EL 34 Amp Recommendations

The Dynaco ST-70 amps rebuilt by Vincent in Lewiston, Idaho would work quite well and you would have a cool looking amp also. VTL and Manley amps are also great as they do several things correctly. They have great transformers, run their tubes conservatively which means they have longevity and they do not suffer from cheaper designs which clip the high frequencies and bloat the bottom end with slow boomy bass.

Decware is also a contender for the same reasons as mentioned above. However, they tend to be very low wattage/amperage (2wpc) so you need to match speaker efficiency correctly for most of their product. Their 12 wpc amps will drive most anything except for large panels and large closed boxes.

The Cary V-12 is unreal-but that's a lot of tubes...

I second JWN amps and Jim could build you a great amp for half your budget or less. I have an EL34, around 35 wpc, that Jim built for approximately $900. and it sounds terrific. Check out The Audio Asylum review section under tube amps for a few reviews of his amps.

If this is your first tube amp, regardless of the brand you purchase:

1. Buy something that is reliable;
2. Has long tube life;
3. Is easy to use (has built in meter or auto-bias);
4. Has good resale;
5. Has good manufacturer service.

If you can stretch to around $3500 (!) buy a used Wolcott Presence amp. Tremendous sound and auto biasing of the EL34 tubes .