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Hammond EL84 made in Holland

bugs762

bugs762

Active Member
Would it be safe to assume that a Hammond EL84 made in Holland was manufactured by Amperex or were there other tube manufacturers in Holland?

I'm trying to determine if I should go on a quest for a pair of Bugle Boy EL84s for an Almarro A205A MkII.

Thanks
 
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bugs762 said:
Would it be safe to assume that a Hammond EL84 made in Holland was manufactured by Amperex or were there other tube manufacturers in Holland?

I'm trying to determine if I should go on a quest for a pair of Bugle Boy EL84s for an Almarro A205A MkII.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Philips made tubes in Holland as well.

One thing to remember with the Almarro is that the tubes have to be very closely matched.

Cheers

Lar
 
Very likely the same tube. Amperex was a US company (Long Island) that was bought by Philips as way into the US military and industrial market. Many of the tubes labeled Amperex came from Philips in Holland, some from other Philips divisions like Mullard and Valvo, and some like the 6922 were made in the US. The etched code at the bottom of the tube will identify the factory it came from - a right triangle ("delta" - looks like a number "4") indicates Philips Heerlen. A Google search for "Philips tube codes" should turn up the rest.
 
What Tom said...

Lar, why do the Almarro tubes need to be so closely matched???

I've been running mine for years and really never gave it much thought. Recently I even had a set of black plate Baldwin branded Sylvanias in it that tested "Reject" and off quite a bit w/o any apparent issues...:dunno:
 
Andyman said:
What Tom said...

Lar, why do the Almarro tubes need to be so closely matched???

I've been running mine for years and really never gave it much thought. Recently I even had a set of black plate Baldwin branded Sylvanias in it that tested "Reject" and off quite a bit w/o any apparent issues...:dunno:
Click to expand...

No bias adjustment on the Almarro.

Cheers

Lar
 
I found that the Russian tubes sound darn good in the 205mkII but I use a Mullard 12AX7. I have Bugle Boy D getters 1950's but liked the Russians more. Go for the Hammonds...they are Amperex. :yes:
 
I've actually found that the 12AX7 has a bigger impact on the sonics that the EL84s.
I'm using a RCA triple mica black plate 5751 and love it. I rolled several 12AX7s through before I settled on the 5751 though, including Bugle Boy Amperexes, Mullards, Telefunkens and some nice domestics.
The wonderful part about the Almarro is that you only need 1 tube too!!
 
Tom Bavis said:
Very likely the same tube. Amperex was a US company (Long Island) that was bought by Philips as way into the US military and industrial market. Many of the tubes labeled Amperex came from Philips in Holland, some from other Philips divisions like Mullard and Valvo, and some like the 6922 were made in the US. The etched code at the bottom of the tube will identify the factory it came from - a right triangle ("delta" - looks like a number "4") indicates Philips Heerlen. A Google search for "Philips tube codes" should turn up the rest.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware that Valvo was a Philips division. I haven't found much information on them at all, but I have a Blaupunkt that's full of them.
 
Andyman said:
I've actually found that the 12AX7 has a bigger impact on the sonics that the EL84s.
I'm using a RCA triple mica black plate 5751 and love it. I rolled several 12AX7s through before I settled on the 5751 though, including Bugle Boy Amperexes, Mullards, Telefunkens and some nice domestics.
The wonderful part about the Almarro is that you only need 1 tube too!!
Click to expand...

I pulled some Lowrey Organ branded 12ax7s out of an old PAS 3 preamp I have and I'm running one in the Almarro right now and it sounds pretty good. My amp came with one of the Watford cryoed GE 12AX7s and the Lowery may sound a little cleaner.
 
From what I've seen that little Almarro has a cathode resistor for each output tube.

Meaning you do not "need" matched pairs of output tubes.

Not having matched set could have 1 channel louder or sound different from another.
 
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