Sylvania Fat Boy EL34 vs Amperex made in Gt Britain
- Thread starter WhiteSE
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Rocjr
Active Member
I found the 6CA7s FBs to be a bit brash in the very clean and open Pilot. Not harsh though. However, they work great in the darker and slightly shut in Fisher X-1000. Here they balance things out nicely. The JJ KT77s sounded great for a few months until they went haywire. Really great. Oh well. In the end the GL KT77s are a fantastic bridge between the XF2 Mullards and the US 6CA7s. They just need time to burn in and settle down, especially in the Pilot. If your system is on the hot side the XF2s may be the ticket. Don't discount the impact the input and splitter tubes make in this amp. You can shape the sound nicely here too.
PS: Before I settled on the GLKT77s, my tube of choice for the 260 was the Matsushita EL34. Yes, the Japanese 6CA7. I ended up hoarding them for a few years. I have about 15 matched quads of Mullards, XF1-XF4. The Mats did it for me though. The GLs do most of what the Mats do, not exactly as delicately, but for the most part better. Certainly more robust sounding. The 260s personality can swing in different directions more than most PP feedback amp tend to. Always good if you have tubes to roll. The rectifiers make a difference too. Years ago I chased down specific Tung-Sol 5U4s because of the uproar at the time. Seriously, the amp sounded solid-state-y with them. The RCAs were definitely the trick in this amp. Just a note. The 3 260s in this stable all measure out of phase. Swap the speaker leads + and -. You'll be in for a surprise if you have been wiring it conventionally.
PS: Before I settled on the GLKT77s, my tube of choice for the 260 was the Matsushita EL34. Yes, the Japanese 6CA7. I ended up hoarding them for a few years. I have about 15 matched quads of Mullards, XF1-XF4. The Mats did it for me though. The GLs do most of what the Mats do, not exactly as delicately, but for the most part better. Certainly more robust sounding. The 260s personality can swing in different directions more than most PP feedback amp tend to. Always good if you have tubes to roll. The rectifiers make a difference too. Years ago I chased down specific Tung-Sol 5U4s because of the uproar at the time. Seriously, the amp sounded solid-state-y with them. The RCAs were definitely the trick in this amp. Just a note. The 3 260s in this stable all measure out of phase. Swap the speaker leads + and -. You'll be in for a surprise if you have been wiring it conventionally.
Last edited:
Thanks for the insight Rocjr....I just installed the installed the Fat Boys but its still kinda early so am only playing baroque Lute music at low volume....They sound quite good...I am using some new Full Music 12AX7's instead of the usual TFK's I use and I like this combo quite a bit!!
