grndluxe wrote:i'm a little late on this topic, but just to add my 2 cents about EL84s.
i had a pair of JJs in a dockery TMB and thought they were a bit harsh at the time. i sold them on ebay and bought a pair of NOS General Rohrens. the JJs were much better. the Generals were very STERILE. no 'personality' at all.
general rohre are actually russian tubes which have nothing in common with german tubes of yesteryear( rohre = tube).
Simillar story with Zaerix tubes on ebay.
If you need good comparison with JJ try Tungsram or GE (you can still get them at good price NOS)
Not connected but general:
Also please notice that military tubes
sometimes can sound sterile but have prolonged lifetime and whitstand higher plates voltages.
Regards