Favorite EL-84 amplifier?

[albusark]

I’d hesitate to call it chi-fi: it’s an American company, American design and presumably a modicum of American quality control (I do have some understanding of how Sino-American manufacturing operates) and manufacturing in Hong Kong, which is a bit different than Chi-Fi operations in nearby Shenzhen, where a good deal of Chinese valve amps are made.

Ah yes, sorry you're right. My OTL amp is from a Chinese group of hobbyists who reproduced lots of classic circuits about 10 years ago (Little Bear). They were bought out by "Douk Audio" and now produce a bunch of crap and possibly some good stuff, but the original Little Bear group was really interesting. Their T10/T11 phono preamps were based on the EAR 834P circuit and sound fantastic.

 

[albusark]

Almarro A205A. Pentode or Triode mode.

View attachment 3564742

Awesome. I'll be keeping an eye out for these.

 

[albusark]

Bottlehead Seductor:
View attachment 3564812

Nice! As cool as this amp is, what's going on with the batteries on the right?

 

[albusark]

The best EL84 guitar amp that I've owned is the Matchless. The 15-watt Hurricane has a smooth, BIG sound.

WOW! I'm a big fan of the art of teflon lead covering, is this your work?

 

[albusark]

Many people think it's hard to make a bad EL84 amp. In the late 50s most were just copies of the Mullard 5-10 (then two for stereo). Some good ones were made by small British companies that are long gone, e.g. Verdik, Tripletone and Beam Echo. I'm listening to a restored Beam Echo SPA-21 now that sounds sweet, but these are scarce, even here.

As always, high quality depends both on a good design and good output transformers. I have had good results from building a couple of clones of this: https://www.hificollective.co.uk/kits/ank/l1-el84-amplifier.html, designed by Andy Groves for Audio Note. While the kits are hard to come by, the assembly manual and clone boards are available online. You can even get the chassis from third party sellers. Then it's just a matter of getting the PT and OTs. e.g. You could use those from your spare Dynaco SCA-35. Or, of course, you could use them with Dave Gillespie's ST35 boards which are highly rated, available here: http://tronola.com/html/daves_store.html.

Then there are the American classics from Scott, Fisher, Eico, etc. Many people like the Eico HF81, but I've never seen one in the wild and these usually sell for a lot. You could look for a pair of HF32 ones (monos) for the iron.

WOW! The Beam Echo appears to be gorgeous inside and out. What a stylish design.

 

[albusark]

I have two that I'm rather fond of: a DG-SE1 and a DG-9304 V2. Thank you Mr. Gillespie!

View attachment 3565111View attachment 3565116

Fisher made some really nice stereo consoles in the 60's, my neighbor had a Fisher with Jensen speakers and AMPEX stereo reel-reel in the cabinet. Everything was so clear and detailed, bass was full but not boomy or muddy. I was 12 when he cranked up Young Rascals Lonely So Long from a 45 and it has stuck with me ever since. That was 1981 and it had the same amp that Aerobat has in the previous post. I remember the zig-zag layout and thought how cool was that.

A short time later I got my hands on a Fisher 800B which used the 7591s and sounded just as good on a pair of beat-up KLH 17's... parents were NOT happy with the size or intensity of these in my room but it kept me out of trouble. (for the most part) Moral here is 6BQ5 or 7591 (even 7968) we're hard pressed to find a *bad* Avery Fisher receiver from the 1960's. As a kid I had to make the best of what I got my hands on (and sometimes zapped by) but I learned to fix them on my own with the encouragement of my Elmer who at the time had new Cunningham 227's in their boxes. I made the best of a Dual 1214 with the stubby post, still have it and that Heathkit AA-111 which still gets regular use driving a set of Vega L-7's. I'm a little behind the times at 56 now and wouldn't have it any other way, my daily watch TV is a 1970 Magnavox Astro Sonic console which I've modified to accept composite video in from a DTV receiver box and it uses a heathkit AA-100 amplifier to drive the original alnico speakers to spellbinding proportions. Original family set that survives and looks great today... wish it had more tubes in the audio section.

So I may be biased (cathode) when it comes to what I think is my favorite EL-84 amplifier and clearly there are many others with just as many opinions. To me the output tube is one link in that chain and not always the weakest in the big picture. What I would like to hear in the context of the thread is why do others believe the EL84 is somehow a magical tube that uses sheets of gifted electrons that adds life to music in ways others don't.

That was a fun read. I've focused on Dynacos to learn with and have worked on quite a few SCA-35's for myself, friends and customers. I think the circuit is magical and sounds absolutely beautiful with a few hours of work and refinement. Years ago I had lots of fancy solid state amps because I was told that they are "the best". They were boring. A friend of mine then asked me to fix his dad's Dynaco SCA-35 because I'm good with electronics. And that's how I got here, once it was fixed I listened to some albums and got goosebumps.

 

[albusark]

Has anyone heard the Finale F-7189 amp from Canada?
It's been one 7189 tube amp that has intrigued me and has an interesting amount of iron.

Heathkit made 7189 mono amps back in the day, those would probably sound excellent if you could apply Dave Gillespie's mods to them? There's also his modded out Magnavox 8604 amp.

Then there's the Trafomatic Audio Kaivalya EL-84 mono amps, which I believe they cost a pretty penny. No idea on how they sound?
Then Leben CS-300X
Then "Still Audio" EL84 integrated amp

That looks like a wonderful design, at least from the outside. Spacious and simple. GZ-34?

 

[Dandy]

WOW! The Beam Echo appears to be gorgeous inside and out. What a stylish design. View attachment 3565508View attachment 3565509

Here's mine. Just taken out of rotation to do some work on my Scott 222C. (Avantic is the other name used by Beam Echo.)

 

[Mystic]

VOX AC-30 (1964)

 

[kwkshift]

The Decware Taboo I with the Lucid Mode engaged. Wow. Sounded great with the stock Decware tubes but when I switch in some vintage Telefunken's and Valvo's, amazing.

 

[mr_macgee]

That looks like a wonderful design, at least from the outside. Spacious and simple. GZ-34?

Yes, the Finalé Audio F-7189 II Integrated Amp uses GZ34/5AR4; and the iron is Hashimoto.

There's also this EL84 amp below from England; I was able to see it out in the wild but did not get to hear it. It looked beautiful with similar aesthetics to a Leak ST 20

 

[BmWr75]

Yes, the Finalé Audio F-7189 II Integrated Amp uses GZ34/5AR4; and the iron is Hashimoto.

There's also this EL84 amp below from England; I was able to see it out in the wild but did not get to hear it. It looked beautiful with similar aesthetics to a Leak ST 20


View attachment 3565937

Looks nearly identical to a Leak Stereo 20, but in blue instead of gold.

 

[albusark]

Yes, the Finalé Audio F-7189 II Integrated Amp uses GZ34/5AR4; and the iron is Hashimoto.

There's also this EL84 amp below from England; I was able to see it out in the wild but did not get to hear it. It looked beautiful with similar aesthetics to a Leak ST 20


View attachment 3565937

That's a very fine looking design. There must be a good reason for the rca input placement?

 

[zwuttoo]

English Acoustics Stereo 21c stereo power amplifier​

​

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS​

• Type: stereo valve power amplifier
• Power output: 14W/channel ultra linear
• Valve complement: 3× ECC83, 4× EL84, 1× GZ34
• THD+N: Less than 0.1%
• SNR: Better than 90dB reference 1W
• Frequency response: +/-1dB 13Hz–35KHz (full power bandwidth)
• Finish: CAD designed steel chassis with laser cut details. Transformer endcaps CNC machined from billet aluminium. Automotive-grade metallic paint finish available in large range of colours.
• Valve sockets: Ceramic, gold-plated
• Fixings: Custom English manufactured
• Wiring: Point to point hand-wired valve sockets with lead free silver solder
• Transformers: hand wound transformers locally in Wiltshire, England
• Protection: Thermal, vibration and tilt safety cut out
• Power Inlet filter: Medical grade
• Remote power on: available as an option
• Display: Digital LCD hour meter
• Finish: various
• Price: from £5,000

oooops, some serious money I guess I have to say?

 

[BmWr75]

That's a very fine looking design. There must be a good reason for the rca input placement?

Short signal path to the first tube, which is right behind the RCA inputs.

 

[opnly bafld]

The Decware Taboo I with the Lucid Mode engaged. Wow. Sounded great with the stock Decware tubes but when I switch in some vintage Telefunken's and Valvo's, amazing.

I had an original Taboo and I think I liked it better than the triode amps. Different sound for sure being pentode instead of triode, but very good.

 

[mr_macgee]

Here's a question: Whats speakers and sensitivity are you using with your EL84 amps?

For me, I have to say I absolutely love the EL84 sound but the near field speakers I use are not the most sensitive (90db) and found more preference/pleasure using my Scott amps using 7189's (EL84's w/higher voltage/wattage) over regular EL84 amps; giving fuller sound with more body. I think that slight bump in the 7189 spec's helped me prefer the sound of the Scott's, as my Pilot (EL84) and stock Heathkit AA-30 (EL84) amps keep getting swapped out for the Scott.
When the Scott's are working well and to spec, they sound wonderful and very hard to beat for the price.

 

[Lavane]

Here's a question: Whats speakers and sensitivity are you using with your EL84 amps?

For me, I have to say I absolutely love the EL84 sound but the near field speakers I use are not the most sensitive (90db) and found more preference/pleasure using my Scott amps using 7189's (EL84's w/higher voltage/wattage) over regular EL84 amps; giving fuller sound with more body. I think that slight bump in the 7189 spec's helped me prefer the sound of the Scott's, than my Pilot (EL84) and stock Heathkit AA-30 (EL84) amps. When the Scott's are working well and to spec, they sound wonderful and very hard to beat for the price.

I have a pair of 8 ohm 93db rated Marantz Imperial 6's connected to my 17wpc Dynakit ST-35. The amp drives those speakers plenty loud.
My Magnavox 9303 PP 10-12wpc amp with 3.7 ohm speaker taps is connected to a pair of 8 ohm Ditton 300's rated at 87db. Those speakers get loud enough in the small room they're in.

 

[Gigantic]

Here's a question: Whats speakers and sensitivity are you using with your EL84 amps?

For me, I have to say I absolutely love the EL84 sound but the near field speakers I use are not the most sensitive (90db) and found more preference/pleasure using my Scott amps using 7189's (EL84's w/higher voltage/wattage) over regular EL84 amps; giving fuller sound with more body. I think that slight bump in the 7189 spec's helped me prefer the sound of the Scott's, than my Pilot (EL84) and stock Heathkit AA-30 (EL84) amps. When the Scott's are working well and to spec, they sound wonderful and very hard to beat for the price.

My 3-way horns are 106dB sensitive altogether; the drivers my EL-84 amps are driving, are 110dB sensitive.

 

[Sliphorn]

.
Analog Ethos has an interpretation of an ST-35 that I’d like to hear. it comes with a volume control but he will eliminate it if you just want a straight power amp. He offers several colors and a couple upgrades too.