NOS Tesla EL34 vs NOS RFT EL34

[slashsound]

Which one is better and why? When purchasing one from ebay what do I need to look for to make sure 1.) Im getting an authentic one. 2.) The best version (if any). 3.) Its New 4.) If not new how much wear is acceptable and what are those figures. Which one sounds more like the Mullard ? Ok a little background .... here is what Im doing .... I have JTM 45 clone that I want to run el34 tubes in and make it sound like this. Sonic orgasm at 1:44 http://www.youtube.com/user/skaboosh#p/u/43/kKFRaienxfk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; When I think of tone, I think of 1:44 , can you all please help me find that tone.

[demonufo]

Earlier is better in both cases.

With Tesla, Vrchlabi production is better than Trinec production, but early Trinec production is still really good. (Tesla began to move production from Vrchlabi to Trinec around '73 and production stopped soonafter at Vrchlabi. By the 80's these had gone REALLY downhill and suffer with vibration. Some of the 90's production with really pointy round tops and black bases actually sound pretty good, but get mechanically noisy quite quickly in my experience.

RFT were fantastic in the 60's, great in the 70's, and okay in the 80's but better than the Tesla's by this point.

Neither sound much like the Mullards IMO. The RFT's have a clearer more defined tone, the Tesla's seem to break up sooner and are more aggressive sounding.

I can't advise which you should buy though really, but I'd be leaning towards RFT's for closeness to XF2's.


Most of what you see these days is 80's production though, so choose your seller carefully, and research your date codes properly.