T2K Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Has anyone tried the Tesla EL84's with a Scott integrated? What did ya think? Thanks. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 They sound darn good but surely will not take the hotter plate voltage and current in the long run. I know this first hand I tried a matched quad of them in a 299 and 2 were shot in about 2 months of mild usage. There not rated for a 7189 circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Craig, What would you recommend? EL84Ms? NOS can be expensive. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 The Sovtek EL84M will work great or I have nicely matched quads of Russian Miltary surplus 7189 tubes for $32 a match quad . There really Identical to the Sovtek's since they were made in the same factory with the same tooling. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfz28 Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Craig are those russian military tubes that you have for sale the 6n14nEB make, that is what you put into my amp and they do seem to be holding up fine. For 32 bucks that seems a real good price considering those NOS 7189 tubes can go for up to 75 or a 100 bucks a set and they are usually not matched up,and are mostly used tubes. IN my opinion why buy a used set of tubes that are not matched up when you can get a new matched set for 32 bucks seems a no brainer to me.I thought about trying a set of nos 7189 tubes but dang a lot of money, what I have heard that spending your money on the preamp tubes is wear you get the most bang for the buck, and I bought some telefuken 12ax7 tubes and I like them over the electro hormonic 12ax7 tubes but it is not a really huge difference but noticable,seems the upper end is better to me with the telefuktens, and those telefuktens arent cheep about 100 bucks for a quad.It sure is nice to have a bunch of tubes around to switch around and listen to, but dang you sure can spend the bucks on them dang tubes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted October 17, 2003 Author Share Posted October 17, 2003 Believe it or not, I have used a quad of NOS 6BQ5's in my 222-C for quite some time and they sound better than the same brand of NOS 7189's that I have. I can hear a difference in them, no doubt. The JJ 12AX7's seem to sound nearly as detailed as a Telefunken to my ears. I thought I might try out the JJ EL84's just for the fun of it. Thanks for the comments. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 I found a Telefunken 12AX7 smooth plate the other day, 5 bucks, tests real strong, I was there. IEC Mullard 12AX7, tested 100% like the Tele, 5 bucks. Two Sylvania NOS JAN 12AX7WA's, original boxes, one date packed 12-68, the other packed on 8-69. They both matched at 102%, not a real fancy audio tube but only 10 bucks. Three GE 5 star 6072's, two 6072A, and a 6072. May be a good for a phono stage, who knows....10 bucks. They tested at 80%, however. And a NOS RCA 5V4GA rectifier, original box, 5 bucks. Hopefully this guy gets more..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 Keith, Believe it or not, I have used a quad of NOS 6BQ5's in my 222-C for quite some time and they sound better than the same brand of NOS 7189's that I have. I can hear a difference in them, no doubt. The JJ 12AX7's seem to sound nearly as detailed as a Telefunken to my ears. I thought I might try out the JJ EL84's just for the fun of it. Thanks for the comments. Keith What brand are we talking here for the NOS 6BQ5's ? This is surprising since some people say the 6BQ5 & 7189s are identical when it come to vintage ! I like the JJ 12AX7's also I think there the next best thing to vintage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCturboT Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 I second the use of the JJ/Tesla EL84s. I replaced the Russian EL84Ms (all 8) in my former Manley Stingray and it was a much better sound across the board, just a much smoother presentation. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 http://www.aikenamps.com/JJ_EH_tube_tests.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted October 19, 2003 Author Share Posted October 19, 2003 Thanks for the comments and the link. I asked the question regarding the JJ EL84's simply because of the low price and my own experience with the JJ 12AX7's price/performance. I think I'll try a quad when I get the time. I had really rather not say which 6BQ5/7189's I mentioned earlier because I'd like to buy more of them. Did anyone notice the drop in price of Mullard rectifier's after the rectifier thread a while back? Both quad's (6BQ5/7189) are new old stock. The 7189's are older than the 6BQ5's as evidenced by the packaging/markings. All of them tested strong and close matches. I just calibrated my tester last week but I haven't had the time to retest the tubes. The tubes I used in the 222-C with the outputs above were Mullard 5AR4, Tele 12AX7's and Tele ECF82's. The 7189's seemed to have slightly more output at a comfortable listening level, although I didn't check the SPL with my meter. Over several months of listening I would on occasion pop out the 6BQ5's and insert the 7189's. The 7189's sounded good, but different. I would listen to them for an hour or two and then retry the 6BQ5's, rechecking the bias. The 6BQ5's clearly sound more to my liking. As a side note, the combination of the above Telefunken preamp/phase inverter tubes give a crisp, highly detailed upper mid-range sound that may be too much for most Klipsch speakers. I have used a pair Sylvania 6U8's and prefer those with the smooth plate Telefunken 12AX7's. None of this may make any sense. But in my NOSVAlves 222-C, the Tele 12AX7, Sylvania 6U8, mystery 6BQ5, Mullard 5AR4 tubes just feels like home. Everyone likes something different I guess. Thanks angain for your comments. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 Keith, Your always such a secretive dude Geez just email me and tell me what they are I'll keep the secret and I won't go out and buy them all ! I don't hold to the 7189/6BQ5 are a RCA scam and really the same tube I believe there are indeed different tubes and also agree that 6BQ5's do sound very nice in the 7189 amp. I little over driving can do wonders for the sound I think if you get lucky they can last but if the 6BQ5 isn't a cream of the crop it will melt down fast. Word of caution Pentodes that short can be a ugly thing to your output iron. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfz28 Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 Whats the difference between the 6n14n russian tube and the 6n14nEB? The way I understand it is that the 6n14n is a basic el84 tube that can only handle the lower voltage, and the 6n14nEB is a 7189 tube that can handle the higher voltage.I wish I had both brands of these tubes to look at the constuction of them and actually weigh them on a postage scale and see if there is any difference at all in them. I hear that the 6n14nEB has thicker glass and is built better for military standard and will take the higher voltage.Anybody know the difference in these two tubes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 You got the Russians down ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfz28 Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 That is what I thought, that there is a diffence in those tubes, Price wise the 6n14n is always cheeper than the 6n14nEB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfz28 Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 It seems price wise these russian tubes are a good bargain. How many of these tubes did the russians make? Is availability of these tubes in the future going to be hard to get or was there so many made that I will be still be able to get some say 10 years down the road.Maybe I should buy a bunch of them now before they end up being 75 to a 100 bucks for a quad set.Hopfully they made these by the thousands and there is a lot of them left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 The Russian tubes are current production. As are the Checz and the Chinese. The Russians used vacuum tubes in military hardware against the EMP of a nuclear explosion. Tubes would blink them come back up. Russian solid state could not take the pulse without frying. Us technology uses EMP hardened solid state. I believe that the machinery ain the JJ plant was purchased from Mullard when they stopped making tubes. The Russians, I believe use some RCA and some Phillips tooling. I'm sure they all had spies copying the best of all manufacturers methods which were then mucked up by the Commies. Now they can ask for and recieve help to produce a better product. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCturboT Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Must be fate... I don't know if it was Deans "Flame on" thread or this "EL84" topic but one of the output tubes in my Eico HF-81 went south last night so I figured I try a quad of JJ/Tesla EL-84s which are now on order. One question for you guys- Is it common for a tube to go at any time? I just had all the tubes tested and they all tested fine but last night while listening at background music listening levels my Wife asks "What's that sound?". It was a low humming sound and as I looked at one of my tubes it was bright red so I immediately shut if off.I have a set of JJ/Teslas left over from the Stingray and put those in and all is well so I ordered a matched quad of EL84s to be safe.Comments? Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Jeff, The tube could still be good and just lost contact with the socket and caused it to run away ! Although if it was cherry very long it is most likely toast. The tubes in the HF-81 need to be matched pairs at the least and really should be matched quads for the best balanced sound. If one is way off from the other it is bound to have premature failure ! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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