Best EL34 tubes

I just posted a F/S thread with a quad of Philips Double D getter/light brown base EL34s from the Sittard and Brussels plants - I'd love to keep them, but there's bills to pay...

 

Bought a quad of RFT EL34 tubes off a highly rated seller on ebay. It came down to these or a set of the Shuguang or Psvane (black/grey bottle), or for new production I probably would have opted for Mullards. But, I decided on the RFT's because I figured I may as well get a highly regarded NOS tube that is still relatively affordable because who knows how long they will be out there for? I can always pick up a new production tube.

Still running the stock tubes in my Audio Space Galaxy 34. Looking forward to this upgrade, along with upgrading the 6SN7/6SL7 tubes to NOS RCA's (which I have lying around from an older purchase). The stock tubes actually sound very nice, so if these upgrades are meaningful I should be in for a treat.

 

My experience has been all the modern reissues sound good - even great - but simply do not last. If they are dialed back on the bias they may not Roman candle, but their operational life even if they don't is not even close to NOS from the old line tube makers. It is crucial that the amplifier or equipment they are installed in is serviceable, with good power supply (Capacitors) and the tubes are biased correctly. Note too, that as the line or mains voltage fluctuates, so does the current level through the tube. Typically there is somewhat of a sag to residential service at certain times even if the average voltage is a little on the high side.

Once a few pair of the el-cheapos get torched you won't have saved any money and that's if no amplifier components (power or, output transformers, resistor networks, etc) get smoked. Also words mean things, at least they should. "NOS" means old-school US and European tubes. Anything re-issued doesn't qualify. Buy the real deal and forget about it.

 

RFT was the original manufacturer of those tubes, in East Germany. They came with many different labels, including Siemens. Roger Modjeski, in paricular, reccommends these, and these are what I use in both of my EL34 amps. The key to identifying them is the indentation on top.

I own a quartet of NOS Mullard from England, but they are woth so much $ that I jast cannot see myself actually installing them.

 

I have a six pack of closely matched RFT made EL34s, and probably a pair or two as well if folks are looking for some of those East German tubes...

 

Post 'em in your for sale thread, I might be interested!

 

Will do...

 

RFT was the East German consortium that owned the Telefunken factory in Mulhouse that got "stranded" on the East German side after WWII. I'll dig up the article that explains the history.

 

Getting those great EL34s are just a pipedream for most of us, so of the EL34s currently on sale what are regarded as the most reliable and best sounding ones?

JG

 

RFT's are easy to find at good prices on eBay and through other tube dealers.

For current production tubes, all of them sound more or less good, but most of them are not very reliable.

I believe that the Sovtek EL-34's are made from the same plans as the RFT's. At least, that's what I read here:

http://www.jogis-roehrenbude.de/EL34-Story/EL34-Story-Seite4.htm

 

What is the opinion here of Groove Tubes stuff?

JG

 

It depends on the tube. Most of them are relabeled JJ or Shyungang tubes and those manufacturers generally sound OK, but their reliability isn't on par with NOS tubes. Groove Tubes also bought tooling from the GE Owensboro plant to make 6550A's (I think) but I don't know if that ever happened. Personally, I have never owned any Groove Tubes-branded stuff so I don't know about their sound or reliability, if it differs from the original manufacturer.

 

Pipedream? You'll end up spending MORE money on the crap tubes offered today. They all sound OK, even superb, but none of them are reliable from a technical perspective. I know that's not what you want to hear.

What you can do, if you feel you must, is buy tubes from vendors that screen them for duds and fireworks and then burn them in for a day or two, match for Gm or transconductance, etc. Jim McShane is one, I'm sure there are others.

Then there is the question of how hard the particular equipment they are installed in pushes them - and whether it has been serviced and/or is defective (very common) with leaky power supplies. Even so, these tubes will not last anything at all like the old school tubes. Cheap tubes are never a bargain even though the initial outlay is less, and they may take out transformers or other components when they sh_t themselves. And they will.

 

Can I be your friend? I hate you.

 

Agree totally, I've had bad experiences with Sovtek tubes and Shuguang tubes. Years ago I bought four Groove Tubes 6DJ8's for my headamplifier, two of them packed up within six months!

I'm using EH El34's for the last year with no problems at all!

JG

 

I'd love to find a great modern production true pentode EL34 with the rich creamy sound of the Blackburn Mullards with plates that can dissipate heat like the old Mullards. Haven't found it yet, and now that the Winged C EL34s are out of production, I'm not sure if there's any decent substitute (though I'm not up to date on a lot of the newer Chinese offerings).

The best sounding and most reliable of the easily available current production beam tetrode/6CA7's in my experience is the New Sensor Gold Lion KT77 (but use a dealer who does demanding burn in to weed out duds). But it has a crisper, tighter sound with a more extended top end kind of presentation that a typical creamy vintage Mullard EL34 pentode; and, like all the new production tubes, it can't dissipate heat like the old production tubes, not a problem typically with most modern hifi amps designed for bias points that don't push the output tubes to the red plating point; but with some vintage designs where the tubes are expected to dissipate close to the maximum plate heat at idle, you won't be able to drop these in an bias 'em up to the design point without red plating and/or shortened life. But very detailed hifi tube, really low self-noise, seems to be quite durable if you don't ask too much of it.

 

Don't forget, Sovtek and EH are both from the same manufacturer -- New Sensor -- and, I think, from the same factory -- as are the new "Tung Sol," "Mullard," and "Gold Lion" tubes. Not sure if QC is better with the upmarket New Sensor bands like the Gold Lions; or, frankly how much production difference between some of the various New Sensor EL34 pentodes -- like the EH, the Mullard, the Svetlana, etc. I wonder if anyone has dissected them.

 

I recently bought a new quad from a known, reputable dealer. It was the second set of this particular power tube. The first was a factory matched quad, and each mix end had the exact same Gm figure.

This new set had differing Gm figures, differing transconductance as well, but the biasing numbers all matches. I called to ask questions, for my own education, but when I got the owner, he was dismissive and told me to just plug them in and use them. As much as I dislike being passed off like this, I can understand.

I'm still curious about matching parameters though. Any comment?

 

I've heard the same things about the New Sensor KT77s, and think I'm going to try them out next time. I've had two of the SED Winged C EL34's go bad on me in three months, despite getting them from a good seller that selects good ones and does 72 hour burn in. That's too high a fail rate for me to mess with those any more at the price they command.

 

Well, I don't know what's left out there of Winged C's. Seems like they haven't been in production for a while, might be questionable stuff in invetory being liquidated or something. They were pretty good and kind of a go-to for me some years ago.

 

You're probably right. Upscale Audio says they've been offered factory seconds and refused them, but I'd say one way or the other SED Winged C's are probably down to seeds and stems. Or maybe I'm just unlucky, or maybe my amp hates them. But probably not.

 

6L6GCs were made with GE sourced parts - the 6550 hasn't appeared in GE form from anyone.

 

6DJ8/6922s? I have a boatload of different brands (Amperex US/Holland/Germany, Siemens, Mullard, Telefunken 6922, probably others) - any of those are going to outlive currently made tubes (and sound better in the process).

 

Has anyone heard the EAT tubes. They are made in China AND very expensive.

This thread illustrates the topic of my thread, "Why are Audiophiles so Intolerant..." The title of this thread asks about the "best", and yet there have been many post recommending the CHEAPEST. I think that anyone who would recommend the cheapest Chinese or Russion tubes are being "intolerant" of the question. I don't understand it (intolerant as I am). To answer the OP's question, the RFT (made in East Germany) are the bare minimum that should even be mentioned. And the EAT I mentioned are worth a brief discussion. Also, I believe Elrog are starting up production of EL34s (which, by the way, I am a dealer). I have not heard ANYTHING about their sound or quality yet. But their 211s are stupendous.