What tubes sound best with Einstein? Opinions please.

[nivek]

Just wanted to get input from other Einstein users on what tube combination sounds best to them and why. Trying to find the best sound I can.

 

[HerbieBoogie]

the objectively correct answer everyone is going to say is SED Winged C 6550.


See below.

 

[Peter Diezel]

EL34BHT

 

[nivek]

Thanks Peter, just put a set of Ruby EL34BHT in my Einstein and they sound great.

 

[phil b]

Anyone using nos RFT's in v1?? Curious if they are worth it? How about a majority of pre amp tubes? Opinions...?

 

[stefvorcide]

Anyone using nos RFT's in v1?? Curious if they are worth it? How about a majority of pre amp tubes? Opinions...?

I had one RFT in my Herbert's V1. Nice crunch, but it's kinda dark (my setup is already dark... so it doesn't help) I don't know how long it could last, so I save it for later
I know they're pricey (about $50 each) but I had it free so...

For power, I like a mixture of kt88, 6550, and el34
When it's not recession anymore it's gonna be all kt88 baby

 

[phil b]

Anyone using nos RFT's in v1?? Curious if they are worth it? How about a majority of pre amp tubes? Opinions...?

I had one RFT in my Herbert's V1. Nice crunch, but it's kinda dark (my setup is already dark... so it doesn't help) I don't know how long it could last, so I save it for later
I know they're pricey (about $50 each) but I had it free so...

For power, I like a mixture of kt88, 6550, and el34
When it's not recession anymore it's gonna be all kt88 baby

In my Einnny I use kt77 and 6550 but havent found a nice warm preamp tube yet. I've tried new Tung-Sol, Tung Sol gold pin, reissue Mullard and a JJ. They all sound ok but a little brittle in the top end. Granted they have 0 hrs on them so maybe they have to break in. The RFT I heard sounded great in a PT100 but thats a different animal than Diezel. I found some old RCA blackplates I had lying around so maybe I give them a try.

 

[Anonymous]

Everyone hears things differently so trying to give suggestions is only going to mean that the right answer will be after you try different pre and power tubes to find your ideal tone.
Here are the tubes I have found that work for me.
KT77's in the power section and Mullard NOS pre amp tubes. I don't use 12AX7's in my Diezels in V-1 through V-3 as they have way too much saturation for my personal uses. I go with 12AU7's and 12AT7's.

My tone is clearer, yet has the thrust and power with plenty of sustain for my guitar playing.

 

[Halikus]

Everyone hears things differently so trying to give suggestions is only going to mean that the right answer will be after you try different pre and power tubes to find your ideal tone.
Here are the tubes I have found that work for me.
KT77's in the power section and Mullard NOS pre amp tubes. I don't use 12AX7's in my Diezels in V-1 through V-3 as they have way too much saturation for my personal uses. I go with 12AU7's and 12AT7's.

My tone is clearer, yet has the thrust and power with plenty of sustain for my guitar playing.

I may just have to give the lower gain tubes a go in my Einstein as I do find anything much over 1oclock to be over saturated for my needs. I am right in saying that should provide a wider range of gain adjustment?

 

[moltenmetalburn]

EL34BHT

Is this what you consider the best sounding tube for the Einstein peter?

Was the switch to 6550 only for reliability purposes?

I switched when you moved to 6550 as I thought you were saying it sounded the best.

 

[subzero]

Well everyone hears things different.I've been using mullard el34's and tungsol in v1&v6 ,JJ's in the rest.I'm going to go for winged c el34 next time.Good luck.I love the harmonics of El34,but I'm old and have always liked el34.

 

[synchu]

^same here. I circled almost everything that will fit in Einy's sockets and always go back to EL34 - so EL34BHT here. I guess there is in thy EL34 land where I am meant to stay

Niki

 

[blackslide]

Hello,

A newbie to the forum and to tube amplification, but from the sound of it, I'm going to stick to my Einstein for a while

I had a sad moment with my quite new amp just a few weeks back as it just made a loud 'pop' sound when I turned the standby switch to run...

After some testing, the unthinkable had happened, the number 2 winged C tube had actually shorted. Or so I think since after I replaced the fuses, removed the back panel and checked inside, while the amp was warming up, the tube in question didn't warm up like the others and only the top and bottom wires of the filament were glowing, I guess even tested and matched tubes get quirks while theyre still in the beginning of their lifespan. After removing the tube retainers I noticed a crack in the glass just where the spring touches the tube, I've since removed the retainers and I think I'll just check if the tubes are in or not myself from now on.

And then to my question. I was planning on buying a set of EL34's and mixing them with 2 KT88's would this in your opinion give me the best of both worlds or just a crappy sound? I mean, I love the grunt in the 4x6550's but I'm thinking on adding a tiny bit of treble and high mid responce and clarity to the amp. Also are sovteks total c*** or are they useable?

And my second question would be, how are the tubes paired, are inner tubes literally the two tubes in the middle or how is the Einstein wired?
As in when looking from the back side, are 1 and 4 the outer pair and 2, 3 the inner or?

Also, I'm using the amp at home, so I don't quite need all the bite and punch of the 100W so can I use it as 50W with just 2 tubes for the couple of weeks it takes to get the new tubes. or will it break the amp/tubes?

Thanks for any advice and Rock on!

Regards,
Kristjan

P.S. Sorry that I didn't notice this nice forum before mailing you straight Peter, thanks for the blazingly fast and accurate reply though

 

[nivek]

Welcome to the forum! I can answer a couple of your questions- Yes the outer tubes are 1-4 and the inner are 2-3. On your question about KT-88 mixing with EL34 I dont see why that wouldnt work others on here are certainly more qualified than I could give you more specifics but I ran my Einy with KT-77 in the inners and winged C EL-34s in the outters and it sounded awesome. You need to make sure you bias correctly for each set of tubes, I believe there is a list of the correct bias setting for each kind of tubes on Diezels website under tech corner. I believe the correct settings for EL34s is 70-75 ma and KT-88 I am not sure but I know they run hotter, my KT-77 were around 90ma. I have also ran my amp with only 2 power tubes in the inners with no problems.

 

[Anonymous]

Everyone hears things differently so trying to give suggestions is only going to mean that the right answer will be after you try different pre and power tubes to find your ideal tone.
Here are the tubes I have found that work for me.
KT77's in the power section and Mullard NOS pre amp tubes. I don't use 12AX7's in my Diezels in V-1 through V-3 as they have way too much saturation for my personal uses. I go with 12AU7's and 12AT7's.

My tone is clearer, yet has the thrust and power with plenty of sustain for my guitar playing.

I may just have to give the lower gain tubes a go in my Einstein as I do find anything much over 1oclock to be over saturated for my needs. I am right in saying that should provide a wider range of gain adjustment?

Yes, that is correct. When a lower gain pre amp tube is used, the dial has more play in it to get saturation. I have tried some nos Mullards, RFT's, Telefunkens, and find the Telefunkens to have a bit more Fendery sparkle when placed in V-1, then the Mullards have. The Mullards are a bit warmer sounding. Using the Mullards, I have to turn up my treble and presence controls a bit higher.

I prefer the 12AU7's over everything else, no matter which brand of NOS tube in the pre's I am using. However, please keep in mind that your amp will not have the volume using NOS lower gain pre amp tubes then when using the 12AX7 varieties. I find this not to be a bad thing, however, as I can run the entire amp hotter (turning up the gains, channel volumes, and global volumes higher). If still more volume is needed, I simply add my additional Diezel 2x12 cab Peter had built for me. My Einstein is a 50 watt 1x12 combo.

I hope this answer helps you find the right type of tubes for your amp.
Stephen

 

[Batman]

Welcome to the forum! I can answer a couple of your questions- Yes the outer tubes are 1-4 and the inner are 2-3. On your question about KT-88 mixing with EL34 I dont see why that wouldnt work others on here are certainly more qualified than I could give you more specifics but I ran my Einy with KT-77 in the inners and winged C EL-34s in the outters and it sounded awesome. You need to make sure you bias correctly for each set of tubes, I believe there is a list of the correct bias setting for each kind of tubes on Diezels website under tech corner. I believe the correct settings for EL34s is 70-75 ma and KT-88 I am not sure but I know they run hotter, my KT-77 were around 90ma. I have also ran my amp with only 2 power tubes in the inners with no problems.

THis is news to me! Running on only one pair - does it damage the amp long term? Is it a good way to turn down the power to allow power tube overdrive in smaller gigs?

 

[Batman]

AND by the way, does it matter which pair I use?

 

[Anonymous]

There are only two Diezel amps which I am aware of that use power tube saturation as a standard operating feature...the VH4, using the global master above 1 o'clock, and the Schmidt.

The Herbert, and the Einstein do not have this feature, as far as I am aware. I am not saying that these two amps may not be able to get power tube saturation, but I have owned all Diezel models so far and did not get power tube saturation from my Herbert, nor do I get it from my Einstein.

I use lower powered preamp tubes to weaken the saturation of the amp, which also lowers the output volume of the amp. This allows me to turn up the gains and volumes of the Einstein to higher levels without deafening the audience. This works all the tubes harder, but I have not heard true power tube saturation coming from my Einstein so far. I do wish this was a feature on all Diezel amps but Peter has his reasons for designing the amps as he does.

I am really excited that the Schmidt has this feature as I feel that the tones I prefer do come from some power tube saturation and pre amp tube saturation in combination with each other.

 

[philbag]

I didn't know that about the schmidt, that's incredibly awesome however. Do you suppose it would be accessable in a similar fashion to how one accesses the power tube distortion on a VH4?

 

[Batman]

I take your point C4, and will check it out. I am getting delivey of a bunch of pre tubes from 12AU7 to 12AX7 higain, and will try the weaker ones in V1 and V2 on my Einstein. I come back to my question though, can I run on only one pair of power tubes without damaging the amp long term?

BTW guys - MERRY CHRISTMAS