Dav65mus, you've more or less ended up in the same place I have with my ST70.
The one difference being I prefer the JJ E34L to their KT77. You give up a bit of low frequency performance, which isn't the strong suit of the ST70 anyway, but the midrange and treble open up a noticeable (in a glorious, but not harsh way)amount more.
For the record, I have a bunch of highly regarded amplifiers, and while the ST70 doesn't outclass them in terms of power or low end, not one of them can match its overall tone. To me, that's why it's the amp I enjoy the most. For all of the shortcomings people love to chirp about, I shake my head at how far things have not come since the mid - 1950s.
The one difference being I prefer the JJ E34L to their KT77. You give up a bit of low frequency performance, which isn't the strong suit of the ST70 anyway, but the midrange and treble open up a noticeable (in a glorious, but not harsh way)amount more.
For the record, I have a bunch of highly regarded amplifiers, and while the ST70 doesn't outclass them in terms of power or low end, not one of them can match its overall tone. To me, that's why it's the amp I enjoy the most. For all of the shortcomings people love to chirp about, I shake my head at how far things have not come since the mid - 1950s.