6ca7 vs EL34

[Racerxrated]

Seimens are nice and can be had for about $400 to $500 a quad.
Ive pulled those XF2's outta my Friedman twice the last 10 years trying something else but always go back to them.
The midrange grinds out solid the more you turn it up.
They're in there to stay and will outlive me likely.
They test 80% good, no sign of slowing down.

Yep; no vintage tube is cheap these days. But, I've bought only 'used/strong' tubes for years. Not one of them, ever, has given up the ghost. Only the new production power tubes have given me issues. I just found a quad of Siemens for 75 shipped; they were re labels but the seller didn't know who the original mfr was. Most of my 'used/strong' tubes test at over 100% on my tester where 80% is minimum good.

 

[braintheory]

I find for me it’s often about finding tubes that best play up the amp’s strengths. Friedman’s tend to be darker, thicker sounding amps, so Mullard’s can work with that I think a bit more than Siemens being leaner, brighter, uppermiddy sounding tubes that I’d prefer in stock Marshall’s or modded ones that maintain more brightness

In general for more modern leaning amps pre-WC Svetlana’s are my favorites, sometime RFT’s. For non-high gain EL34 amps it’s easily Holland made Bugle Boy’s or Valvo’s. For Marshall’s Siemens or RFT’s, Bugle Boy’s or Valvo’s for the darker ‘60’s Marshall plexi’s. I like a lot my Mullard XF2’s and Tesla’s can be decent too, but haven’t found them yet to be my #1 choice in a particular amp

 

[DanTravis62]

The old winged 6ca7s have slightly more bass and are slightly more scooped than a standard el34

The new ones are literally just el34s.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Gotta agree with you guys,
… in a Marshall type amplifier, I actually prefer the Siemens/RFT 34s over the Mullard XF2’s
Fantastic tone that stays tight, aggressive, and they seem to last forever.
I also cannot remember the last time I had one fail in the last 30 years.

 

[Greazygeo]

I don’t get the Siemens love. Was a major bummer when the Mullards went away and Siemens were left. Too soft sounding and the Teslas were too hard sounding.

 

[braintheory]

I don’t get the Siemens love. Was a major bummer when the Mullards went away and Siemens were left. Too soft sounding and the Teslas were too hard sounding.

I can see that. I find Mullard’s in a way are a good middle ground that do everything well, but not the best IME. I find also the East German RFT and Telefunken’s sound a bit beefier than Siemens, but not as much so far as Mullard’s

For my taste Mullard’s are bit too smooth in the midrange on powerchords, but I also feel that way about Hiwatt, Wizards and VHT’s, so maybe just taste. Those German tubes (RFT, Siemens, and Telefunken’s) have a lot more growl/aggression in the midrange that satisfies my ears a lot more, especially in Marshall type amps. YMMV as always