EL84 amp Vs. EL34 amp

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

The RM10MKII is $1,950 spanking new and since they are incredibly reliable, they are an excellent used buy at $1,000 and with right speakers are as good as any amplifier out there, with the possible exception of OTLs, but that is another kettle of fish. Seriously if 35 watts enough power, you should consider the Music Reference RM10. Also works really well with a passive pre due to its hign input impedance and sensitivity, making for a low cost SOTA amplification system.

Thanks again all for writing in, but I think several of you are adding a zero to my budget. My amp budget is in the $4-500 range, not $4-5K range. Sorry, just can't afford the expensive gear these days, and in the process have found some really great low cost sleepers.

What are you considering in that price range? Used Cayin?

I'd definitely prefer something pt to pt wired. Tube rectification is of lesser importance to me. The Cayin's are probably too expensive. The Antique Sound Lab integrateds look nice and I wouldn't rule out a custom amp either. I heard this Cheer EL34 amp (Bewitch integrated) a few years ago and that sounded very nice too.

Currently, I also have this moded Conn 6bg6 amp that needs a repair. It was a beautiful sounding 8 wpc in triode. It was also very powerful sounding too. Dynamically it smoked the 18 wpc 6L6 Dared monoblocks. (The Dareds had more immediacy, but the 6bg6 sounded sweeter). Wonder how this amp would stack up to an EL34 once I get it fixed?