[triod750]

Sounds like you found your Nirvana!

I expect this to be just a short break at the wanderlusty roadside...

 

[crakers7]

Anyone tried these in their amps ? I have the WE 420 which is fantastic but the 396A seem to be more highly regarded .

 

[VanHai]

Have a chance to listen to my 4 pairs of EL34 together. They all sound great and beautiful. The warmest is Tesla Blue Cobalt, very good for bright headphones. Then the clear Tesla, Matsushita EL34 is very neutral and GE is the brightest one.

 

[LoryWiv]

Anyone tried these in their amps ? I have the WE 420 which is fantastic but the 396A seem to be more highly regarded .

Per several posts above, WE 396A is TERRIFIC in UltimatE. Highly Recommended for a balanced, uncolored but still expressive and musical driver.

 

[LoryWiv]

Have a chance to listen to my 4 pairs of EL34 together. They all sound great and beautiful. The warmest is Tesla Blue Cobalt, very good for bright headphones. Then the clear Tesla, Matsushita EL34 is very neutral and GE is the brightest one.

Very nice, @VanHai, and great photos. There is also a Tesla EL34 with yellow print and factory code 33 (Roznov) rather than 37 (Zavod Trinec). I have both and the Roznov are a bit more refined, although both sound superb! It may be expectation bias as I bought the Roznov after reading this, and both variations of this tube share similarities with the highly-regarded Mullard EL34 XF2, as noted here.

 

[Deleeh]

@triod750
I haven't looked up Siemens either.
But so far I can't complain about the Ez81 Telefunken.
Also makes a nice sound with the 6v6 Mullard and 12At7 Ultron.
About the El84 the codes are: RX1
Must actually have been the first ones.

6V6 Mullard is also a nice tube on the Atrium.
It has a nice bass range that goes down low.
Good holographic illumination and shows a lot of the stage.
Vocals are also very well laid out with a nice low end.

I also tried 6Bq7A Hitachi with it but it didn't sound quite satisfactory.
6v6 doesn't quite seem to fit with it.
12At7 is better, but it's ideal if you use it with a Japanese driver.

I ordered the adapter from Mrs X as today is her penultimate day if you take the time difference into account.
It doesn't quite suit me but well, the timing is a bit suboptimal.
I bought the 6j5 adapter with the better version.
1 6F8G, 2x 5B/254M and the one Matt recommended for the 6bx7 tubes:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/204505189120
The rest will be done by Deyan again.

Since Matt has replaced the Russian caps, I have also ordered some by a crazy idea.
But I won't tell you which ones they are yet.
The plan is to get them first as they are on their way and in many parts of Europe it is a public holiday.
And then they'll be installed and played in as quickly as possible, of course, but time is always an issue.
At the moment I have to finish another review.

 

[UntilThen]

Since Matt has replaced the Russian caps, I have also ordered some by a crazy idea.
But I won't tell you which ones they are yet.
The plan is to get them first as they are on their way and in many parts of Europe it is a public holiday.
And then they'll be installed and played in as quickly as possible, of course, but time is always an issue.

After a week with FT3, I flick the switch to Mundorf now - 4am on a Monday Autumn morning in cool Sydney. Incredibly it sounded like the FT3.

The teflon FT3 is more agile and sounds clearer than the pio K40y-9 but K72 is supposed to be even more funky than FT3.

Changing caps are not the first thing you do when you want to pursue excellence in a tube amp imho but once you have an amp that is to your liking, then caps maybe the last step in fine tuning towards nirvana. Some would argue it's the fuse but my aucharm red fuse has been in operation for a year and I have forgotten about it.

 

[Deleeh]

After a week with FT3, I flick the switch to Mundorf now - 4am on a Monday Autumn morning in cool Sydney. Incredibly it sounded like the FT3.

The teflon FT3 is more agile and sounds clearer than the pio K40y-9 but K72 is supposed to be even more funky than FT3.

Changing caps are not the first thing you do when you want to pursue excellence in a tube amp imho but once you have an amp that is to your liking, then caps maybe the last step in fine tuning towards nirvana. Some would argue it's the fuse but my aucharm red fuse has been in operation for a year and I have forgotten about it.

I can't disagree with that.
My personal experience:
Caps >cables>fuse,the last part is the last to go,if you know how the caps and the amp sounds in general,you know what kind of cables you want,the fuse just rounds off the subtle area.


Glad to hear the FT3 is doing well.
The adapters were the correct ones I ordered for 6bx7?

 

[UntilThen]

Greg those are the correct adapters for 6bx7 or 6BL7. Only Mrs X makes them because she has Eric's drawings. I suppose I can give it to Deyan if I wanted him to make them and we might call it something more meaningful.

 

[triod750]

About the El84 the codes are: RX1

I expect it to be rX1, the type and change code for EL84. RX1 would be CCH35. But I'm more interested of what is missing, the digits below the type code. They are the factory and date code.

And I guess the first EL84 would have either no change code or 0 as change code.

 

[Deleeh]

@UntilThen Ah great, thanks again. If you would do Deyan, why not? I should be good to go with 6j5 and 6bx7 or 6bl7, although I have more driver tubes than output for the Junior Ultimate.
@triod750 I only have that code on the tubes. They might actually be the first EL84s from Mullard that didn't require a major code change, strictly speaking.
@David A Silva Wonderful combination you have by the way. Everyone else has put together nice combinations too from what I've seen, thumbs up to you.

 

[Isaacc7]

Just did a back to back again with these tubes. Every time I listen with VT60, I find the punch and kick stronger. Every time I listen to the ATS25, I find it really rich in tone and glorious. Mind you they are not all that different but those traits are what comes to mind when I try them.

Even though I said that the Russian G-807 appealed with it's clarity and slight brighter, the GEC texture are what sets them apart and in a league of their own. These tubes are good enough to remain in the amp for a long time.

I really enjoy using c3m with the vt60a. The c3m and c3g are supposed to have a similar sound despite the difference in gain. I find the combo very transparent in my amp. Sublime with great recordings but a bit hard to sit through with a bad one.

 

[Isaacc7]

I got the GEC 807 ATS25, VT60, 5b/254a and 5b/254m near the end of my power tubes hunting and they should have been at the beginning. Tonally they are on par with the best of the power tubes.

The thing that kept me away from 807 was a Radiotron 807 that went up in flames before my eyes and took out my Elekit 8200 amp in the early days. A shot of pink flame, that was quite a sight.

After a day with the 5b/254a, I put back the GEC 807 ATS25 and the magic is still there. It's lusher whereas the former is tighter and more linear. At this level of sound quality, a slight shift tonally will give you an adrenaline boost.

The joy of tube rolling is real and addictive. There are no better hobby.

I have found the 807 tube family to be consistently great. 5b/254m, vt60a, 807 (Mazda, Mullard, Russian, Sylvania) and the 6bg6ga (RCA and Sylvania) could satisfy anyone. They tend to be quite a bit less expensive than other tube types as well. My current favorite way to run them is 350v 60ma ultra linear push pull. Also love them in triode and SE pentode as well. Once you have the adapters it is cheap to try others and I haven;t heard a bad one yet!

 

[triod750]

@triod750 I only have that code on the tubes. They might actually be the first EL84s from Mullard that didn't require a major code change, strictly speaking.

I don't doubt what you are saying. Sometimes codes have rubbed off or are very difficult to see, you can need just the right angle of light to be able to see them. Since EL84 was introduced by Mullard in 1954 they might not have fully implemented the Philips code system. Otherwise I would have expected a five digit code for the first version with factory and month as two digits below the rX1. Old code.

Later on the factory and date code on the bottom line was three or four digits.

 

[Deleeh]

I don't doubt what you are saying. Sometimes codes have rubbed off or are very difficult to see, you can need just the right angle of light to be able to see them. Since EL84 was introduced by Mullard in 1954 they might not have fully implemented the Philips code system. Otherwise I would have expected a five digit code for the first version with factory and month as two digits below the rX1. Old code.

Later on the factory and date code on the bottom line was three or four digits.

Yes, that's right.
If they were first produced by Mullard in 1954, you can assume that they were and perhaps it was only towards the end of 1954 that it was superfluous to code them sufficiently.

@Isaacc7 you won't believe it the 807 adapters were one of the first I had made for Ultimate by Deyan.
I've had the amp for just under a year and haven't managed to buy 807 yet.
Half a year ago you could almost only find used or dilapidated 807s.
Suddenly they're popping up like crazy and some cost almost an arm and a leg.
In Germany I've seen Rca's for 45€ each, 6 months ago you could get them in the US for 30$.
Guess I'll have to bite the bullet.