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General Consensus on Mullard EL34 Reissue

zenith2134

zenith2134

Lunatic Member
I am in the market for a new quad of EL34s for my Rogue Cronus (standard version). Current tubes in its output stage are Ruby Tubes EL34BHTs installed 9-7-2011. One tube will no longer hold bias, and I prefer to purchase a whole new quad rather than buy individuals and 'try to get away with it'.

Anyway, when I first got this amplifier new, I sold off the Svetlana EL34s and put in Genalex KT77 (Russian reissues). One of those arced prematurely and I got the Ruby tubes.

Even though I run the bias at the nominal level of 35mA each, I like to buy rugged tubes which can handle higher if needed. Plate volts are high on this amp and I run 4 ohm taps.

So, anyone use the Mullard re-issue?
 
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Used them in a guitar amp which is typically a more demanding application than a Hi-Fi amp and they were good- bias settled in fairly quickly IIRC. I can recommend the JJ E34L also. Make sure you're amp can handle the slightly higher current draw. The E34L made for more focused low end and a bit less compression when pushed (in my stock Dynaco ST-70).
 
I don't think plate voltage is anything to worry about with the EL34. What is it rated for, 800 IIRC? At 35mA I think any tube will give you good long service, so I would focus on tone.
 
OK, noted. As far as tone, the KT77s sounded the best to me. In terms of being well-rounded from top to bottom end.
The Ruby tubes were recommended to me by a local audio dealer for this amp.. and I was definitely satisfied with them.
What i'm doing is essentially trying out a new output tube every time I have a fault/or they start to wear down.
When I had my 60's Stromberg-Carlson stereo amp, I used Mullard reissue EL84s and thought they were fantastic.
By the way, I recall asking Rogue Audio what the plate voltage was on this amplifier, and they told me it was 580V.
 
Svetlana Winged C EL34 are good tubes. Some Svetlana are not with winged C logo. Stay with Winged C type.
 
While I definitely know that the Winged-C logo tubes are superior to the standard version, my amp came shipped with the 'regular' Svetlana/SED tubes. Otherwise, I likely would have kept them. Word is that it's getting difficult to source the "C" variety.
 
zenith2134 said:
While I definitely know that the Winged-C logo tubes are superior to the standard version, my amp came shipped with the 'regular' Svetlana/SED tubes. Otherwise, I likely would have kept them. Word is that it's getting difficult to source the "C" variety.
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I can get Wing C immediately, but $160 a quad. Siemens is $260 per quad & I like those too.
 
Well I am certainly not spending 260$ per quad. I do not intend to keep the amp more than another year. The ~~90$ per quad type are fine for me now.

Otherwise I would have gone NOS.
 
zenith2134 said:
OK, In terms of being well-rounded from top to bottom end.
The Ruby tubes were recommended to me by a local audio dealer for this amp..
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X2 on the Rubys....replaced JJ EL34s with them in my Antique Sounds Lab AQ1003DTand wow what a difference :thmbsp:
 
I had a Groove Tubes El-34 M red plate on me the other day.

They sound good but are made in china crap and are not robust
 
I'm not sure which amplifier is next for me; but I am certainly upgrading my system quite a bit in a year or two's time.

The Mullards have been ordered. Should arrive by Thursday.
 
I have been running the Mullard re-issue EL34s in my CJ MV-45 for a couple of years now and have been extremely happy with them. Before that I had run Winged C etc. and the Mullards have been much better in my amp. The MV-45 runs a tube rather hard and the other tubes had very limited life span and required constant touch-up on the bias. The Mullards have not needed to be re-biased at all since the initial settling in period (I keep checking anyway) and even that was very short. On top of that they sound better in my amp than anything else I've had in it since the original set of NOS Mullards I got with it 25 years ago. I think you will like them.
 
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