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SED Winged C el34. Help

I am tube rolling my Manley Snappers. I have heard many good things about the Winged C's. I have a few questions.
Are they reliable? I bought JJ el34's and the were like hand grenades in my amps. They blew and took out the tweeters and the woofers in my speakers! Ouch.
So I went to the EH 6ca7 at Manley's suggestion and they
have been reliable. However I would like to try the winged C's, but not at the expense of my speakers.
Also, where do I buy them. I saw a thread that said not to get the Svetlana version so I want to make sure I get the right tube. I have shopped at Tube Depot before but they don't sell them. Upscale Audio does but I have seen them for less at other dealers. Can you reccomend a good dealer?
I would also like to hear from those with experience with these tubes as to whether I can expect an upgrade over the 6ca7's.
Thank you, Scott.
abbeydog
newbee
4,792 posts
 
Another vote for the SED EL34. I started using them in the mid 90's and have yet to have a major failure (short,etc) but some have naturally died of age. Very reliable and a nice tone as well. I still have the old St Petersburg Svetlana as well as the new SED from St Petersburg. I've noted no changes tonally speaking or construction wise.

BTW, I've had a lot of major failures from other tube types as well as some other EL34's (Tesla E34L's) in various amps and have had to replace fuses and resistors in the amps but I have never blown a tweeter. That is scary! Is this particular to your Snappers? Can it be prevented?
abbeydog OP
70 posts
 
Okay, thanks for all the info. I will go shopping with all your reccomendations in mind.
Out of ten JJel34's I think I blew 5. Manley used to ship these tubes in the Snappers but had to switch to the EH 6ca7's for reliabillity.
Newbee I don't know if my snappers are particular in blowing up speakers. All I can say is that when the JJ blew it took out my tweeter and woofer as well.
Come to think of it, I blew an el84 in my Stingray and no
damage other than a B fuse blowing. Hmmmmmmmn.
lissnr
365 posts
 
I've used the JJ EL-34's in my VTL MB-125's with no problems at all... in fact they were very nice sounding as well. I used the new Electro-Harmonix also with good results. Could be your Snapper is harder on them than the VTL's? Tough call. I've used both theTubeStore.com and TubeDepot with satisfaction. Just my 2 cent experiences.
roblanger
117 posts
 
I replaced the stock Ruby's in my Six Pac amps with SED EL-34's from Jim McShane. More warmth overall and so far, more reliable.
abbeydog OP
70 posts
 
Lissner,
The problem with jjel34's as I got it from Manley's tech is a recent batch problem. They used to ship them with Snappers no problem. Maybe yours are older good tubes. I can't say what they sound like other than BLAM!!!!!
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