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EL34 upgrade

I'm currently experimenting with my Jolida JD302B and various tubes. I have 3 makes and each are vastly different from each. In terms of preference I would order them as such: (1) Svetlana, (2) Sovtek, (3) Shuguang. They are all the budget versions. I am considering upgrading to either the SED Winged C or Gold Lion Reissue. So my question, is whether I would expect improvements to the preferred Svetlana? I have a pricepoint of $200 for a matched quad and not sure whether I need to go higher to really hear a difference. Also I'm sure I'm sure there are others, so please weigh them in as well.

-JerseyWalt
qclabrat_1
maxmad
182 posts
 
I would not avoid NOS Tesla's, they are very good sounding EL34.
hifigeek1
770 posts
 
I agree. The Winged C's are excellent for the price. I just got done recapping 2 Marantz 8B's and put 2) quads of the Chinese EL-34's in. Seem to be very very good and strapped the amps are putting out 77Wrms across 8 ohms. Can't beat that.
qclabrat_1 OP
7 posts
 
Jazzerdave,
Thanks for bringing up the Shuguang Treasures, you are correct that it is out of my price range here in the US. I travel to China/Asia usually at least once a year and believe they can be found for less than half of the US price. If they are significantly better than the Winged Cs, gold lions, and siemens I'd be willing to wait as I'm planning to be in Hong Kong and China this summer. Also thanks for the offer to demo the Siemens, I may take you up on it if my asia trip falls through.

Lastly, I was under the impression that all EL34 tubes were compatible, apparently they are not, so how would I determine which ones work with my amp?

-JerseyWalt
sebrof's avatar
sebrof
834 posts
 
Don't overlook the input tubes. I thought they had as much improvement as the power tubes for a lot less cash in my JD 1000, which is essentially a parallel version of your 302.
I asked McShane and he set me up.
mechans
3,048 posts
 
The Gold Lions no doubt about it.
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