Recommend new EL84 tubes


Hi all, I have been contacted by a good friend asking me to source 8 X EL84 for his Manley Stingray which is a parallel P-P integrated amp.

He has had the original valves for about 10 years, which I think are rebranded Sovteks or Electro Harmonix 6Pi14Pi-EB.  

2 sets of matched quads will do. He is looking to improve on the originals. The amp has individual bias pots for each valve so perfect matching is not paramount.

He also needs a pair of 12AT7's. Best quality needed for this position.

lemonhaze

Showing 4 responses by danager

I've had great results with the NessTone EL34 | 6CA7.

They sound great and are inexpensive enough to keep fresh.

NessTone probably are but they’re cheap enough to try and if they don’t work for you the investment is pretty small. I’ve used them for years and have had good service out of them. I liked them better than the Electro. Harmonex for what’s that’s worth.

Another option is el83 with an el83 to el84 adapter.  They are very similar tubes with a different pin configuration

 

Long story short(ish)

I own the Decware SE84UFO amp that uses 6P15P-EV, SV83 or EL84 tubes.  Ebay sells the Tesla EL83 tube as a SV83 (which it isn't).  Without the adapter the EL83 doesn't work (different pin configuration) but with an inexpensive adapter they work great.  Each flavor of tube has a uniquely different sound.  The good part is that all of these are inexpensive so you can try them all and  tailor the sound to your environment.  

The bad part is man I got a lot of tubes.