6ca7 vs EL34

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Which would have less bass and brighter sounding in your opinions
 
EL34's would have IME generally less bass and highs, more mids and uppermids than 6CA7's. I prefer EL34's usually. 6CA7's sound to me sort of like a more 6L6-ish or American EL34's. Hollowed out and deeper bass than EL34's. It can be nice though for cleans and lower gain. Some of the vintage ones can be quite good, especially the RCA's and GE's as some of my favorites
 
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braintheory said:
EL34's would have IME generally less bass and highs, more mids and uppermids than 6CA7's. I prefer EL34's usually. 6CA7's sound to me sort of like a more 6L6-ish or American EL34's. Hollowed out and deeper bass than EL34's. It can be nice though for cleans and lower gain. Some of the vintage ones can be quite good, especially the RCA's and GE's as some of my favorites
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This.

My Siemens have better mids, and highs than my Sylvania 6CA7s which have bigger, deeper lows almost like a great 6L6GC. But, that's not to say the Siemens have bad lows...they don't...or the Sylvania have bad mids/highs..they don't.
Just slight differences but they both have killer tone.
 
I know you said in general and my thoughts are way out there but I think it's going to depend on the amp you're using.

I used to dislike 6L6 until I got a 5150 2x12. Then the Uber Ultra 6l6 was another one that blew me away. Just depends on the how the particular amp reacts to each tube.
 
OldGtrGuy said:
I know you said in general and my thoughts are way out there but I think it's going to depend on the amp you're using.

I used to dislike 6L6 until I got a 5150 2x12. Then the Uber Ultra 6l6 was another one that blew me away. Just depends on the how the particular amp reacts to each tube.
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As someone who can design high gain preamps it’s also worth noting the preamp is typically designed around or intended to compliment a particular power amp design. For instance I designed my preamp around 6550s with 3.3k primary impedance OTs. Some designers like a mismatch, others use a different design all together. The sound of tubes is just the tip of the iceberg to how an amp sounds with them.
 
GT branded 6CA7s in my Bogner Uberschall is super vicious! I actually LOVE the GT branded ones and the EH ones. Both are a more throaty replacement for EL34s
 
OldGtrGuy said:
I know you said in general and my thoughts are way out there but I think it's going to depend on the amp you're using.

I used to dislike 6L6 until I got a 5150 2x12. Then the Uber Ultra 6l6 was another one that blew me away. Just depends on the how the particular amp reacts to each tube.
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Yes, there’s been some amps where I definitely preferred 6L6’s to EL34’s in it, vice versa, some where I even liked KT77’s or others (6550’s, KT88’s), but I still found in all cases the relative voicings of how the powertubes compared to each other with their inherent characteristics were the same. It’s just how it translates to the particular amp and what the amp likes. Just trial and error I’ve found, but I can usually make good guessed based on an amp’s inherent voicing
 
braintheory said:
Yes, there’s been some amps where I definitely preferred 6L6’s to EL34’s in it, vice versa, some where I even liked KT77’s or others (6550’s, KT88’s), but I still found in all cases the relative voicings of how the powertubes compared to each other with their inherent characteristics were the same. It’s just how it translates to the particular amp and what the amp likes. Just trial and error I’ve found, but I can usually make good guessed based on an amp’s inherent voicing
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I agree with this sentiment whole heartedly. I keep both of my high gain Marshall’s around that actually sound close to one another however one with EL34s and the other with 6550s. They’re different enough that it warrants keeping both around.
 
psychodave said:
So are people talking about real 6CA7’s or modern production tubes called 6CA7’s? The two are very different.

A quick search yields some info. I remember answering this once before. lol

https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/6ca7s-vs-el34s-what-do-you-think.225335/
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I'm talking about real US 6CA7's. I have Sylvania's, RCA's, GE's, JAN Philips and used to have US Tung-Sol's (didn't like them). Guys seem to only talk about the Sylvania 6CA7's, but I like the RCA's and GE's even more in a lot of amps. They have even deeper lows than Sylvania's and are more tonally complex imo
 


Blackburn XF-2 6CA7 / EL-34 Amperex for Marshall JMP. None finer.
BTW 6CA7 & El-34 same damn tube. Interchangable.
 
shar-vell Dan said:
BTW 6CA7 & El-34 same damn tube. Interchangable.
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Today they are basically the same tube (manufactures simply consolidated production) and years back they started using EL34/6CA7 interchangeably likely because people didn't understand and manufacturers wanted to sell their product.... a "real" 6CA7 is NOT an EL34 and is a beam forming tetrode like the 6L6. The reason for the bigger bottle is because the plates are bigger and shaped like a wing. They sound very different from EL34's as well... like an EL34, 6L6 and 6550 had a child. I added the 6550 in there since the 6CA7 has more bottom end than an EL34. The real KT77 was closer to the Sylvania 6CA7 than the EL34.
 
psychodave said:
Today they are basically the same tube (manufactures simply consolidated production) and years back they started using EL34/6CA7 interchangeably likely because people didn't understand and manufacturers wanted to sell their product.... a "real" 6CA7 is NOT an EL34 and is a beam forming tetrode like the 6L6. The reason for the bigger bottle is because the plates are bigger and shaped like a wing. They sound very different from EL34's as well... like an EL34, 6L6 and 6550 had a child. I added the 6550 in there since the 6CA7 has more bottom end than an EL34. The real KT77 was closer to the Sylvania 6CA7 than the EL34.
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Yes sir you are correct on all counts. The real 6CA7 tetrodes go for insane prices.
 
Real 6ca7’s (with the big bottles) have more lows and highs…modern 6ca7’s, I have JJ’s in my Wizard and 1959RR. They have the same characteristics.
The small bottle el34/6ca7’s are just el34’s to me.
 
psychodave said:
Today they are basically the same tube (manufactures simply consolidated production) and years back they started using EL34/6CA7 interchangeably likely because people didn't understand and manufacturers wanted to sell their product.... a "real" 6CA7 is NOT an EL34 and is a beam forming tetrode like the 6L6. The reason for the bigger bottle is because the plates are bigger and shaped like a wing. They sound very different from EL34's as well... like an EL34, 6L6 and 6550 had a child. I added the 6550 in there since the 6CA7 has more bottom end than an EL34. The real KT77 was closer to the Sylvania 6CA7 than the EL34.
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I had a quad of real original Gold Lion KT-77's in my 79 Marshall 2203 back in the early 90's they sounded great. They were still like new when I pulled them to go back to 6550's and sold them for good money, I still had the boxes and test sheets that came with each tube and if I remember correctly the factory hammer tested each tube for microphonics.:eek:
 
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harddriver said:
I had a quad of real original Gold Lion KT-77's in my 79 Marshall 2203 back in the early 90's they sounded great. They were still like new when I pulled them to go back to 6550's and sold them for good money, I still had the boxes and test sheets that came with each tube and if I remember correctly the factory hammer tested each tube for microphonics.:eek:
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Ya, Those Original Gold Lion 77’s are insanely good and as rare as hen’s teeth.
 
shar-vell Dan said:


Blackburn XF-2 6CA7 / EL-34 Amperex for Marshall JMP. None finer.
BTW 6CA7 & El-34 same damn tube. Interchangable.
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Nice tubes, I still have 4 XF2s here. But I prefer Siemens any day of the week. The cool thing about Siemens is, they don't command the stupid prices of a Blackburn Mullard, are cheaper and sound better to me.
 
Racerxrated said:
Nice tubes, I still have 4 XF2s here. But I prefer Siemens any day of the week. The cool thing about Siemens is, they don't command the stupid prices of a Blackburn Mullard, are cheaper and sound better to me.
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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.
 
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