L's and a set of SED EL34's.

 

[Nitrobattery]

good choices. i personally run tung-sol EL34b's in my roadster and swear by them.

 

[Leuchty]

good choices. i personally run tung-sol EL34b's in my roadster and swear by them.

Yeah, its gonna cost a mint with some 12AX7's aswell,

Fuck it you only live once.

 

[budda]

but debt is forever

stay within your means.

 

[newamerikangospel]

I would HIGHLY suggest el34s if you get JJs. It will tame the rectifier flub to fairly tight levels. I have el34s in my cobra, and it let me push my low end, to get the low mids up, while keeping the 100-150hz range tame enough to not make the cabinet boom.

 

[7 Strings of Hate]

i'm a groove tubes boy

 

[newamerikangospel]

*And a side note, JJs have the most amazing gain grading I have personally found. With the EH 12ax7s, I couldn't max gain on either channel without becoming mushy. With the JJs 12ax7s (regular, not high gain), I can max gain and it becomes more compressed, but still maintains clarity (part cobra, part tube) and doesn't become overly mushy (on the lead channel, it becomes so compressed that it does "soften up", but it still maintains aggressiveness).