Looking to retube my Peavey Delta Blues 1-15.. obviously, I'm looking for late breakup.
It came to me with Mesa branded tubes that I like the sound of, and would buy again, but they're $50 a pair.. and I need 4! I've had too many failures with JJ's, so, not interested in those.
Anyone using a quad EL84 amp that they like the sound of? TIA!
I know you said you had trouble with JJ, but I have a dual EL84 amp (Maven Peal Zeeta) and when I needed to re-tube I talked to the guy that designed it (Dave Zimmerman) and of all the options, he recommended a matched set of JJ tubes from Tubes and More/Antique Electronic Supply. I've been very happy with those. A set of 4 will run you in the $50 range, or burned-in for $5 more. But if you want other brands, they have a good range that they'll match and burn in, they use Apex matching, https://www.apexmatching.com/ .They're at https://www.tubesandmore.com Mike
I have had good luck with the Russian 6P14P-EV.
They have a tighter feel and later breakup. They work very well for me. I have read that they are very robust and will last.
1976 Sho-Bud Pro II, 1976 Sho-Bud LDG, BF Fender Deluxe, Evans FET 500 LV, BF Princeton Reverb, '68 Vibrolux Reverb
@Mike: JJ seems to have a solid reputation, but after having failures with the 6L6's (catastrophic) and EL84's (noisy at idle), I lost confidence in the brand... I wish they had worked for me, considering their cost and availability..
@Mark and Aaron: I see that tube with many suffixes..K, M, ER, EV, no suffix.. where do you get yours? I see the Reflektor factory has their own site, too.
Thanks!
I installed a set of JJ tubes in my Delta Blues 115 and within about 6-8 hrs of playing time 2 of the El84's blew. Different sockets. They sound much better than the Sovtek tube they replaced. You may have to spring for the Mesa tubes.
@Greg: That's kinda what I'm thinking, but I'm going to look into the 6p14p cv's a little deeper. The ones with no suffix are stock Sovteks, but the EV's might be worth trying. Still.. it's hard to argue with success..
Dave, I bought a dozen or so off of EBay from a Russian seller years ago. The EV is a long life tube. I’ve run them hard and they do last a long time. You can probably find nicer sounding tubes but for the price, they tick all the boxes for me.
Mark Draycott wrote:I have had good luck with the Russian 6P14P-EV.
They have a tighter feel and later breakup. They work very well for me. I have read that they are very robust and will last.
I had a Drz Z with el84s, I fixed the problem of them red plating by changing to Russian 500v military grade tubes. Seems, and I may not have the terminology correct, that the Dr Z was supplying/drawing 300v to the tubes, which is what the JJ were rated at so, any tube that was below spec would red plate when driven.
The "preferred" series is very good, but might be more $. I've also had good results with the Tong Sol they sell.
There is a lot of good info on this site as well.
