Your Favorite Big, thick, powerful EL34, if you please.

[Neiloler]

I went with the WingC EL34s I had sitting around from a good buddy, and they seem to do the trick. I think the preamp tubes have a dud in the mix somewhere, that's my next thing to try and purchase/fix.

[jord123]

cool, I just got a hold of my dads sunn spectrum 1 for the weekend, it has a sylvania and I think a gt and maybe an ehx for preamps, I am gonna so some swappin' and experimenting, how do the winged c's compare to a jj el-34?

[Neiloler]

You know, honestly I don't know. I've never tried JJ EL34s. I've used their 6L6GCs, and those are great stuff, but I don't know anything about the JJ EL34s.

[Y0UNGBL00D]

their 6L6s are better than their EL34s imo.

[jamison162]

Assuming your amp is OK, I highly recommend the Ruby's EL34B-STRs. When I put them in I hated them, but then I readjusted the bias and they turned out to be awesome.

How did you readjust the bias on the R30? Isn't it cathode biased?

[Randy Bass]

Assuming your amp is OK, I highly recommend the Ruby's EL34B-STRs. When I put them in I hated them, but then I readjusted the bias and they turned out to be awesome.

How did you readjust the bias on the R30? Isn't it cathode biased?

He has a TV50.

[sidvicious]

if you have the cash try telefunken. great tubes and are very hardy, even in todays hot-rod amp environment. there is still a decent supply of nos out there. it is worth the cost.

[TESLA_EL34]

if you have the cash try telefunken. great tubes and are very hardy, even in todays hot-rod amp environment. there is still a decent supply of nos out there. it is worth the cost.

telefunken are often rebranded RFT's and sometimes even mullards.
but most of them are RFT's.

the early telefunkens are a different story...

[TESLA_EL34]

On the whole I am anti-tube snobbery - as a regular gigger, there's no way I'd waste hundreds on NOS tubes which nobody is going to notice when I'm onstage anyway.

I would agree with my Rocker30 but certainly not with my Matamp.
My Matamp makes the difference too obvious. It's like night and day.
It's like another amp, really. It's a wonderful tool for me.

I also think NOS tubes are a much better bargain. They last longer and they have the better tone anyway.
All you have to do is, find a good dealer which is not sticking with insane prices. In fact all of my NOS EL34's were cheaper
as the current winged C's. Thats the deal. They sound better and they last a lot longer. For me the winged C is overhyped and overpriced!

So if you see it that way, the newer tubes are much more expensive and sometimes even super overpriced.
Those "super matched lolzor duo/quds are just pretty weak advertise tricks. There are many dealers out there who sell the crappy stuff.
Don't get me wrong, matched quads are fine, but that's useless if the tubes aren't tested properly for anything else.

If you don't believe me it's okay, it's just good to know there are more NOS tubes to pick up for me

[Jaws Theme Swimming]

Hey Neil, if you end up not digging the winged C's after all I highly suggest the JJ E34L's. The extra midrange that's described makes for a nice punchy tone I think.

[blackcloud45]

I recently have tried both Groove Tubes Gold Series EL34's and 12AX7's in two different amps and I have to say that I was pretty impressed. I subscribe to the anti-snake oil school of thought but there was a definite change in tone. The tubes being replaced were EH and Sovtek. Smoother, richer tone in both cases. And yes, I know that GT's are merely relabelled tubes. The testing criteria must be working is all I can say.

[Randy Bass]

I recently have tried both Groove Tubes Gold Series EL34's and 12AX7's in two different amps and I have to say that I was pretty impressed. I subscribe to the anti-snake oil school of thought but there was a definite change in tone. The tubes being replaced were EH and Sovtek. Smoother, richer tone in both cases. And yes, I know that GT's are merely relabelled tubes. The testing criteria must be working is all I can say.

Were they by chance GT-EL34-M (Mullard) or GT-EL34-S (JJ)? Those two seem to be the most popular offerings from Groove Tubes.

[jamison162]

The testing criteria must be working is all I can say.

The tonal improvements you hear are more due to the particular brand of tube and have nothing to do with anything that Groove Tube does in thier "testing", they don't make tubes better.

Any reputable dealer will test and most often burn in tubes without the markup like GT. TheTubeStore, Tube Depot, Dougs Tubes, KCA, etc. I've been getting my stuff from Tube Depot almost exclusively for the past 5 yrs. and have never had one issue...and I've bought ALOT of tubes.

[Randy Bass]

The testing criteria must be working is all I can say.

The tonal improvements you hear are more due to the particular brand of tube and have nothing to do with anything that Groove Tube does in thier "testing", they don't make tubes better....

I think he means that you have a higher probability of getting a good-sounding healthy set because the testing process would theoretically result in inferior units being designated for the Silver Series or discarded altogether.

[blackcloud45]

The testing criteria must be working is all I can say.

The tonal improvements you hear are more due to the particular brand of tube and have nothing to do with anything that Groove Tube does in thier "testing", they don't make tubes better....

I think he means that you have a higher probability of getting a good-sounding healthy set because the testing process would theoretically result in inferior units being designated for the Silver Series or discarded altogether.

That's exactly what I meant. They are the 'S' series by the way. Also, I'm dumb, they were EL84's...