Your Fav EL34 and why?

The best ever EL34's in my opinion is a toss up between Genelex KT77 and Mullard EL34 (XF1 or XF2).

Lots of other NOS varieties were made and many of those are better than current production.

Of current production my favorite is Tesla E34L, and then probably the Wing C. All EL34's sound different, so depending on your amp, bias point, associated (input) tubes and other factors, there is an unending debate as to what might be your favorite.

I will say that beyond all other factors, the Mullard is probably the best EL34 that was ever made, if judged only by it's durability and longevity. There are thousands of Dynaco amps that are still in service with their ORIGINAL Mullard EL34's, factory installed 42 years ago (still test perfect and still running strong).

Thousands of other Dynaco's have been stripped of their original Mullard EL34's and then resold with brand new Russian tubes :^).

Wonder what they do with all those old original Mullard tubes? They wouldn't be selling them at Ebay or using them in their OWN high end gear :^?

Uh, Thanks, Avguygeorge. I'm not sure what all that means however.

Albertporter
I do appreciate it much. The EL34's application is bias dependant? Huh.

They aren't all the same, that I get. Now ya gotta add in what the bias point is?

OK then, how about at 70mv for instance. Just out of the clear blue.

I do appreciate it much. The EL34's application is bias dependant? Huh.

Yes indeed.

For instance, the bias point of EL34 tubes run in triode compared to Tetrode can be different. The bias point of Mullard EL34 tubes in the Tube Research GT400 (yes, it works-been there-done that) is different than a Dynaco Stereo 70 and different than the Wolcott Presence 220.

And as I said, input tubes for all three of these amps (and input design circuit) are all very different too.

The bias for the Dynaco Stereo 70 is quite low (about 1.56 VDC) compared to more modern amps and perhaps the reason so many EL34 Mullards have survived for 40 years. That and the fact Dynaco produced about 250,000 of these before they were discontinued, means we had a rather large supply to begin with.

Here is a link to different voltages and bias points the EL34 can be set up for. This was for popular guitar amps but the principal is the same.

http://www.diyguitarist.com/Images/BiasChart-EL34.jpg

Albertporter

Thanks for the link but I can’t see it well enough to make anything of it. Sorry.

So given the bias point I mentioned and aside from the “subjective or supposed” voice of the particular tube, I should get those that are intrinsically best run at that bias point?

My own particular application is for the Gary Dodd 120 mono blocks this time ‘round. Thinking this tube is wired in several configurations, triode, tettrode and is a pentode tube anyways, the thought of better selection of the tube by it’s bias setting in the application, over it’s inherent ‘sound’ had truly not been a consideration to this point. In fact I’m plain ignorant of making a tube choice based solely that way. I’ve nothing against it either. Just never came to mind thinking all the EL 34s had at least some tolerance to the voltages applied to them, regardless the configuration; Triode, tet, or pent.

Practically speaking, I doubt Mullard NOS' are in my future given what I've seen of just one outlets pricing for them. I'll not discount your info however and as this thread is about ANY EL 34s, past or present, I'm grateful for the insights and your choice (s).

Well Jim, it turns out the same new production tube (and available for cheap price) is the same one I recommended earlier in this thread. The Tesla E34L.

Gary Dodd lives about 15 minutes from me and has told me face to face on more than one occasion that the Tesla was his favorite too.

This is in line with my own experiences. I had four Dodd mono blocks on my Dali Megalines and listened with both Mullard and Tesla. The Tesla is a great match for the Dodd amps. I still prefer Mullard EL34 but you can follow whatever makes you happy and fits your need. Just making suggestions as you requested.

If you want an explanation of why and how bias can effect the sound of tubes give Gary a call. He understands this very well. He is a very bright designer.

You ask for suggestions and I made a few.

Sorry the link to JPEG of tube bias data is not clear enough for you to view. It's OK on my screen.