TerryO Posted June 14, 2017 Posted June 14, 2017 (edited) Hi everyone If anyone has a amp that came with el34's tubes standard has anyone compared their standard fitment el34's with either or both the Psvanes and Sophia Electric el34's I would be very interested to hear their thoughts of how the various brands of el34's compared sq wise to each other. Especially the Psvane and Sophia Electrics which I am considering. cheers Terry Edited June 15, 2017 by TerryO
campo007 Posted June 16, 2017 Posted June 16, 2017 I have the Audio Note Kits EL34 mono blocks. The amp came with Psvane 6CA7-Z Select (black tube). They sounded good, but a little solid state. I upgraded to the Psvane Philips Holland Metal Base Replica EL34PH. These were a massive step up. Much more richness and tonal flavour. Very big sounding. Unfortunately i had a tube blow after 3 months. I then bought Psvane 6CA7-TII (grey tube). I lost the richness of the Philips replicas. I guess they are somewhere in-between, the black and philips replicas. After reading so many good reviews on the Gold Lion KT77's i gave them a shot. These were awesome. Probably the best bass i've heard from an EL34. These things really dug deep in the sub regions. Maybe not as rich as the philips replicas but heaps better then the other Psvane's in every area. Also heaps cheaper. Then after reading about the Sophia's i thought i'd give them a crack. These are hands down the best sounding tube i've tried. So much tone and space. In my system they really give me a massive soundstage. They don't go down as deep as the KT77's, but they do everything else so well. I think in the end it also depends on your system and what you play. If you're a rock guy, i'd go the KT77. If you listen to more acoustic (jazz, classical) the Sophia's are the ones. 4
Rockster Posted June 17, 2017 Posted June 17, 2017 +1 for the KT77's. I use them in a PL Dialogue Premium PA and they are excellent, better base and top end than the standard PL EL34's, a great alrounder IMHO. My close second favourite in this amp are Shuguang Treasure KT88-Z Black Bottles (note these are not a direct EL34 replacement, the PL allows you to run EL34 type or KT88/120/150 type tubes at the flick of a switch). I'd be interested to try some Sophia's, so much choice so little time! 1
TerryO Posted June 17, 2017 Author Posted June 17, 2017 (edited) Our PrimaLuna came with KT88's, since purchasing the amp about three months ago I have brought and tried a new set of Tungsol el34's which I prefer the sound of to the KT88's, as of about a ten days ago I have had a set of new KT150's fitted which started off very bright but which improved after about 30 hours of use. I have since fitted a set of Australian made NOS Mullard 12au7's which greatly changed for the better the sq of the amp with the KT150's fitted. The night before Campo replied with his experiences of Psvane tubes I had a few vino's and on a impulse bought a set of new Psvane UK el34's and a pair of 12au7's that were being discounted . I really have to stop looking at eBay after enjoying a drop or two of red. Anyway they should be here in about ten days so I'll reserve judgement until they have 50 plus hours on them. No matter how much its costing so far I am enjoying this tube rolling and how different one amp can sound simply by swapping a few tubes and mix and matching. The SS amp guys don't know what they are missing out on, or maybe they do and have decided to keep their credit cards in the black by staying away. I intend to purchase a few more different NOS 12au7's as I am blown away by how much swapping two of those little tubes makes. cheers Terry Edited June 17, 2017 by TerryO 1
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