EL34 Lovers?

I don't understand the reluctance to roll some NOS American or German EL-34's in these amps aside from cost.

I think that you will be very surprised and how much difference there is between tubes.

Entrope, can you recommend some. I'm not too knowledgable in the tube realm and would enjoy hearing some recommendations that you like.

Cheers

well, my favorite are the Synthesis The Theatre monoblocks.

70 watts class A.

i own these and love them.

why this model/brand over others? completely subjective but because i think they sound amazing.

; )

EL-34 tubes I have tried that I think are better than JJ's:

Siemens- Good dynamics, engaging presentation,solid top to bottom

Telefunken- Rich, good dynamic range, detailed-great tube but pricey

Mullard- original not the Russian reissue . Smooth, warm engaging a bit on the soft side for me but not mushy

Sylvania-great American tube, solid performer, dynamic

Other EL34's with good reputations I have not tried:

Philips
Matsushita -made in Japan from Philips tooling
GE
RFT- german

YMMV

Not sure how to ask this, but is it not possible that a circuit is designed for a particular version/brand of a tube - in my case the JJ EL34L, and that the sound of the amp takes that tube into account ("voiced"?). In other words, I'm questioning whether a tube really has an inherent sound independently of the ciruit in which it is used, they seem to be two parts of the equation leading to the sound of a paricular tube in a particular amplifier. I've heard many amps using the same basic tube type with very different sound attributes (the type of differences you ascribe to the sound of Siemens versus Telefunken versus Mullard); I have to imagine the circuit is just as an imporant factor as the tube type/brand. Of course, this is no reason not to try tube rolling (I have done a lot of tube rolling on my CAT JL2 with Amperex, RCA, GE, Syvania, etc), but the maker of my Ars Sonum told me to tread lightly.