Valves

Worn and New Tung Sol EL34B Image from a Bugera 333 amp

Using Your Ears to Test Your Output Valves and Bugera 333 info

I was repairing a Bugera 333 amp which was really badly crackling.  Taking the back off the amp revealed cooked EL34’s. This is a 120 watt combo amp.  A gigging amp will be used at higher volume settings and so the output valves get worked hard. In a high power combo amp the valves are exposed to a lot of vibration from the cabinet. This is exactly what they dont like. This amp can use

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Reliable Russian Valves

Do you often wonder what quality standards are applied when testing your valves? You want to make sure you  buy the best quality and this article explains reliable Russian valves. Valves are old technology – the 6L6 dates back to 1937 !  The 300B back to the 1920’s ! The military still uses valves in many systems so it is critical that the valves are well tested to weed out the duds. Valves have a

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Sovtek Tung Sol Electro Harmonix Genalex JJ Electronic valves

Which Pre-amp Valves Sound best in my Amp

Which Pre-amp Valves Sound best in my Amp?  A question many folks ask. There are many different types of ECC83  / 12AX7  in the market. There are not only different manufacturers but also different variants such as the 5751, 12AY7. So you might be asking where how can I figure out what the differences are? I have written a couple of short articles on this subject already and these touched on this topic. This article

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Amp Valves

Valve Suppliers and Resellers, make sure you know the market

Valve Suppliers and Resellers (see note) When your amp needs new valves no doubt you will read the reviews of all the differing  manufacturers of amplifier valves and what they have to offer. It appears that there are loads of different manufacturers but in fact there are only three main manufacturers on the planet. There are a few other specialists  but they make so few and mostly for high end HiFi. The companies that own

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Sovtek EL84 Matched Pair

Sovtek EL84M More Headroom More Power Longer Life

Many folks ask what the difference is between the standard EL84 and the more expensive  Sovtek EL84M. There has been no data available and I see lots of questions on forums etc asking about where you can get a data sheet. I worked with the Sovtek team and pulled a product information sheet together out of Russian documents etc. First of all here is some background info as to why this was done The EL84

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