[Toonartist]

They are great tubes and I've found them to be perfectly quiet. They have great soundstage, layering with a good weight... not thin sounding. A good pair of Mullard EL34 XF2's will out perform them. They take what the Psvane EL34PH do but take it further again. Great spatial detail and clarity. Finding a good pair can be tricky to find at times.

The last pair of XF2's I bought are really good but the ones before look like they've been pushed hard. Possibly a guitar amp. The Getter Flash was brown and burned away in places and the stain on the plate is exactly where a there is a small amount of red plating. I bought them before I new any better. So, if you see stains like the ones below... or, dark brown getter flash then I'd be tempted to look elsewhere!

Oh... and if you buy the Psvane EL34PH in a Quad, just remember to check both pairs. A while back I posted I had a problem with one pair that was sorted out but it would be a good idea to check all the tubes.

 

[goldwerger]

I just ordered 2 pairs of NOS Mullard EL34 XF2

Just got a Mullard made Amprex brand XF2 for my Aegis, will try them with the Nirvana!

I also ordered a pair of NOS Siemens 5814 triple mi

Congrats. It’s my favorite gain tube for the Nirvana!

My experience with current production EL34 tubes hasn’t been great. Some of them sound excellent but get noisy before long.

I’ve used the Sophia Electric EL34s for over a year (extensively), dead quiet and sound great. Highly recommend them

 

[SteveM324]

Just got a Mullard made Amprex brand XF2 for my Aegis, will try them with the Nirvana!



Congrats. It’s my favorite gain tube for the Nirvana!



I’ve used the Sophia Electric EL34s for over a year (extensively), dead quiet and sound great. Highly recommend them

I have 3 pairs of the Sophia Electric EL34 (Blue Bottle) and they've been quiet for the most part but not 100%. I think I was the first one on this thread to try them going back over 2 years ago. The fact that they haven't been 100% quiet is what prompted me to order the NOS Mullards double O getters XF1 and XF2. I have about 10 different driver tubes and I've had no problems with them.

 

[goldwerger]

I have 3 pairs of the Sophia Electric EL34 (Blue Bottle) and they've been quiet for the most part but not 100%. I think I was the first one on this thread to try them going back over 2 years ago. The fact that they haven't been 100% quiet is what prompted me to order the NOS Mullards double O getters XF1 and XF2. I have about 10 different driver tubes and I've had no problems with them.

So strange. I’ve probably put 20-30 hours a week for a year+ and dead quiet on my chain. I guess luck plays a part

 

[TonyTripleA]

So strange. I’ve probably put 20-30 hours a week for a year+ and dead quiet on my chain. I guess luck plays a part

Likewise dead quiet for me… and so blue

 

[SteveM324]

So strange. I’ve probably put 20-30 hours a week for a year+ and dead quiet on my chain. I guess luck plays a part

Because the Sophia’s haven’t been 100% quiet, I don’t recommend them. It seems that once they get hot (30+ minutes) they quiet down most of the time.

 

[Arcamera]

Trying to make sense of my experience so far with the Psvane EL34PH: at first, aside from better clarity, detail, soundstage, they were also a bit bright for my preferences. But after about 15 or so hours on them now, they seem to be mellowing out. Hmm-- burn-in, or just brain burn-in? (Both?) I don't know. But I do know that I am enjoying them more now. Nonetheless, just to be safe, I ordered a back-up pair of EL34UK's-- I liked that tube from the get-go, save for its noise issue. Oh, down the tube-rolling rabbit hole, lol. Turn...back...now!

 

[Toonartist]

It would be interesting to hear how they compare with the UK variant. I think there is an element of brain burn in… or, just getting used to the sound.

I sort of compared it to firm sport’s suspension in a car. When you first drive a car that has minimal roll, sports suspension you feel everything but after a while you stop noticing it. Feels normal and you start to sense a little bit of roll again. However, go back to normal suspension and it feels like you’re driving a bit rocking and rolling all over the place.

If you have a 2nd set of EL34s that aren’t supposed to be as good, you should notice the difference. Something just feels different.

I quite like rolling between tube’s every month or two just to get that new / different tube feeling!

 

[Arcamera]

So, I've now been thoroughly enjoying the tonality of Psvane EL34PH, but-- still a bit of noise. It's not terrible, I can live with it, but it's definitely not dead silent. Maybe I'm just unlucky with these, I don't know. Curiously, it gets more pronounced as I increase the impedance-- to use with my Sennheisers for instance. Still keeping them though. If it gets tiresome I'll happily fall back to my Russian Mullard's or Psvane UK.

 

[SteveM324]

I received 2 pairs of NOS Mullard EL34 double O getters earlier this week. One pair is XF1 and the other is XF2. Both are dead silent and they sound better than the Sophia blue bottles that they replaced to my ears. I just got my Siemens 5814a triple mica tubes today but I haven't tried them yet.

 

[goldwerger]

I received 2 pairs of NOS Mullard EL34 double O getters earlier this week. One pair is XF1 and the other is XF2. Both are dead silent and they sound better than the Sophia blue bottles that they replaced to my ears. I just got my Siemens 5814a triple mica tubes today but I haven't tried them yet.

I also got a pair of Mullard XF2 and they are fantastic. Current used in another amp (Aegis) that I'm testing rigorously, but will try to switch back to the Nirvana in the coming week or two and give more notes on how they compare in sound signature with the Sophia Electric (which, for me, have been dead quiet for the past year)

congrats on the Siemens. great one

 

[Toonartist]

Good to hear others are enjoying the XF2's. Amazing tubes! There's clean air between the XF2/XF1's and the other EL34's.... even the EL34-PH that I really like as well

I found they pair up really well with the Siemens 5814a Long Plate Triple Mica. Best I've heard by a long shot. I'm waiting on a 1963 Siemens 5814a LP TM so it'll be interesting how it compares to the 70's version I have.

 

[Toonartist]

So, I've now been thoroughly enjoying the tonality of Psvane EL34PH, but-- still a bit of noise. It's not terrible, I can live with it, but it's definitely not dead silent. Maybe I'm just unlucky with these, I don't know. Curiously, it gets more pronounced as I increase the impedance-- to use with my Sennheisers for instance. Still keeping them though. If it gets tiresome I'll happily fall back to my Russian Mullard's or Psvane UK.

Can you hear it over the music and with all headphones? Could it be RF from elsewhere?

 

[Arcamera]

Can you hear it over the music and with all headphones? Could it be RF from elsewhere?

It could be. Currently back to being clean-sounding. Will have to experiment more.

 

[Arcamera]

Anyone here have/have tried the HEDD headphone? I got to try it today at a hi fi show and liked it quite a bit. Wondering how it might pair with the Nirvana.