The Tung Sol 5751 is even better than I thought

[eric343]

I just let my Tung Sol 5751 warm up for the whole day (since ~7am Pacific) and my god... I'm using it with some GE Roundplate EL84/6BQ5s as output tubes.

This has to be the most detailed sound I've ever gotten out of the 'head. It's natural, effortless, real. From what I've heard about the Sony R10s, I'd imagine them to sound something like this.

Time to mod the 'ol Head, because the tubes are no longer the bottleneck...

 

[Born2bwire]

What's your experience with those EL84's? Everybody loves to talk about rolling the 12AX7, but I haven't heard much about other EL84 tubes outside the standard Ei or JJ recommendations.

 

[eric343]

Well, there have been a few mentions of other tubes; I remember a thread about "the ultimate tube" a while back...

I didn't really set this up as a review type thing; I just thought I'd see if the GEs were any good.

All I can say is the Tung Sol never sounded so good... I'll have to try some other tubes

 

[eric343]

Whoa. I just heard "The Fletcher Memorial Home" (Pink Floyd:Echoes)...

This is the first time I've heard Pink Floyd live at Eric's Cranium. This tube is amazing.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

The old great sound vs burn out your tubes much faster case again!!! I find that the reeally good tubes sound pretty good even when cold, and just keep getting better after that.

For my set-up it's much easier to warm up tubes as the amp is enclosed. That way the MOSFETs and everything else in there heats up pretty fast, like 10 minutes, and everything sounds great after that. My reference Amperex 6dj8s can beat any other tube in this amp when they are cold compared to other tubes warmed up for days!!!

 

[SumB]

So far the sonic impact of different EL84's has been startling in my MG Head - as great as the 12ax7 in fact.

There's a world of difference between the stock Sovtek EL84, Mazda nickel plate 6BQ5 (made by EI), and 50's vintage Amperex Bugle Boy "D" gettered 6BQ5's.

This amplifier becomes a different animal with each of the above.