Orange Amps Forum

Hi !

just received pair of JJ KT77 power tubes which I ordered on the weekend.
I often heard/read the KT77 would take back the mids and bring a more bass and sparkling highs into the sound.

and ? it's true !

it felt like pulling a woolen blanket off the speaker. Sound is more detailed and clear. Bass is cleaned up and the highs are clear and detailed. overall, the sound is washy and muddy.
the gain seems to me a bit more usable on the overall range of the gain pot.

with my les paul, the rocker really shines now in the clean channel and the dirty channel. really, clear defined tone.

i also tested it with my sg and i had to lower a bit on the highs as the sound (with my el34 eq-setting) is to harsh. tomorrow i will test it with my ES335 but at the moment the amp really shines with my tokai les paul. thick rock sound with a good amount of sustain

just wanted to share

Markus

Thanks for the review. I'm thinking of picking up a Rocker soon and I like the description you are giving. Did it smooth out the overdrive too?

This is what I have been trying to tell people

The Rocker really shines with JJ KT77s. They are the only tubes I'll use in it now.

Oh and my bassist is finally getting the demo this week so I can put some examples up.

baytamusic wrote:Thanks for the review. I'm thinking of picking up a Rocker soon and I like the description you aregiving. Did it smooth out the overdrive too?

no, its still the a british sounding overdrive. a bit clearer and less mids....

Hmmm wonder if the TV50 would like them...

Hmmm wonder if the TV50 would like them...

OrangeJuicer wrote:it felt like pulling a woolen blanket off the speaker. Sound is more detailed and clear. Bass is cleaned up and the highs are clear and detailed. overall, the sound is washy and muddy.

What amp are we talking here, Rocker 30?

Confusing statements: "sound is more detailed and clear" but you go on to say "the sound is washy and muddy"???

Hi there !

Yes, it is the Rocker 30 Head.

Oupps...little mistake

It should be "....overall, the sound is _NOT_ washy and muddy."

KT77 is a drop-in replacement for EL34. It's got a bit more power, bandwidth, and headroom as evidenced by the German Juicer's observations. It'll have a similar effect in a TV amp, whether you like that or not is open for your interpretation.

Hi there !

Jammed last night with my Rocker and today I put in the EL34.

The KT77 really has more power, bandwith and headroom, but the tone is to HiFi for me, so I replaced em with the stock EL34.

Rocker 30 - best amp on the planet.

Best power tube for it: the eh 6ca7

Even that takes a LITTLE midrange away which sucks ( I run my amp with the mids dimed) but it's bigger, barkier and just overall better.

Thanks, I've researched these tubes on different forums and called several shops (my goto guys). Noone really recommended the KT77's.

The top EL34's were: (not in any particular order)
1) =C=
2) EH/Mullard/TS (all Russian and said to be VERY similar if not the same tube).
3) Chinese/Ruby/TAD/Shugaung/Sino EL34B (pretty much all the same).
4) EH 6CA7

The Svetlana, JJ's or KT77's (JJ/Genelax) wasn't mentioned or recommended at all.

Metropolous uses the Mullards, Germino the TAD. I tend to take notice of what the really good builders are using and lean on their ears when trying to make a decision in a field with a bazzilion choices like with the 34's.

It is a safe bet that the New Sensor "Svetlanas" will sound very similar to the Sovtek/EH/TS made in the same factory. They do have noticeably different specs for the New Sensor "Mullards", so those should be evaluated separately.

Not to open up a can of worms, but the KT-77 and E34L are technically different enough from standard EL34s that I would not expect them to have been tried or even considered by as many people, so I don't think it means anything that they aren't mentioned or recommended as frequently on the interweb.

Dolf wrote:Rocker 30 - best amp on the planet.

Best power tube for it: the eh 6ca7

Even that takes a LITTLE midrange away which sucks ( I run my amp with the mids dimed) but it's bigger, barkier and just overall better.

True, true.... and... true

The top EL34's were: (not in any particular order)
1) =C=
2) EH/Mullard/TS (all Russian and said to be VERY similar if not the same tube).
3) Chinese/Ruby/TAD/Shugaung/Sino EL34B (pretty much all the same).
4) EH 6CA7

Well, i tryed them nearly all and i didn't like the =C='s at all. They were okay.
It depends on the amp! The TS EL34 is totally different from the EH/Mullard!

TESLA_EL34 wrote: Well, i tryed them nearly all and i didn't like the =C='s at all. They were okay.
It depends on the amp! The TS EL34 is totally different from the EH/Mullard!

yep the TS is more like the Ruby EL34BSTR to me. Bassier and smoother highs. A tiny bit scooped (tamed mids)

I've been using them until now, but I went back to GT EL34M. I just popped in a pair I have and they really sound fantastic. I forgot about these. I remember when they came out in '05 people were saying they sound just like mullards. LOL

I don't know about all that but I popped them into my Rocker and it came alive. I was happy with the Tung Sols I bought but sometimes you hear what you want to hear. Ya know?

I popped these in with no expectations and loved them.