Favorite Octal For P1ex, Beast or "juked" EVJ?

[BackwoodsJoe]

Was wondering what is everybody's favorite octal for these SE amps?
THX, Joe

[harpo]

Was wondering what is everybody's favorite octal for these SE amps?
THX, Joe

My favorite in my Beast build is an OS Sylvania 6L6GC. Fat, smooth tone without harsh highs when it goes into distortion mode.

[tunghaichuan]

One of the best tubes I've ever heard in an SE amp is the RCA "black plate" 6L6GB. The ratings are lower than a 'GC, though.

Another excellent sounding tube is the "black plate" Tung-sol 6V6GT.

tung

[zaphod_phil]

Mullard EL34 and JJ 6V6 are my two favorites at the moment, for that type of amp. Sometimes you can find the Mullards under other Philips brand names, like Valvo, Amperex or even Philips.

[Alexo]

Mullard EL34

Yes!! Don't exactly have the above mentioned amps, but that is my favorite octal tube for any of my SE amps. Doesn't have the bloated low-end of a 6V6 (don't get me wrong, I love 6V6's) or the thinness of a 6L6 or 5881 and has a much clearer, smoother midrange than other EL34's I've tried, a real gem among gems, imho. AES used to have used ones relatively cheap, not sure if they still do.

[BackwoodsJoe]

Hey Doc Phil,
How much louder is the EL34 than the 6V6?
THX, Joe

[davent]

Hey Doc Phil,
How much louder is the EL34 than the 6V6?
THX, Joe

Hi BackwoodsJoe,

From what I understand if all you've done is switched tubes from 6v6 to el34 the wattage output of the amp remains the same. If you've rebiased for the el34 you can increase the wattage of the amp but in order to double the apparent volume produced by the 6V6 you would need to raise the wattage ten times, so if your amp puts out 10 watts you'd need 100 watts, can't do that. So an el34 is just going to sound diffferent but I don't think really any louder.

Anybody want to clear this up?

dave

[Alexo]

I think the EL34 puts out about 11 watts, at least once its biased right, though they don't bias that differently, in one of my amps I had a 500 ohm cathode resistor for the 6V6 and switched to 320 for the El34, halving the plate load for the '34.

Anyway, it's a little louder with the EL34, not dramatically but maybe enough to make the amp a better contender to keep up with a drummer.

[nomad100]

i don't buy into the 10 -> 100 watt thing. I notice a substantial difference between 100 and 50. I've probably trained my ears differently.

[AncientMariner]

If you double the power you WILL notice a difference in volume, however I suspect there is also a change in tonality, usually in the lower mids and bass response.

No one has mentioned my fave valve yet - the 6CA7. It's an EL34 substitute, but offers the thickness of the EL34 with the openness of the 6L6, and sounds much more balanced to my ears. I've run all sorts in my 2 P1eXs (from NOS 6V6s up to 6550s) but come back every time to this valve. My 'go to' amp has a NOS Philips 6CA7 but it doesn't sound much different to an Ei version.

[BBQLS1]

i don't buy into the 10 -> 100 watt thing. I notice a substantial difference between 100 and 50. I've probably trained my ears differently.

Yes, it's definitely louder, but not 10 times as loud. If I remember reading correctly and the information was correct, a decibel is roughly the amount of "more volume" required for a human to notice the difference in a change in volume. It's a logarithmic scale as is the human perception of loudness.

Now all circuits are a little different as well as tubes etc, etc, but a 100 plexi has been measured to be 3 db louder than a 50W. It's definitely louder, and you will notice the difference, but not "twice" as loud.

It's one of the reasons my 18 watt keeps up with a couple of cranked 40W amps at a local jam. I could use a little more volume to hear my amp a little better, but I hear it a sufficient amount.

[DowdyLama]

The 6EZ5 is a great SE output tube, in my opinion; a bit quicker to distort and less bottom-end vs the 6V6.
NOTE: I have no VJ experience.

[drgonzo2]

I'd suggest these for NOS.

Sylvania mil-spec 6l6g (vt-115-a) as a good clean to crunch valve. Strong, clear treble and bass, slightly recessed midrange. Exellent clarity & articulation, but can get a bit mushy when pushed hard. Fendery.

GEC kt66 (if you can find one), The Don. The Daddy. The best clean tones I've ever heard, and even when it distorts, it never mushes out. Smooth and articulate, this is the valve I keep for special occasions. (And I wish I had more than one )

Mullard el34. Monstrous when dimed . Thick, aggressive mids, slightly compressed treble & bass. Not the greatest when clean, but for heavy gain they're pretty much unsurpassed. (later production seems slightly darker/more low mid to me)

6v6g (coke bottle) I've tried various manufacturers. Great for low/medium gain work, but can flub out if pushed too hard. Decent clean tone, but not as good as the 6l6g. Slightly 'airier' than the gt.

6v6gt. Exellent mid to high gain response. Kinda like a mini el34, mid rich, slightly compressed treble. Bass can get a little hard to control, depending on speaker/circuit. Of the ones I've tried I prefer Sylvania over RCA, but not by much. Keep an eye out for the Tung-Sol 5781, the smaller brother of the 5881. They are an awesome tube, sounding somewhere between a 6v6gt & a 6l6g, with better bass than either. (difficult to find though)

6k6g/gt. Baby brother. Very similar to 6v6gt, but flubs out a lot earlier. Coke bottle versions always remind me of el84's .

Of the modern production tubes I've tried, the EH 6ca7 is the best. As AnchientMariner has said, they combine the best from the el34 & 6l6. Other than them, I kinda like the sovtek 6l6gc. They just seem to work well in my amp.

All of the above were tested in my amp, 340v on the plates, cathode biased (470r with 22u bypass cap) into 5k or 2.4k load. As always, YMMV...

Hope this gives you some ideas...G

[davent]

i don't buy into the 10 -> 100 watt thing. I notice a substantial difference between 100 and 50. I've probably trained my ears differently.

Hi Nomad100,

Couldn't remember where i'd read that (10->100) but found a few websites that talk about it. They claim you need a 6-10db increase in volume for your ear to perceive a doubling of the volume. To get that increase you need a 4-10 fold increase in power.

http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/amppower.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_amplifier (see power output)
http://www.axiomaudio.com/power.html

Wouldn't the tonal characteristics of a particular tube also be a determining factor in whether the amp it's in can cut through the din and be heard? Say the el34 boosts certain frequencies where they're attenuated in the 6v6 and so you are able to hear that same amp better using the el34 when playing with/against the drummer. (Speculation on my part.)

dave

[nomad100]

I never said 100 watts was twice as loud as 50, but there is a noticeable difference. I know for myself anything over 50 watts is kind of over kill, and cost more for a retube.