[Mark Korda]

Hi you tube nuts, I have read 3 things about the EL-84 tube being the king of audio tubes,for push pull tube amps. the first was in Vacuum Tube Valley,an article which refered to the tube as the (baby with bite). The second article was from Mapleshade, those monthly green catalogs from  Pierre Sprey who claims the EL-84 in Heathkit and Scott smaller amps out perform the EL-34 and KT-88 tube amps.The third was from the new review from Dick Olsher from Absolute Sound on Bob Carvers new amp the Black Magic where Carver says he gets great sound from the EL-84 and really does not know why,although one reason was a simpler circuit topology did not necessarily need a driver stage. Does anyone have any ideas or other reasons why many prefer this tube? I'd like to hear from anyone who's got a notion.....Mark Korda

[bunky]

El-84's have suprising bass punch given their small size.i used to have Manley Mahi Mahi monoblocks that were very nice sounding amps. David Manley when at VTL made smallish 25wpc  EL-84 monoblock amplifiers called TT25'S. the TT stood for tiny triodes.

[dangerbird]

I was fortunate to have had the pleasure and anxiety of building two of the Carverfest EL-84 tube amps,, with the help of my wife and many friends-- they are really very sweet and do pack alot of punch for their size and appearance! I have since upgraded some caps in the PTP wired circuit and I am still amazed and the sound.

[FullRangeMan]

Hi you tube nuts, I have read 3 things about the EL-84 tube being the king of audio tubes,for push pull tube amps. the first was in Vacuum Tube Valley,an article which refered to the tube as the (baby with bite). The second article was from Mapleshade, those monthly green catalogs from  Pierre Sprey who claims the EL-84 in Heathkit and Scott smaller amps out perform the EL-34 and KT-88 tube amps.The third was from the new review from Dick Olsher from Absolute Sound on Bob Carvers new amp the Black Magic where Carver says he gets great sound from the EL-84 and really does not know why,although one reason was a simpler circuit topology did not necessarily need a driver stage. Does anyone have any ideas or other reasons why many prefer this tube? I'd like to hear from anyone who's got a notion.....Mark Korda

Seems Pentode tubes has lots of gain and allow built a amp with few expenditure in parts.

[FullRangeMan]

The EL34 plate impedance(around 1500 ohms) is lower than the EL84, which allow a simpler OPT.

P.S.: Decware site seems like much the EL84 tube also.

[Brad]

One of my favorite tube types.
I've had an Eddie Vaughn Carina  , a couple of different Decwares, and a Scott 222c (that one uses the 6BQ5 variation)

I also have a project pair of Magnavox SE EL84 console amps sitting in a box waiting for me to get to them 

[Alex Kitic]

My most famous and successful design, the RH84,  uses commonly available and relatively cheap tubes (12at7 and EL84).
For details on the schematics,  all interested should check out my blog:

rh-amps.blogspot.com

The latest PPE version allows for comparison with other pentode and beam tetrode tubes due to it's similarity to the RH Universal which can be used with a wide array of output tubes!

[R_burke]

P.S.: Decware site seems like much the EL84 tube also.

So does Manley - they use them in Mahi monoblocks and Stingray integrated, which are their lower powered units

[JakeJ]

Hi Alex, welcome to the Tube-O-Phile circle on AudioCircle!

When I stumbled across your posts I mistakenly thought you were selling your amp but I checked out your blog and realized you are another enthusiastic DIYer sharing your ideas.  Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!  You are welcome to post all you want here.  I also briefly  scanned the blog entry titled "Why creative people should avoid forums?".  I have myself experienced "co-incident thoughts" in life.  By this I mean I have thought of "inventions" that were thought of by someone else only to find out the other person thought of it first.  Cest la vie!  I keep hoping I will think of one first and get the credit and the financial reward someday. 

[sebrof]

Hi Alex, welcome to the Tube-O-Phile circle on AudioCircle!

When I stumbled across your posts I mistakenly thought you were selling your amp but I checked out your blog and realized you are another enthusiastic DIYer sharing your ideas.  Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work! 

Yes, Alex is quite famous in certain circles. One of my first low power amps was an RH807 amp, similar to the RH84 but with 807 output tubes.  I've never been able to find out what RH stands for, I think it's a secret.

[luckyguy]

No one believes what this little tube can do.  I've had a lot of fun surprising neo audiophiles with my hidden ST35 Dynaco with some good American tubes.  How I do this with my Yamaha NS1000s and Celestion 66s keeps amazing visitors to my small nondescript music room.  They oft think an MFA 200 watt monster lies beneath the perforated cardboard box and are floored when I reveal a puny ST35 Dynaco with what amounts to 17.5 watts per channel.  No doubt I get a bigger soundstage with my KT88s but impact remains the same--high.  Got a VV52 custom 300Bsilver wound tranny coming but will I sell the Dynaco?  Hell no.

[JakeJ]

If you do I'd be happy to take it off your hands. 

[S Clark]

I had a pair of Eico HF12 amps using the 6QB5 that Gary Dodd redesigned for me.  Although I have bigger amps to do other jobs, the little 14 watt wonders image better than anything else I've put in my system.  One day I'll have speakers that match then better, and they will return to everyday use. 
Scott

[Alex Kitic]

Yes, Alex is quite famous in certain circles. One of my first low power amps was an RH807 amp, similar to the RH84 but with 807 output tubes.  I've never been able to find out what RH stands for, I think it's a secret.

RH stands for Racing Horse.  In Serbian "i mi konja za trku imamo" meaning "our horse is just as good for the race".

More than a decade ago, 300B, 2A3, 45, and the transmitting 211 and 845 ruled the day, and I was going to challenge that with cheaper and easily affordable pentode and beam tetrode tubes, and small recycled console output transformers. Unorthodox and heretic statements,  but have found their way to many DIY-ers.

The 2nd generation designs are less aimed to be cheap and affordable and more directly challenging the DHT family. Actually, I've done some designs for the 300B and a promising amp with the 307A / VT225 which is a directly heated pentode...

[JakeJ]

JohnR,

Thanks for cleaning this thread up and returning it to active.  It does have validity and I'll pay better attention.