Mizati20
Active member
Got my 6550's in today from Mark2C (thank you sir!) and as mentioned in the other thread, since there has been so much talk lately of 6550's and EL-34's, particularly in the VH-4's, I thought before I took the EL-34's out I would record a video, and then record another vid with the 6550's.
Outcome: This is nothing new to me, I've had 6550's in my other VH-4 when I owned it, and stole the 6550's out of the Herbert I briefly had for the VH-4 I own now, however, since I sold the Herbert I had to put the EL-34's back in, and it really really made me realize the huge difference these tubes make...
Channel 1 - In all honesty, if you blindfolded me and made me listen to channel 1 with the EL-34's then made me listen with the 6550's I would probably tell you they were two different amps, completely changed the sound and feel of channel 1... if any of you have ever compared "EL-34" cleans to "6L6" cleans, then you know what I'm talking about, crystal clear and bell like, super chimey and just a gorgeous sounding clean, the amount of headroom that has been added is unbelievable, for example, with the EL-34's if I had the gain at noon and the volume at noon, the clean channel was starting to break up, now I can leave the volume at noon and it doesn't start to break up until around 2 on the gain dial, for my personal uses this is incredible.
Channel 2 - The channel seems to have a bit less gain now with the 6550's I rarely RARELY use this channel, so in the interest of total honesty, I don't really remember what it sounded like before to compare...
Channel 3 - MUCH less compression, added dynamics, there is much MUCH less fizz, the bass is more prominent but tighter, no flub what-so-ever... the effect the 6550's have on this channel are the reason I bought them, chords ring out much clearer, and there is just an all around more "raw" sound, the EL-34's seemed to add so much gain to the amp (which is completely unnecessary) that is was just overkill, and sounded fizzy.
Channel 4 - I would have to say with the amount of gain and compression that channel 4 on the VH-4 has, it would be hard pressed to have a huge difference in sound from just a tube... I would have to say this channel is the least effected by the tubes... not much to report here as I use this channel for all my lead work, there is still endless amount of gain and compression, I've run through all my solos now with the 6550's, and the only noticeable difference is more note clarity, notes seem so defined and crystal clear, the channel always was and still is an absolute joy to play leads on.
Comments on the Video - after having the videos completely processed and listening to them side by side, the difference is extremely noticeable actually... I didn't think it was at first, but you can clearly hear how the 6550's really opened up the amp and got rid of some fizz and compression, the highs and lows are much more pronounced as well, and it is extremely easy to tell the difference on the clean channel, however please keep in mind, in person these differences are MUCH MUCH more prominent and not subtle by any means, I'm just happy they came through in the vid as well...
My opinion still stands, I honestly don't think VH-4's should ever have anything other then 6550's in them, if you don't have a pair, get some now, you won't be disappointed...
Start both videos and fast forward respectively to where the song starts, then you can kind of go back and forth between them...
EL-34 Video:
6550 Video:
Disclaimer - Please understand Peter Diezel is no longer recommending these tubes, I will say one of his reasons is because of heat issues, however I have mine biased to 60 mA per pair, and they aren't even HALF as hot as the EL-34's that I previously had in the amp are... I hope I don't upset Papa by recommending these tubes, for me it doesn't get any better, and it's hard for me to truly believe this tube is bad for the amp especially when Peter stood behind it for awhile, and was shipping all his amps with them installed, I am in no way arguing with what Papa says, just providing my opinion and obviously YMMV, take all this for what it's worth!!!
Hope this helps some people!!!
Outcome: This is nothing new to me, I've had 6550's in my other VH-4 when I owned it, and stole the 6550's out of the Herbert I briefly had for the VH-4 I own now, however, since I sold the Herbert I had to put the EL-34's back in, and it really really made me realize the huge difference these tubes make...
Channel 1 - In all honesty, if you blindfolded me and made me listen to channel 1 with the EL-34's then made me listen with the 6550's I would probably tell you they were two different amps, completely changed the sound and feel of channel 1... if any of you have ever compared "EL-34" cleans to "6L6" cleans, then you know what I'm talking about, crystal clear and bell like, super chimey and just a gorgeous sounding clean, the amount of headroom that has been added is unbelievable, for example, with the EL-34's if I had the gain at noon and the volume at noon, the clean channel was starting to break up, now I can leave the volume at noon and it doesn't start to break up until around 2 on the gain dial, for my personal uses this is incredible.
Channel 2 - The channel seems to have a bit less gain now with the 6550's I rarely RARELY use this channel, so in the interest of total honesty, I don't really remember what it sounded like before to compare...
Channel 3 - MUCH less compression, added dynamics, there is much MUCH less fizz, the bass is more prominent but tighter, no flub what-so-ever... the effect the 6550's have on this channel are the reason I bought them, chords ring out much clearer, and there is just an all around more "raw" sound, the EL-34's seemed to add so much gain to the amp (which is completely unnecessary) that is was just overkill, and sounded fizzy.
Channel 4 - I would have to say with the amount of gain and compression that channel 4 on the VH-4 has, it would be hard pressed to have a huge difference in sound from just a tube... I would have to say this channel is the least effected by the tubes... not much to report here as I use this channel for all my lead work, there is still endless amount of gain and compression, I've run through all my solos now with the 6550's, and the only noticeable difference is more note clarity, notes seem so defined and crystal clear, the channel always was and still is an absolute joy to play leads on.
Comments on the Video - after having the videos completely processed and listening to them side by side, the difference is extremely noticeable actually... I didn't think it was at first, but you can clearly hear how the 6550's really opened up the amp and got rid of some fizz and compression, the highs and lows are much more pronounced as well, and it is extremely easy to tell the difference on the clean channel, however please keep in mind, in person these differences are MUCH MUCH more prominent and not subtle by any means, I'm just happy they came through in the vid as well...
My opinion still stands, I honestly don't think VH-4's should ever have anything other then 6550's in them, if you don't have a pair, get some now, you won't be disappointed...
Start both videos and fast forward respectively to where the song starts, then you can kind of go back and forth between them...
EL-34 Video:
6550 Video:
Disclaimer - Please understand Peter Diezel is no longer recommending these tubes, I will say one of his reasons is because of heat issues, however I have mine biased to 60 mA per pair, and they aren't even HALF as hot as the EL-34's that I previously had in the amp are... I hope I don't upset Papa by recommending these tubes, for me it doesn't get any better, and it's hard for me to truly believe this tube is bad for the amp especially when Peter stood behind it for awhile, and was shipping all his amps with them installed, I am in no way arguing with what Papa says, just providing my opinion and obviously YMMV, take all this for what it's worth!!!
Hope this helps some people!!!
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