Siemens EL 34

ram (roger mojeski’s operation, rip roger!) is/was a tube seller and rebrander, a good one at that, but as such they source different tubes from different origins, test and screen, then silkscreen their logo over that of the original manufacturers', so the fact that these have ram printed on them in ram boxes does not tell you what underlying tube you have

here are a few links with pics to show you the various tubes that have been sold as 'telefunkens' el34's in the past

ebay old stock siemens tube set -- note the thin glass bottles (relative to the bakelite bases), dimpled top, two horizontal vents in the vertical plate, 4 staples on each side -- this is the rft east german made tube i referred to in my prior post... here is another example of a pair of the same tube but labelled rft ... here are more of the same tube, this time marked telefunken

’telefunken’ el34 set on ebay -- here is another pair of tubes on ebay... by their brown color base, the same width glass bottle, very rounded dome on top with no dimple, double ring getter construction on top, single plate vent, five round staples each side, that is a tesla czech made tube from the 80’s-90’s... closer in quality to true blue brit mullards or dutch amperexes, very good tube

here is a third kind sometimes labelled telefunken, in this case, labelled siemens... this is a yugoslavian made old stock ’ei’ factory tube... note very different construction with the pointed tip at the top... ei made these and also fat bottle el34/6ca7’s back in the day before the plant was destroyed in the war, these are equivalent quality as the rft's in my use, leaner sound, less body

in addition to the above there were indeed some (not many) real deal uk/dutch made el34’s that were rebranded telefunken back in the day... the link below is an example of these... they will have mullard or amperex production codes and d- or 0 shaped double getters, brown or black bakelite bases, even width glass bottles, relatively squared off smooth domes.... here is real deal uk mullard sold as a telefunken

so op, you can check the above against what you have

@jjss49 In the 1980s there were International brand EL34s made by RFT same tube that RFT made for Telefunken, Siemens, and others. Not sure if there is a connection there or not.  I recall my buddy who passed had some Telefunkens in his RM-9 MK II. Was always kinda nervous about running them hot and having to keep spares around. Sounded really nice though, heard them with a variety of speakers back in the 90s. 

@decooney

i have very fond memories of roger’s rm9-ii, which i adored... it was one of the 2 amps (along with kevin hayes’ amazing pa-90c quad chassis mono amps) where i did most of my el34 based listening back in the late 80’s, with early big proacs, spendors, quads, maggie mg iii-a’s

what a lovely amp sonically, and made to last forever, (big time back breaker though... the backside with those massive transformers in a row still make my back hurt more than 30 years later 🤣😅)

@jjss49 "...where i did most of my el34 based listening back in the late 80’s, with early big proacs, spendors, quads, maggie mg iii-a’s".

While I had to move on to different amps/ouput tubes for my main custom speakers 93db/6ohm, aside from triode amps which I no longer own, el34 is still one of my favs. Since my friend who owned the rm9mkii passed on, I don’t think I’ve heard a better musical el34 based amp since. It did get warm and he did go through tubes, usually working to keep a backup supply.

@jjss49 would be interested in learning if you have ever come across another amp that comes close to or beats tine rm9mkii - in your opinion. I do prefer adjustable bias, and amps with top shelf transformers. I do see many of the smaller converted amps some custom builders do, kinda dinky w/baby transformers. I do keep my eyes out for something substantial for a 3rd amp in both stereo and mono amps for EL34s and not referring to smaller transformer amps. I do run QS Mono 120s (big quality transformers) now with KT120s and certain caps and cables I like to try and recapture some of that EL34 sound, yet its not the same type of sultry EL34 sound the rm9mkii and one of my former and larger Cary amps produced.

I might even try to source a custom scratch builder who can build to a higher spec, using the transformers and higher quality bits I want - for a robust EL34 keeper amp. We can take it offline on msg if needed. Thx.

I recently sold my RM9 MK2, despite many telling me to never sell it.  Next to a VAC 70/70 Signature (eight 300B's in push/pull), it was the best amp I've owned.  Time will tell if I regret it.  I have a pair of Quicksilver KT Mono's with KT-150's on order... so I'm hoping they will scratch my itch and quell any regrets I may have in selling the RM9 MK2.