VH4 Valve reccomendations..................

  • Thread starter Thread starter Axegrinderturbo
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Axegrinderturbo

Axegrinderturbo

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Hi guys,

I am based in the UK and looking at getting some new valves for my VH4. I love the sound of the El34 and I have been advised that the winged C is the way to go, I am looking at getting the valves from Watford valves. What are your thoughts on the link below:

http://www.watfordvalves.com/product_detail.asp?id=851

If anyone has any other suggestions on this site it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, would you reccomend renewing the pre amp valves??? I've had the amp since December 2007 and use it full on 3-4 times a week.

Rock on!!!
 
I have been totally happy with the stock Chinese 12AX7C HG preamp tubes. I did pull the JJ in the V1 and replace it with another Chinese High Grade.
The SED EL34 is an excellent choice. To me, they allow you to dial in the bass and deep frequencies in a wider range. The top end is sweet as well.
They are a very good blank canvas for dialing in the VH4. With the tube being almost neutral, you can knob tweak and find a ton of sweet spots, as the VH4 has many.
If you find enough new tones, don't blame me when the second VH4 arrives at your door. :D
 
Thanks for the reply!

So you don't think the pre amp valves will need changing???

I'm desperate to get the valves changed as i'm finding that the ch3 volume needs to be a lot louder than ch1 and 2 in order to keep a good volume balance, it's lacking a lot of punch aswell. I can't wait to record with it in a few months, should be white hot! :thumbsup:
 
The volume loss may be compression from too much gain. Try backing down just a touch and see if it seems louder.
If you feel like trying new pre's, by all means try away but number your originals from 1-7 so when you second guess
which ones sound best, you can always go back to the originals for reference. I though the tone improvement on my VH4 with just changing that dull JJ out of the V1 was HUGE. I've always used RFT's in my VH4's, but I'm just as happy with all Chinese High Grade.
 
Axegrinderturbo":6ovisp4r said:
Hi guys,

I am based in the UK and looking at getting some new valves for my VH4. I love the sound of the El34 and I have been advised that the winged C is the way to go, I am looking at getting the valves from Watford valves. What are your thoughts on the link below:

http://www.watfordvalves.com/product_detail.asp?id=851

If anyone has any other suggestions on this site it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, would you reccomend renewing the pre amp valves??? I've had the amp since December 2007 and use it full on 3-4 times a week.

Rock on!!!
Click to expand...

Hey man, try Hot Rox rather than Watford valves, i've always had better experiences with them.
 
Hey, thanks for the reply's.

Regarding the volume loss, I always keep the gain around 12 o'clock at the most as I feel it sounds a lot bigger without too much gain, so i'm hoping it's just a matter of the tubes needing to be changed.

Thanks for the hotrox suggestion, i've never heard of them before to be honest. Would a winged c valve link this be better -

http://www.hotroxuk.com/el34svt-winged-c-7533-0.html

or would a standard El34 do the job -

http://www.hotroxuk.com/jj-electronics- ... 903-0.html
http://www.hotroxuk.com/electro-harmoni ... 246-0.html

How many pre amp valves are in the vh4 and could I put the same valve in each position??? (ie just buy however many is needed of the same valve)

Something like - http://www.hotroxuk.com/sovtek-br-12ax7-wa-10995-0.html

I apologise for my lack of knowledge :confused:

Thanks again for the help!
 
if you want the most gain, bottom end and growl from your VH4 in channel 3 and 4, run C9's across the preamp section and SED winged C's for power tubes. tones from channel 1 and 2 i don't know. never use them or need them. V1 is very responsive to different preamp tubes in the VH4. set your bias at the upper limit of recommended, or slightly higher.

steve
 
Thanks for the suggestion about the pre amp valves but I do use ch 1 & 2 quite a bit, more so ch 2.

How many pre amp valves will I need to buy, would the link in my previous post be recommended???

Thanks again
 
You see guys, just buy good brands from good dealers.

Its your flavor which counts in the ends, if you prefer 6550 (Svet =C=) or EL34 (Svet =C= or Shuguang STRs or JJEL34L) or KT77 (JJ). Those are realiable tubes if biased correctly and bought off a good dealer.
Same for preamp tubes: good selected chinese 9th generation are good. Just ask your dealer for low microphonics and good (not too much) gain, your amp delivers more than enough of it IMO.

Personally I stay away from Sovtek and their daughter brands, EH and stuff like that.
 
Thanks fot the help guys, i'm going to contact hotrox today ask their advice and look at ordering next week. Will keep you posted!!! :rock:
 
May be a stupid question but: can I mix one pair of matched EL34 with a complete different matched pair of EL34? I hope you did understand what I mean...waiting for your advice ;)
 
Larrydiezel":20ujgdp3 said:
May be a stupid question but: can I mix one pair of matched EL34 with a complete different matched pair of EL34? I hope you did understand what I mean...waiting for your advice ;)
Click to expand...

You will always get best results with matched set across the board.
 
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