Good to hear from you!
Do NOS Mullard EL34 tubes last much longer than NOS SED (Svetlana) EL34 ?
Well, Mullards are $450 each and SED are $120 each. I need four of them for VAC Avatar SE. For now I got a set of SEDs but for the next set..? Bloody expensive. I really like Mullard long plates 12AX7 for line amp.
Maybe it's not worth it, anyway, maybe I wouldn't hear much of a difference.
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http://www.audiotubes.com/el34.htm
You might consider a quad of the 70's Chinese EL34's listed @ the bottom of the page for $160. Mullard XF2's look to be around $800/quad.
DeKay |
jetter, thank you. I am talking about Mullards XF1 from Tube Depot. They got used for $300 each too. So, you are not saying they would last significantly longer. I am almost certain that they would sound better than SEDs and that's my potential problem. I listen for about 2-3 hours almost every day. I did buy those 12AX7 Mullards from Audio Tubes, Bret was nice to talk to but he has different taste. |
I have also had gold Lion KT88 tubes that tested higher than "new" and have many many hours and are still strong. They test almost new still and still are tightly matched. That’s one reason I buy matched tubes from trusted sources They are my back ups now but still sound good. I can’t even imagine how many hours are on them. A lot |
Nope …. I paid the big bucks for NOS MULLARDS for my REGA ISIS VALVE cdp/dac. Note: they are NOT the OEM tubes recommended by REGA - I won’t be buying them ever again nor will I recommending them either. - I drank the shite KoolAid marketing BS and I ignored my pro tech’s experience and recommendations to ignore overhyped MULLARDs, in favour of NOS Russki Commie era NOS tubes circa 1961-ish ideally. why? They will last a lot longer AND they will sound better in his opinion, . He loaned me his NOS Commie tubes to me for 2 weeks to test drive and compare audio performances.. Yep …he was .right = blindly moving on MULLARDs was a bad choice for me with a regrettable arrogance to ignore his recommendation ..,, I could have, I should have …’ nuff said …. The Russki tubes were better sonically, and I will now trust his experience that they will have a normal much, much longer life option, as well as being a better audio performance option, He was so right . I paid $US 500+ for the NOS MULLARDs that were a Royal FUHBAR. = NEVER AGAIN….Dumbass me …not my finest moment …full stop. I’ve also A-B’d NOS made in the USA offerings …. Surprisingly damn good and a true contender and no pretender. They are my backups now. MY TAKE: Be careful out there … choose wisely. |
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