eBay Winged C EL34: Real or Counterfeit?

Save your money anyways man get some JJ E34Ls or try the KT77s, or Nos RFT/old Tesla can still be had for good deals... Not really trying to bash the SEDs/Wing Cs at all... but seriously I don't think they are worth those ridiculous prices even if they have ceased production...
 
Save your money anyways man get some JJ E34Ls or try the KT77s, or Nos RFT/old Tesla can still be had for good deals... Not really trying to bash the SEDs/Wing Cs at all... but seriously I don't think they are worth those ridiculous prices even if they have ceased production...

Having tried JJ 34L's. Cheap glass. Thought they were sounding like they were improving with break in, but no they didn't. Didn't last, one failed. Not worth the cheap asking price. EH 34's..junk. Used to use GE fat bottles..great tube. Genuine Winged C's do the job for me. :thmbsp:
 
Well, I ordered a matched quad of winged C EL34s five says ago from Amplifiedparts.com. If they had mailed them promptly, they would be here by now. Maybe by tomorrow. I actually need two quad sets for my Prima Lunas. I'm going to AB the winged Cs against my Russian new issue Mullards by leaving the Mullards in one amp, winged Cs in the other, and switching back and forth in mono. If I think the Winged Cs are better, I'll order another quad.
 
Having tried JJ 34L's. Cheap glass. Thought they were sounding like they were improving with break in, but no they didn't. Didn't last, one failed. Not worth the cheap asking price. EH 34's..junk. Used to use GE fat bottles..great tube. Genuine Winged C's do the job for me. :thmbsp:

I haven't tried the JJs. I do have a quad of EH EL34s, and my opinion of them is about the same as Hotroady's. As to GE EL34s, I wonder if you meant GE 6CA7. Those were actually made by Sylvania; as were the RCA 6CA7s. Good tube, and those that are left sell at a premium today.
 
I haven't tried the JJs. I do have a quad of EH EL34s, and my opinion of them is about the same as Hotroady's. As to GE EL34s, I wonder if you meant GE 6CA7. Those were actually made by Sylvania; as were the RCA 6CA7s. Good tube, and those that are left sell at a premium today.

Yep had the GE 6CA7 some call EL34's, guess English call em different or something, same tube.. I rebuilt my Fisher X-1000 at Pavik museum, my instructor said get the Winged C's. You got some nice amps. That Museum got some real nice restored amps with the correct NOS tubes..expensive. Heard their Marantz 8b on some huge X theater folded horns. Yeah, I smiled! I really think you've made the right move. I don't know if I could tell from the GE's in a blind test. :thmbsp: Post your results when you got them broke in, huh?
:music:
 
Well, I ordered a matched quad of winged C EL34s five says ago from Amplifiedparts.com. If they had mailed them promptly, they would be here by now. Maybe by tomorrow. I actually need two quad sets for my Prima Lunas. I'm going to AB the winged Cs against my Russian new issue Mullards by leaving the Mullards in one amp, winged Cs in the other, and switching back and forth in mono. If I think the Winged Cs are better, I'll order another quad.

Rob-F please keep us posted on your sound comparisons. You may want to give the =C= sometime to breakin. I do not know if it matters but it may eliminate those that believe it improve over time.

I did not have a great experience with my Winged =C= from AES. Two EL34s went belly up almost at the same time.....one tube was white from a tube leak and the other tube's getter was flaking off the glass and just turning white. The tubes probably had about +300 hours of low volume usage. Biased at around 425V with 32 to 36 mA. The amp runs through a bucking transformer (115v source). Purchased the tubes in Jan 2012. This was my first purchase of EL34s so I am only one statistical point. I had older spares that came with amp so those were popped in and so far so good. I know no one speaks of the Ruby EL34B-STRs but I am tempted to try these tubes.

Thanks
Gary
 
Interesting. The Electro Harmonix EL34s didn't spend very long in my Marantz 8. I listened briefly, thought they were too "tizzy" in the treble and not very warm sounding. I pulled them out and put in Russian new production Mullards. Similarly, after hearing the Chinese EL34s that came with my Prima Luna monoblocks, I quickly ordered more Russian Mullards. I'm really pretty happy with them, and am only thinking of trying the SED winged C because everyone says how good they are. But since I'm actually happy with the Mullards, I wonder if I should even be thinking of trying the winged Cs.
I've run a bunch of different sets in my CJ MV-45 and of the current varieties liked the Russian Mullards by far the best. The Winged "C" were ok but nothing to get that excited about and at least in MV-45 had a much shorter lifespan than the Mullards. Not only did I like the sound of the Mullards much better (in my amp) but they have already lasted about 4 times as long as anything else I've run and haven't needed so much as a bias touch-up. I've also run a set of 6CA7s that were pretty nice, Czech maybe?
 
Have found the Winged C 6550s to be the best sounding power tubes I've rolled thru my SLI 80. Was most disappointed when I started shopping for another set to learn that the SED factory in St. Petersburg had closed and retailers were listing their products as NOS with price jumps of 3X or more, if they have them. Sad. Did order a quad of the Winged C EL34s to try. Should be an interesting comparison.
 
I bought a replacement "Winged C" from these guys, the lettering is messy (blurred) which is normally a sign of a fake, I am asking for a return.
 
Have tried the reissue GL KT77s in place of EL34s and been very pleased. Like the reissue KT88, the KT77 is a great sounding tube.
 
Yep had the GE 6CA7 some call EL34's, guess English call em different or something, same tube..
:music:
Actually, they are different types of tubes. That is why the different designation. The EL34 is a pentode and the 6CA7 is a "beam" pentode, so more like a 6L6 and 6550 but designed to meet EL34 specs.
My favorite el34 is the Siemens dimple top or more often the RFT EL34. i like them better than Mullard as they seem to last longer. Made in East Germany, but still that Teutonic blood line doesn't stop at political borders.
 
I had a quad of Winged C's that came in plain white boxes and no logo on the envelope, otherwise they looked correct. They didn't last long at all those ones and i suspect were ones that didn't cut the QC.

The second set I purchased a few years back that were genuine NOS Svetlana Winged C's (not SED branded) in original boxes with everything as it should be, a very different experience and they are still sounding very good and are very stable.

Not looking forward to replacing these ones when the time comes.
 
Does "amplifiedparts.com" qualify as a reputable seller? They do have an online store for tubes and other things. I had not personally heard of them before. I have bought my tubes from TubeDepot, and always felt I was getting what I paid for. Tubedepot.com gets $180 for the same set.

Also I see where you can get a matched quad of SED Winged C from Amazon for $157.00. The Seller? amplifiedparts.com. And that is the same price as on the amplifiedparts.com website. So I don't know that they are or are not reputable; I also don't know why they are offering what are supposed to be the same tubes, plus three more, for $108.80 instead of their usual $157.00
I'm thinking maybe they are factory seconds? Meaning good tubes that have something wrong with the cosmetics, like a defect in the painted markings. I just recently saw something online about that--I believe with SED tubes.

EDIT: YEP, Found It: http://music-electronics-forum.com/t18805/

(It's from 2010, so may or may not have much to do with the present issue.)
contact Jim McShane. Guru of tube dealers, honest and very knowledgeable.This is where most of the regular tube guys buy their stuff from.

http://www.mcshanedesign.net
 
As to the first question about Amplified Parts.com a very reputable company.
They now offer their APEX tube matching . Which I have found to be a huge improvement over previously offered tubes. I have had good results with the Mullard and Tungsol reissue tubes ( except the mullard 12ax7 one tested funky but worked ), The Mullard el34 seems to hold up well and sound good. The fat bottle el34's are very good , Previously they were labeled Sovtek but now I see them as Electro Harmonix 6CA7.
The EHX KT88 are superior to other new offerings as well , I use them any where a 6550 is spec'd.

I have had poor experiences with most JJ tubes, except when they are good. Seems like a real crap shoot, I will not use a JJ gz34( 5ar4 ) consistently bad .
Not good luck with TAD either, just don't hold up. Same for most Chinese makes. Poor life expectancy and don't care for the tone.
 
Interesting. The Electro Harmonix EL34s didn't spend very long in my Marantz 8. I listened briefly, thought they were too "tizzy" in the treble and not very warm sounding. I pulled them out and put in Russian new production Mullards. Similarly, after hearing the Chinese EL34s that came with my Prima Luna monoblocks, I quickly ordered more Russian Mullards. I'm really pretty happy with them, and am only thinking of trying the SED winged C because everyone says how good they are. But since I'm actually happy with the Mullards, I wonder if I should even be thinking of trying the winged Cs.
Using EH 6CA7 in my 8, highly recommended tho I don't do tube rolling.
 
The tubes this guy is selling are probably fake, here are photos of a real Winged C on the left & the one from Amplified parts on the right- note the sloppy lettering and that the bend in the posts don't match:
Fake tube 1.jpg Fake tube 2.jpg
 
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