Metropoulos Forum

hey guys.
im quite shocked. i bought some NOS 84 Teslas EL34 this year and installed them in my amp.
i was very pleased with the tone.

i noticed a very punchy, clear and impressive rock tone from these tubes. a super transparent tube in some ways. its kind of smooth, the amp is MUCH more effective at lower master volumes and produces the best distortion ive ever heared from a tube. it always sounds great, especially in triode.

i installed a quad of tung-sol EL34b's today, just for the interest. i wanted so tubes for the gigs, to save the teslas for the studio. i was so shocked with the difference. i bet anyone could tell the difference right from the first tones... it sounded flat, kind of "hard" and less warm - not bad but not great either. its like two steps down in tone...

have you noticed such things too? or is nos still a hype for you? for me - its not. i use the Teslas with a RFT in v2 and its the best tube distortion i can think of.

Yes, I'm starting to think that tubes are the most important thing in the signal chain (and the easiest to change). I don't have much experience mucking with the EL34's in my 50 watt (I'm using Svetlana's and like them) but I'm really messing with preamp tubes right now. Bought some NOS RFT's, some Baldwin Sylvania's, and a Bugle Boy so it's time to experiment.
I have heard that V1 is the most influential but I'm not sure how V2 & V3 contribute. Time to experiment.

preamp tubes are important! they change the sound a lot.
i really like the RFT's they deliver a very smooth and great sounding crunch,
no other tube delivers. its like a much better jj, the jj to my ears is more smooth
and less detailed, also lacking in the distortion quality. i use the RFTs in v2

in v1 you have to experiment. for me its an amperex bungle boy in v1.
very good tube.

It's funny you should say that because my Bugle Boy arrived yesterday and after a lot of mixing and matching I ended up with it in V1, Tungsol in V2 and RFT in V3. Sounded fantastic. Really nice warm distortion with the Bugle Boy. More "musical" than the rest, if that makes sense.
Can't wait until my Sylvania's arrive.

a sylvania 12ax7wa in V1 will make your amps scream!

ive tested many tubes in v1

from the new production lane: JJ, EH, Tung-Sol, Sovtek, Chinese

the jj was okay, but lacked in the highs. still good for some cleans its a little too smooth mushy for my taste. still overall a good tube, not the worst
the EH is too brittle in the highs but overall a good tube, very linear and has lots of punch and attack, can be a great tube in the right mix!
the tung-sol just doenst sound good with my amp.
the sovtek WA is the worst tube i can think of. stay away from these tubes. totally lacking in everything. trash!
the chinese one was good but lacked totally in the lower freqs.

from the nos lane: RCA Black's, RFT, Amperex Bungle Boy, Valvo

the RCA's are pretty cool. they sound very vintage and are very cool in v2. they have a good distortion. nice mids and low-end, a lot highs!
the RFT is my favorite tube in v2. it's so great when it comes to distortion, it sounds wonderful...tames the highs in a good way, not like the JJ
the bungle boy slayed them all in v1, no matter what i put in from the new production lane or the nos, the amperex is still the best v1 i had yet.

So how do the 3 pre amp tubes work (sound) different from each other/ I,ve been told that V1 is the most influential to the distortion but what about V2 & V3?

V3 is the finetuning spot and after V1 the most important in the chain. However, it's the combination of the three that makes the tone shine, not the individual tube!

Don't have the most experience, but here it goes (regarding ECC83 types):
New production: JJs seem pretty good (solid sound closest to teles I've herd from new prod.), had some chinese TADs that were ok as well (way better than the GT selected stuff).
NOS: Only real experience is mullards and teles. I'm lucky enough to have tried loads of both of these (mostly in hi-fi amps though).
Teles are FAT, but very detailed (just warmth and presence... and detail). I like these in 6l6/KT66 amps (beautifull in V1 in my Bassmann).
Mullard is also quite fat, but a bit more open/soft sounding, they do however have some bite to 'em when pushed (more so than the teles) and IMO go very well with el34/84 amps. Please don't missunderstand i don't necessarily follow my own advice regarding pre-powertube combo, it's just a guide.
Regarding the V1/V2/V3 thing, it depends on the circuit. In some amps V2 makes next to no difference, in others the difference could be huge!

Oh btw, V1 always makes the biggest difference. So if you have one good tube you know where to put it

Hi, Thats the way i felt the first time i tried mullard el34s, the difference was like day and night. Really big sound, now I'm not allowed to turn my amp up on stage now. Sound guy is always complaining too loud I have also tried rft el34s, they are also very good tubes. For preamp tubes my fav are rft v1 tungsram v2 and a rft or a valvo for the pi. With the cascade mode and a mv on a 100w amp best dist i have ever heard. So much gain

Dukeamps

mkdivine wrote:hey guys.
im quite shocked. i bought some NOS 84 Teslas EL34 this year and installed them in my amp.
i was very pleased with the tone.

i noticed a very punchy, clear and impressive rock tone from these tubes. a super transparent tube in some ways. its kind of smooth, the amp is MUCH more effective at lower master volumes and produces the best distortion ive ever heared from a tube. it always sounds great, especially in triode.

i installed a quad of tung-sol EL34b's today, just for the interest. i wanted so tubes for the gigs, to save the teslas for the studio. i was so shocked with the difference. i bet anyone could tell the difference right from the first tones... it sounded flat, kind of "hard" and less warm - not bad but not great either. its like two steps down in tone...

Hey bro, just to clarify, did you re bias after you put in the tung sols? Flat, hard and less warm, I know exactly what you mean, I've had the same exp when I finally heard Mullards but did you re bias, if not, I bet you could improve the sound of the amp if you do. Just wondering as you didn't say.

i always swap around tubes- you HAVE to. i can make my 'favorite' amp my least favorite amp with just tube changes. i think you need to do it. yes, most cases you must rebias...but it's worth the effort. it's so easy to alter tone w/ your tube selection.