[simon wagstaff]

Just going to mention I purchased some relatively unknown tubes on E-bay.

EL34 Golden Gate Super Tube (GuiGuang) Gold Pins, Matched Quad / Quartet

88 bucks for the set, seemed reasonable. I went for them as, well, I don't know, thought I would check them out. No KT77.

Arrived yesterday, the bottle is bigger than a standard EL34, firm contact with the sockets, bias is very solid. Fancy faux gold around the base. They sound very nice. i had never heard of these, clearly something out of China but the quality seems to be pretty good to me.

[Tom Alverson]

Looks like they are on Amazon as well:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0068NPQO8/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1/175-5791145-4135947?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_r=08S0KMFEDZVZHTTRAR3K&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_i=B0068NPFRQ

$84 with free shipping for four tubes.

[simon wagstaff]

Darn it, I paid 5 bucks for shipping.... will listen some more tonight.

[simon wagstaff]

I've had them for a couple of days now, without going in to a lot of comparisons, I like them.

[simon wagstaff]

Just an update. One of the tubes died, just stopped glowing. I am sending it back for a replacement but I am not so impressed now.

[cheap-Jack]

Hi.

Just an update. One of the tubes died, just stopped glowing. I am sending it back for a replacement but I am not so impressed now.

Good luck. Chines tubes? Not for me as I don't know how long they last.
For cheapie EL-34, get Sovtek & the like. Chines tubes, Uh-a.

c-J

[Meicheng]

I had some Valve Art EL34 tubes and liked them a lot.  Had no quality issues.  One tube going bad is a pretty common thing, and I wouldn't start slamming tubes manufactured in a certain country cause of that.  I've read that one of the European tube manufacturers had serious quality control issues with the pin diameters on some of their new tubes.  There are plenty of really good new EL34 tubes on the market, its just a matter of finding the ones that work for you. 

[DaveC113]

I had a reissue Mullard EL34 start losing it's getter, a Russian 6H8C DOA from the Ukraine, and a JJ 5AR4 flashover in my preamp.

Haven't tried any Chinese tubes yet, but I doubt they could be much worse.

I've been really happy with my SED Winged C EL34s, I like them over the Mullard reissues and Sovtek EL34s I have tried.

[simon wagstaff]

I've heard really good things about the Winged C tubes, I just thought I would try something different. These certainly weren't cheapie tubes, they sounded good, and I am getting a no hassle replacement.

I know better than to buy silver coins from China, but there are many good things made there, just not all of them.

[DaveC113]

I've heard really good things about the Winged C tubes, I just thought I would try something different. These certainly weren't cheapie tubes, they sounded good, and I am getting a no hassle replacement.

I know better than to buy silver coins from China, but there are many good things made there, just not all of them.

What amp/speakers are you using them in? What other tubes have you tried?

That's cool they are replacing the bad one, sometimes I think shipping must be hard on tubes and they have a long way to go to get to the USA. I wish Sylvania would start making tubes in the USA again!

[avahifi]

We use EH 6CA7 power tubes in our Ultravalve and Ultimate 70 amplifiers.  We buy them in matched quad sets.  This means the vendor does all the culling as only good quality tubes fully tested and shipped to us are received.  Our failure rate is very very low by specifying matched quad sets and worth the extra cost.

Frank Van Alstine

[trackball02]

I tried tube rolling with with a matched quad set of JJ 6CA7s in my Ultravalve. Within one month, one tube failed (completely went dead with no filament glow) and was replaced. Within 7 months another one or two tubes failed (popping sounds when turning on the amp and could not set the bias more and 1.0 volts).

I gave up on the JJs and am back to the original EH 6CA7s without any problems. Kudos for AVA for supplying reliable tubes!