Orange Amps Forum

El34 vs 6ca7 vs kt77

Also any wow moments for different brand 12ax7 vs jj’s. I currently have Mullard el34 which are great. I’m just wanting thoughts because I want to experiment.

Wasn’t a fan if the KT77’s in my Rocker. Just didn’t seem to feel as harmonically rich as EL34 or 6CA7. 6CA7’s are great if you want to add some bottom end. Running EL34’s at the moment. Lots of punch.

Yeh I am really pleased with the Mullard el34s. Tried el34l jj’s once. Didn’t like them. I tried 6ca7s. They were decent but the Mullard 34s smoked them. I read sometimes that tung sol 12ax7s are best Might try.

kpunk56 wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 09, 2019 3:08 pm

Yeh I am really pleased with the Mullard el34s. Tried el34l jj’s once. Didn’t like them. I tried 6ca7s. They were decent but the Mullard 34s smoked them. I read sometimes that tung sol 12ax7s are best Might try.

EL34s for sure.

Which type is completely subjective ... I did try tungsol preamp amp tubes in the past and liked them a lot ...more recently tried them again and preferred JJs !

I have a Tungsram ECC83 in V1, RFT ECC83 in V2 and V3.

The Tungsram really enhanced the sparkle on the natural channel.
The RFT bring up the rock in spade. In V3 (PI) it didn't make any difference which ever valve was there.

For the power valves, I have tried JJ and Tung Sol EL34, both pretty nice.
However I have some RFT EL34 in it now and that's a game changer. Pricey though.

Les Paul Lover wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 10, 2019 9:31 am

I have a Tungsram ECC83 in V1, RFT ECC83 in V2 and V3.

The Tungsram really enhanced the sparkle on the natural channel.
The RFT bring up the rock in spade. In V3 (PI) it didn't make any difference which ever valve was there.

For the power valves, I have tried JJ and Tung Sol EL34, both pretty nice.
However I have some RFT EL34 in it now and that's a game changer. Pricey though.

Tungsram helping the natural channel out ayyy. That’s kinda what I’m looking for. It doesn’t have any bad adverse effect harming the dirty channel in any way does it ?

kpunk56 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 10, 2019 6:22 pm

Les Paul Lover wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 10, 2019 9:31 am

I have a Tungsram ECC83 in V1, RFT ECC83 in V2 and V3.

The Tungsram really enhanced the sparkle on the natural channel.
The RFT bring up the rock in spade. In V3 (PI) it didn't make any difference which ever valve was there.

For the power valves, I have tried JJ and Tung Sol EL34, both pretty nice.
However I have some RFT EL34 in it now and that's a game changer. Pricey though.

Tungsram helping the natural channel out ayyy. That’s kinda what I’m looking for. It doesn’t have any bad adverse effect harming the dirty channel in any way does it ?

The Tungsram ECC83 is a really beautiful valve, it has a fuller overall sound, with more low end, mids, and more treble, and is more musical than comparable modern ECC83 to my ears.

It breaks up very smoothly too - a bit too smoothly for my taste in the R30 dirty channel, however, V1 is shared between natural and dirty channel.
You might like it though.

However, RFT ECC83 break up pretty hard, and have a tight sound too - and putting that in V2 really made the dirty channel raunchier than it was before.

It's pretty personal and this are my own observations.

I would add that whilst I could make the difference, I don't believe your band mates would notice, much less so the average punter going to a gig.....

That said.... I'm very very happy with the result achieved.

Yeh I get it. When everything is going there’s no telling the difference in little details. But it’s kinda all about feel to the player. I was checking the prices of the tungsram and rft stuff and they’re quite pricey. I’ll have to give thought to if it’s worth it. I’m barely even playing out anymore. I’m just addicted to the r30. And you go through stages of wondering if things could be better.

kpunk56 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 10, 2019 8:47 pm

Yeh I get it. When everything is going there’s no telling the difference in little details. But it’s kinda all about feel to the player. I was checking the prices of the tungsram and rft stuff and they’re quite pricey. I’ll have to give thought to if it’s worth it. I’m barely even playing out anymore. I’m just addicted to the r30. And you go through stages of wondering if things could be better.

I'll PM you re: some reasonnable Tungsram.

Les Paul Lover wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 10, 2019 10:00 pm

kpunk56 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 10, 2019 8:47 pm

Yeh I get it. When everything is going there’s no telling the difference in little details. But it’s kinda all about feel to the player. I was checking the prices of the tungsram and rft stuff and they’re quite pricey. I’ll have to give thought to if it’s worth it. I’m barely even playing out anymore. I’m just addicted to the r30. And you go through stages of wondering if things could be better.

I'll PM you re: some reasonnable Tungsram.

Sweet

I like El34s. Smooth sound, bright mids and upper-mids, good note separation. Perfect for my riffs in the vein of AC/DC

Orang3 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 12, 2019 10:25 am

I like El34s. Smooth sound, bright mids and upper-mids, good note separation. Perfect for my riffs in the vein of AC/DC

Do you have a particular brand you prefer? I currently have new production Mullard I think they seem a tad bit warmer than jj

Jondog wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 09, 2019 2:30 pm

Wasn’t a fan if the KT77’s in my Rocker. Just didn’t seem to feel as harmonically rich as EL34 or 6CA7. 6CA7’s are great if you want to add some bottom end. Running EL34’s at the moment. Lots of punch.

Get a hotter set that's about 10ma apart in bias at idle. They have to be hot to sound right, I'm talking over 24 watts idle. Did you measure the ones you tried? I'll bet they were cold. I had a cold set in a R30, and when I put a hot set in, holy hell! Was heaven!

The JJ "KT77" is the finest modern EL34 type valve available, bar none. Check out Gjika amps on YouTube.