Reissue EL34, Mullard vs. JJ

S1NN3R · « **on:** 5 Sep 2013, 04:16 pm »

Anyone who have personal experience with these reissue tubes? How well are they compared to their older classic tubes? Are these tubes still being manufactured by their original maker? Which one sounded better Mullard or JJ?

Tyson · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Sep 2013, 05:15 pm »

I like the Mullards better. They are not made by the original maker, the brand name was acquired by a different company some time ago.

JakeJ · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Sep 2013, 05:16 pm »

The Mullard tube you have pictured is a reissue from Russia. The original Mullard was a British made tube and have not been in production since the 70's. There are those that claim they sound as good as the originals and those that claim they don't. They certainly do not last as long. NOS (new old stock) Mullards are very expensive and hard to find.

The JJ tubes have been in production since 1994 and are made in an old Tesla plant that I could not find a history on. Tesla was born in 1948 out of the original Radioslavia company first formed in 1922. New Sensor is the maker of the Mullard reissue using the original tooling from England. Many people do like them.

Which sounds better? A very subjective question. It is going to depend on the circuit they are used in and ultimately your ears. You will need to experiment to answer that question.

Not terribly helpful, I realize, but that is the nature of the tube world.

S1NN3R · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Sep 2013, 05:24 pm »

Hey Jake,

Your response was very helpful. This is subject to using the same amp with the same wiring. Which tube will rule but I guess you are right. It comes down to personal taste. IMO I think which the majority would prefer.

Captainhemo · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Sep 2013, 07:29 pm »

I too have read good and bad opinions about both, I think with tubes you are always going to get that
If in the end it comes down to a heads/tails type decision, if you like blue I believe the JJ's are still available in the blue glass version

(same as the standard version other than the blue glass)

-jay

S1NN3R · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Sep 2013, 07:57 pm »

Those blue tubes are neat. Thanks.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Sep 2013, 09:15 pm »

I've tried both. The Mullard Reissue EL34s I thought they were nothing special. They only lasted about 1000 hours before they started dying. One developed bad grid leakage and the others tested very low. They should have lasted 3000 hours +. The JJs I thought sounded a bit worse than the Mullard reissues. Equally dismal fail rate. These comparisons were probably 8 or so years ago. Maybe both companies have improved reliability.

The best sounding affordable tube I've tried is the RFT/Siemens EL34. You can find them for $100/quad sometimes on ebay and around $50 each from more reputable dealers. These sound just about as good as NOS Mullards at a fraction of the cost.

Freo-1 · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Sep 2013, 10:22 pm »

Quote from: Ericus Rex on 5 Sep 2013, 09:15 pm

I've tried both. The Mullard Reissue EL34s I thought they were nothing special. They only lasted about 1000 hours before they started dying. One developed bad grid leakage and the others tested very low. They should have lasted 3000 hours +. The JJs I thought sounded a bit worse than the Mullard reissues. Equally dismal fail rate. These comparisons were probably 8 or so years ago. Maybe both companies have improved reliability.

The best sounding affordable tube I've tried is the RFT/Siemens EL34. You can find them for $100/quad sometimes on ebay and around $50 each from more reputable dealers. These sound just about as good as NOS Mullards at a fraction of the cost.

The new production power tubes just do not seem to hold up like the older tubes. That's why I went "old school", and use 1625 tubes from the 40's and 50's. Those tubes are almost all well made, and will last a long time.

The downside is that you have to go DIY to get amps that use the old school tubes.

skriefal · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Sep 2013, 04:48 am »

Quote from: JakeJ on 5 Sep 2013, 05:16 pm

New Sensor is the maker of the Mullard reissue using the original tooling from England. Many people do like them.

Original Mullard tooling? These tubes are supposed to be an attempt to clone the Mullard XF2 design, but I haven't seen anything stating that New Sensor has any of Mullard's EL34 tooling. If true then this would certainly be an item of interest to many.

trackball02 · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Sep 2013, 05:18 am »

I have used JJ 6CA7 as a quad set, they sound fine. However, I had one failed after one month, got a replacement. After 3 months, another failed. I gave up and will probably toss the other 3. Waste of money.

JakeJ · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 Sep 2013, 08:29 am »

Quote from: skriefal on 6 Sep 2013, 04:48 am

Original Mullard tooling? These tubes are supposed to be an attempt to clone the Mullard XF2 design, but I haven't seen anything stating that New Sensor has any of Mullard's EL34 tooling. If true then this would certainly be an item of interest to many.

Apologies as I think I got that from this forum.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/low-end-theory/469913-reissue-russian-mullards.html
As with any forum, the information gathered should be corroborated through trusted sources. My bad.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 Sep 2013, 10:24 am »

Anyone know exactly where the Mullard tooling went? It had to go somewhere. Tele tooling, I believe, went to Ei in Yugoslavia. Tesla tooling stayed put. Where did Amperex tooling go? And American tooling?

skriefal · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 Sep 2013, 11:34 pm »

Quote from: JakeJ on 6 Sep 2013, 08:29 am

Apologies as I think I got that from this forum.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/low-end-theory/469913-reissue-russian-mullards.html
As with any forum, the information gathered should be corroborated through trusted sources. My bad.

No problem! This "original Mullard tooling" claim gets thrown around a lot. It shows how much many of us wish that the statement were true.

But I suspect that it originated with less-than scrupulous sellers trying to get more money for their stock of Japanese Matsushita tubes, and has apparently spread from there.

mjosef · « **Reply #13 on:** 6 Sep 2013, 11:37 pm »

I prefer the JJ KT77 vs. the two tubes under consideration.

Captainhemo · « **Reply #14 on:** 8 Sep 2013, 06:33 am »

Quote from: mjosef on 6 Sep 2013, 11:37 pm

I prefer the JJ KT77 vs. the two tubes under consideration.

Have you had a chance to try the Gold Lion reissue KT77 ? If so, how do they compare with the JJ's ? I hear so much about the poor QC and relieablitly issues with the JJ's... makes me a bit leary. Some vendors say the issues have been dealt with long ago , then there are others who say they still wouldn't touch them. How's your experience been ?

-jay

-jay

mjosef · « **Reply #15 on:** 8 Sep 2013, 07:33 pm »

Quote from: Captainhemo on 8 Sep 2013, 06:33 am

Have you had a chance to try the Gold Lion reissue KT77 ? If so, how do they compare with the JJ's ? I hear so much about the poor QC and relieablitly issues with the JJ's... makes me a bit leary. Some vendors say the issues have been dealt with long ago , then there are others who say they still wouldn't touch them. How's your experience been ?

-jay

Yes, I tried the new GL KT77, and thought they were the best sounding reissue tube amongst the EL34/KT77/6CA7 group that I have tried. I haven't tried the Chinese Treasure /Psvane tubes.
But I had issues with the GL KT77, 3 of the 6 I bought died after 2-5 months, then one of the last 3 was not able to make bias (36 mV.). Risk was too high for the $$$ outlay. ENter the JJ 77, much cheaper but way too early to comment on reliability (1 1/2 month of use).

rbwalt · « **Reply #16 on:** 19 Sep 2013, 04:37 pm »

i am running JJ E34L's in my music reference RM9SE. the tubes that came with it were NOS Siemens EL34's. i find the E34L's to be smoother. more open and fleshed out in the mids but only slightly. mids are also bigger. the top end is very very smooth. not spitty in the least. the bottom end is fuller and more solid. the E34L's are more continuous from top to bottom. resolution and clarity are better. i got mine from roger at ram labs/ music ref. roger did a custom match for my amp. as far as i am concerned roger is the best when it comes to tube testing and matching. so out of 5 stars i give them a 4.75 only because i do not know what a 5 would be.

PS. a very natural sounding tube. neither to thin or bloated. not to forget allot depends on the speakers being used.

hope this helps. happy listening.

Captainhemo · « **Reply #17 on:** 29 Sep 2013, 11:12 pm »

Some of you guys interested in the current production EL34's may wish to have a look at this if you haven't already.....
Here is a pretty good read over at DIY Audio on current production EL34/6CA7/KT77 tubes
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/144394-el34-tubes-hi-fi.html

Just about picked up a matched quad of RFT/Siemens EL34's but in the end, I just wasn't comfortable buying them from ebay. I then started loooking at the Psvane 6CA7 T tubes but when I was told to expect 2k - 3k hours, $300 seemed like too much $$. As I mentioned in another post,m I was kind of hoping that the "better quality" -T series would last longer but I guess not

Actually considering just buying another quad of the Shuguang EL34-B's, they sound pretty good and at $60/quad , pretty hard to beat

-jay

BNR_1 · « **Reply #18 on:** 29 Sep 2013, 11:24 pm »

Hi Everyone:

This is my first posting.

My recommendation for new production EL34 is Winged -C-. They are about 2 to 3 times as costly as lower priced new production tubes but in my opinion they seem more robust. Of course it comes down to the supplier you are purchasing these tubes from.

trackball02 · « **Reply #19 on:** 30 Sep 2013, 04:38 am »

I have been running a quad set of Gold Lion Genalex KT77 reissue (cryotreated) for the past several weeks and really like them!

I think my power tube search is over, as long as they last.