EL34 vs 6L6GC....... OPINIONS?

JESSTER

New Member
I AM SEEKING OPINIONS ON THE EL34 AND THE 6L6GC....... WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

ALSO I AM SEEKING OPINIONS ON BRAND CHOICE FOR THE ABOVE TUBES AS WELL AS THE 12AX7.

MY AMP IS CURRENTLY USING SOVTEK 12AX7's AND SVETLANA EL34's AND I AM LISTENING THROUGH " BELLE KLIPSCH " SPEAKERS.
I AM LEANING TOWARDS MULLARD FOR THE EL34's AND TELEFUNKEN FOR THE 12AX7's (IF I CAN FIND THEM) BUT I WELCOME YOUR OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCE.

WHAT ABOUT ELECTRO HARMONIX? HAS ANYBODY PLAYED WITH THE " FAT BOTTLE " 6CA7/EL34?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT!
 
JESSTER said:
I AM SEEKING OPINIONS ON THE EL34 AND THE 6L6GC....... WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

ALSO I AM SEEKING OPINIONS ON BRAND CHOICE FOR THE ABOVE TUBES AS WELL AS THE 12AX7.

MY AMP IS CURRENTLY USING SOVTEK 12AX7's AND SVETLANA EL34's AND I AM LISTENING THROUGH " BELLE KLIPSCH " SPEAKERS.
I AM LEANING TOWARDS MULLARD FOR THE EL34's AND TELEFUNKEN FOR THE 12AX7's (IF I CAN FIND THEM) BUT I WELCOME YOUR OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCE.

WHAT ABOUT ELECTRO HARMONIX? HAS ANYBODY PLAYED WITH THE " FAT BOTTLE " 6CA7/EL34?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT!

Jester,

What amp are you using?

As with most tube selection, it is very amp dependent: what sounds good in one amp may not in another and vic versa.

I have used all three of the tubes types you mention and can give you my experiences based on how they sound in my system:

EL 34-I think the new production tubes are pretty darn good. I really like the JJ E34L tube. The "Winged C" Svetlana tubes are also quite good. I have tried the EH 6CA7's and I think they are best suited for rock music-strong bass and highs at the expense of midrange.

6L6GC-For new, I think the TAD 6L6GWC-STR come pretty darn close to a GE 6L6GC-my favorite. Almost any older production 6L6GC-RCA, GE, Phillips is going to sound good and there were a LOT of them made over the years.

The 12AX7 tube is another one with good new production tubes being made, imho. The regular Ei tubes can be good, the Sovtek 12AX7LPS is very quiet, and the Groove tubes mullard clone GT-12AX7M is a good new production 12AX7. For older, Telefunken, Mullard, Amperex, and many US tubes are good.

The brands you mentioned-Mullard and Telefunken are certainly in the Cadillac line of old tubes. If you have some, or access to some at a reasonable cost, by all means. If not, I believe there are some good new production tubes available at sane prices to get the music flowing.

Hope this helps,
Paul :thmbsp:
 
As stated above it depends on the amp and what your after.

Personally I find much larger differences in the small signal tubes (12AX7 and what not)
then I do in the output tubes when your compairing the same types.

There are very few new production small signal tubes I like, EI being about the only one
but new output tubes like the 6L6GC and EL34 are pretty darn good.

So my suggestion is go after newer output tubes but older input tubes (Rca bang for buck)
Generally I really think amperex bugle boys are right up there as the best. :music:

Now generalizing the difference in 6L6GC and EL34 can get a little tricky as different amps
do sound different with these tubes. But to me EL34's are more lush sounding to the point of
being a little thick at times compaired to a 6L6GC which is more linear with greater extension at
the frequency extremes and more open sounding. Svetlena and EH make nice ones in both tubes.
 
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I am sure you will find much disageement with this, but this is my opinion/take.
I have never heard a 6l6 amp I really got into, and yes this includes the Mcintosh 240. ( let the flames begin ) I have also read that the response of the 6l6 has a "kink" in it, which led to the developement of the KT 66, which the k, according to the aforementioned read stated, stood for "kinkless' and improved on this position. ( I will look for this article, I am fairly certain it was VTV...I think.) I would prefer the el 34 to this tube, but have always liked the 6550/KT 88 better. Be advised this is only my personal observations, and as you will read, many will vary!

Russellc
 
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