EL84 amp Vs. EL34 amp


I currently own a very nice sounding 12 wpc Audio Space Mini Galaxy EL84 int amp. Its a 2 chassis piece with separate power supply and adj. negative feedback switch. I've been thinking of getting an EL34 int amp in the $4-500 range just because its more powerful and I would have more speaker choices.

I've read comparisons of EL34 and KT88 tubes, but sonically, how would you compare EL84 amps and EL34 amps? Is the EL34 just a more powerful version of the EL84?

I look forward to your responses.
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Showing 1 response by robr45

The el84 and el34 are my two favorite sounding tubes.

What you really need to look at is how their characteristics are going to integrate with your speakers. The speakers are a much larger piece of the puzzle- feeding them properly is critical.

I would choose the speaker first and then consider how to drive it.

One other thing to note is that I don't think it is neccessary to spend the kind of money you are talking about. If you look at what goes into a push pull tube amp, even one that is point to point hand wired it just cant justify $5k in my opinion. These are simple circuits with relatively few critical parts. $.02