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Post by hdahs143 on Mar 19, 2007 7:11:00 GMT -7
Just curious is anyone has tried or is using any other brands of EL-84's besides the Groove Tube EL-84S/JJ Tesla? I'm quite happy with those, but you know how we are, just wonderin what else good is out there. Thanks Harold
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Post by Lefty on Mar 19, 2007 7:13:25 GMT -7
Yes, Sovteks...suck. There's always NOS, but I'd rather not fork out the $$. The nice thing about the GT EL84S is they sound good and are cheap and readily available. I buy em by the quad.
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Post by kledbet on Mar 19, 2007 8:31:22 GMT -7
The new TAD El84 tubes are quite good. I am using them now in my Maz 18 and CG.
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Post by Telemanic on Mar 20, 2007 2:40:53 GMT -7
In an EL84 amp, i always like to run 7189's. Yes they are nos and more money, But they last incredibly long, sound bigger ( to my ears ), and have better headroom, and stay firmer when ya whack-em. I hate when 84's get squishy live with a band. I have had them last YEARS and years, when sovteks would have gone set after set! For me, it's well worth the price trade-off!
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Post by johnnyl on Mar 20, 2007 12:37:18 GMT -7
I was using a set of NOS Teslas in my Ghia w/ mixed results... some days they seemed to sounded good, others I couldn't really find my tone. I put the GT's back in there and bingo - no more worries. I really think the Doc built the amp around this tube. Honestly, I think the Ghia responds more to preamp tube changes the swapping the EL84's. Might just be me though.. I think I'll stick with the GT's from here on out.
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Post by myles on Mar 21, 2007 10:47:10 GMT -7
I was using a set of NOS Teslas in my Ghia w/ mixed results... some days they seemed to sounded good, others I couldn't really find my tone. I put the GT's back in there and bingo - no more worries. I really think the Doc built the amp around this tube. Honestly, I think the Ghia responds more to preamp tube changes the swapping the EL84's. Might just be me though.. I think I'll stick with the GT's from here on out. The NOS Teslas are generally pretty darn nice. Are you sure they are matched? Were they about in the middle of the spec scale .... meaning ..... On something like a Maximatcher at 325 plate volts and -12 volt bias you should get a reading of 45-50 on the MM output. If you test as per RCA book spec you want to test like this ... EL-84 250 -7.3 48 250 = plate volts -7.3 = bias and you want to see a number of 48mA to maybe 52mA. If higher the tube will run hot and sound harsh. If below 40 it will sound grainy. If the tubes are more than 3-4mA apart you will loose sustain and have more background hum at any levels. Those are the basic specs at idle. Tubes can me matched at idle and this is important to be sure but it can also be the same as setting the idle at 750 RPM on my 1500cc 105HP Scion versus setting a 750 RPM idle on a BMW M5. They are "matched" at idle but when the light turns green all I will see ahead of me is their rear bumper fading fast. That is the cool aspect of dynamic matching where two tubes or a matched quad have to "idle, accelrate, brake and corner" at the same standard over the entire operating range, not just at idle. If you want to get your Tesla's to me and pay for shipping each way (or bring them in if you are local in So Cal) I will be happy to trace them at no charge and give you a printout of the specs of each tube and a curve trace with both traces on the same sheet.
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Seeker
New Member
Game On!
Posts: 7
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Post by Seeker on Apr 2, 2007 11:37:31 GMT -7
I have the NOS Teslas in my AC15. They are a huge improvement over the EH EL84s that came in the amplifier.
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Post by anacephalic on Apr 5, 2007 10:20:56 GMT -7
Miles,
i have a couple sets of phillips miniwatts, one sounds great, one not so great. i work in LA quite a bit, could i bring those tube out to see what is up with the bad set and to see if there are GTs in the same ball park. NOS is too hard to find reliably though i would gladly get a lifetime supply of good mini's
you don't have any 5751s laying around at GT do you?
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Post by myles on Apr 5, 2007 10:33:11 GMT -7
Just curious is anyone has tried or is using any other brands of EL-84's besides the Groove Tube EL-84S/JJ Tesla? I'm quite happy with those, but you know how we are, just wonderin what else good is out there. Thanks Harold Harold ... There are some other options but they have their own sets of considerations.... The EL84Y or Ei silver plate that was around for a long time is a good sounding tube but has short life and reliability issues. The EL84R (Sovtek) is available in two versions ... normal and military. They are both very dark sounding and I have not heard them in an amp where I would ever consider using them. There are a few production Chinese EL84 types making their debut on the market but these have not proven to be consistent yet. The Electro Harmonix EL84 has decent tone but still needs time out in the real world to see what the reliability factor is. The JJ EL84 (GT-EL84S) is the best sounding, highest output, most durable tube currently available. It has tone that rivals many of the NOS tubes and long life as well.
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Post by johnnyl on Apr 24, 2007 10:36:39 GMT -7
I picked up a couple of the EH tubes from Tube Depot and they sound pretty darn good on my first test run. Nice warm tone. They seem to distort a little quicker than the GT's and Teslas that I had in there.
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Post by tjstrat on Apr 25, 2007 16:45:47 GMT -7
I get JJs from Bob at Eurotubes. Really fast and personal service, and he talks a good game. I don't know what his rep would be with a serious tube guru like Myles, but he's always been very cool, very helpful, and his JJs are the best sounding and most reliable tubes I've ever used.
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Post by hdahs143 on Apr 25, 2007 20:19:48 GMT -7
Ditto on the JJ's. Got them and some 6L6's from Tube Depot. Excellent price and warranty, and less than 48 hours from order to delivery. That works for me
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Post by myles on May 4, 2007 9:57:54 GMT -7
I get JJs from Bob at Eurotubes. Really fast and personal service, and he talks a good game. I don't know what his rep would be with a serious tube guru like Myles, but he's always been very cool, very helpful, and his JJs are the best sounding and most reliable tubes I've ever used. Bob Pletka is a great guy, killer tech, audiophile, great player and he is a great source for JJ stuff.
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Post by toneking on Aug 30, 2007 10:32:04 GMT -7
I put the JJ's in my 1998 AC30, they sound real nice.
tk
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slunky
Full Member
I got a Halloween head
Posts: 172
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Post by slunky on Sept 5, 2007 7:35:18 GMT -7
I just popped in some JJ's I picked up yesterday and they sound great.
jg
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Post by taylordaly on Sept 6, 2007 9:40:30 GMT -7
Do those JJs sound different from your GTs? If so, how?
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Post by stratosphere on Sept 6, 2007 20:55:51 GMT -7
I put some JJ's in my Maz Sr. after some GT's and they seemed "stiffer" and a little punchier. This may be due to different production run variations. I wouldn't hesitate to use either the JJ's or GT's but as of now I'm leaning more to the JJ's.
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