Premium Golden Aero Tesla EL-34

I tend to agree with Thorman. I am currently using NOS Mullards (1969 xf2's)as drivers in my AES SE-811 amps. I tried the Sovtek and did not like them at all. I also tried the Tesla and Svetlanas. I thought the Svetlana was the smoother of the two. In fact, to my ears, the Svetlana is very close to sound of the Mullards. I'd try the Svetlanas first. Make sure you get a properly matched quad.

I think the Tesla is better than the Sovteks, the Tesla is not at bright and cool in the mid and top end as the Sovtek. The Svetlana is good, but not as "European" sounding as the Tesla. The Tesla is more in the tonal range with the AEG Telefunken and the Siemens tubes. Really more to my liking, but that is why all these brands sell. You must have some basis of comparison to begin with, and then all the comments from everyone begin to make sense. By the way, I am not sure that you need Gold Aero selected versions of Tesla. The regular stock version is plenty good, and you will have enough money left over to buy spares.

I am not too fammiliar with sovteks EL34 but i am using Svetlana EL34s in my Thor monos'(very expensive)an these are quoted by most dealers to be the best EL34 in production toady. Keep in mind you can go nos but the expense is not worth it!Svetlana only cost 20$ each. Hope that helps. charlie(Thorman).