Hot Cat EL-34 opinions please.

[hardys]

I'm thinking of ordering s pair of EL-34s for my newly aquired Hot Cat and was wondering what you other Hot Cat owners like for the power section. I just bought it used from a listing in the Emporium section and is on the UPS truck as I type. I don't even know what tubes are currently in it, but I always like to test out a used amp with fresh tubes.

I know Bad Cat uses Ruby/Chinese El34Bs, but I'm curious about Sed =C= and JJ E34Ls, and EH El34s as well.

Has anybody here compared the tone of these four (SED, JJ E34L, EH EL34 and EL34B)? Are there any reliabilty issues with the Chinese ones?

Thanks!

[Blue Strat]

The only data point I have is that the SEDs are holding up well in a customers Hot Cat where the Mullard Reissues didn't do so well.

[stratton]

So my amp found it's way to you! Hope you like it. I miss it already.

I asked the same question when I bought it, and Myles Rose of Groove Tubes responded with the recommendations below. BTW, Blue Strat is Mike at KCA. He's highly recommended as well.

I have two set ups for Hot Cats.

V1 - either an ECC83S or a 12AX7C9 ....the ECC83S is more Brit sounding and the 12AX7C is more linear and mellow ... maybe a better "all around tube". This is for tour.

V1 for recording or the studio:

NOS Brimar 12AX7/CV4004s from Mike at www.kcanostubes.com or his NOS RCA 12AX7A if he has any.

..............

V2 on the road: 12AX7C9 Same in the studio usually.

.............

V3 for the tone section: again from Mike at KCA (I cannot believe how much business I am turning away but I am looking at this question the way I would for my own amps or amps of my clients)

NOS RFT 12AX7/ECC83

.......................

The phase inverter: A MATCHED ONE .... AND MATCHED OUTPUT TUBES. This will make the amp sound and play better but that may be subjective .... having the output transformer temperature drop 20+ degrees is not subjective and everything in that chassis will be happier and cooler ....

I use nothing but 12AX7M tubes these days for phase inverters. Mike at KCA has some M's in stock and can match them for for a few extra bucks on a super VTV piece of test gear that gives great results.

..................

Output set ....

I like either the E34LS in a #5 rating or an EL-34R2 (Svetlana ... but a REAL Svetlana) in a #6 rating. The NOS Siemens tubes will not hold up in these cathode biased amps very well.

Change these every 500-600 hours by the way.

Some folks are now using #5 6CA7 tubes with a lot of nice results.

Change these every 700 or so hours.

Hope this was of some help.

[wire 247]

I have a Hot Cat 30 and a Lynx 50, so far I have just used JJ EL34s. To me the Hot cat is a bit grainy. Does anybody know how to get rid of this. Has anybody tried kt 77s in this amp....?

[stratton]

Originally Posted by wire 247

I have a Hot Cat 30 and a Lynx 50, so far I have just used JJ EL34s. To me the Hot cat is a bit grainy. Does anybody know how to get rid of this. Has anybody tried kt 77s in this amp....?

I think that is just the nature of the Cat. I had good luck with both tone controls at about 10:00, gain between 10:00 and 12:00, MV at 9:00 or more.

The most non-grainy sounds I got out of it were through two different 4X12s. The 1st, which I absolutely loved, was a Bad Cat V30 loaded cab. They treat the V30s, as does Matchless, to age them and it was such a sweet sound. Perfect.

Next best was a even better for one application (spanky Marshally thing) but not as versatile as the Bad Cat 4 X12 which sounded great doing a bunch of different things, Marshall JVM 4X12 the the G12C Celestions.

Various 2X12s of GBs, or the Matchless 2X12 come in third.

[FFTT]

I liked the JJ EL34L's that came with my Hot Cat 100 just fine, but also like the SED Winged C's
Since you're only buying 2 power tubes, I'd get both and see how you like them.
The Sovtek licensed Mullards only lasted 10 hours in my Cat, so no more of those for this Bad Kitty.

If you want your tubes to last longer, I'd strongly consider a line voltage regulator that keeps your line voltage between 115-120.

[vchizzle]

I like the GT E34LS #5 for output. I have a pair of KT77's in there now and don't really have any complaints though I think the E34LS's were a bit sweeter sounding. I use a stereo setup with another amp so I don't play it alot on its own. pre's I like 12AX7M's alot. I have a CV4004 in V1 now that sounds really nice.

[wsaraceni]

i like tun sol reissues in the pre and jj kt77s in the power. thats what i have in there right now.

[SFW]

There is only one EL34 that I will use... Winged C

[hardys]

Thanks for all of the help guys.

I'm curious why nobody has recommended the Chinese El34Bs, since that is what Bad Cat uses.

[hardys]

Originally Posted by stratton

So my amp found it's way to you! Hope you like it. I miss it already.

I asked the same question when I bought it, and Myles Rose of Groove Tubes responded with the recommendations below. BTW, Blue Strat is Mike at KCA. He's highly recommended as well.

I have two set ups for Hot Cats.

V1 - either an ECC83S or a 12AX7C9 ....the ECC83S is more Brit sounding and the 12AX7C is more linear and mellow ... maybe a better "all around tube". This is for tour.

V1 for recording or the studio:

NOS Brimar 12AX7/CV4004s from Mike at www.kcanostubes.com or his NOS RCA 12AX7A if he has any.

..............

V2 on the road: 12AX7C9 Same in the studio usually.

.............

V3 for the tone section: again from Mike at KCA (I cannot believe how much business I am turning away but I am looking at this question the way I would for my own amps or amps of my clients)

NOS RFT 12AX7/ECC83

.......................

The phase inverter: A MATCHED ONE .... AND MATCHED OUTPUT TUBES. This will make the amp sound and play better but that may be subjective .... having the output transformer temperature drop 20+ degrees is not subjective and everything in that chassis will be happier and cooler ....

I use nothing but 12AX7M tubes these days for phase inverters. Mike at KCA has some M's in stock and can match them for for a few extra bucks on a super VTV piece of test gear that gives great results.

..................

Output set ....

I like either the E34LS in a #5 rating or an EL-34R2 (Svetlana ... but a REAL Svetlana) in a #6 rating. The NOS Siemens tubes will not hold up in these cathode biased amps very well.

Change these every 500-600 hours by the way.

Some folks are now using #5 6CA7 tubes with a lot of nice results.

Change these every 700 or so hours.

Hope this was of some help.

Thanks for the help Stratton. Drew tells me that the amp is a 2004 and you are the original owner. Is that correct?

[sickboy79]

I've still got the stock tubes in my Hot Cat head as well. Ruby EL34Bs and Chinese 12AX7s. I've got a few NOS 12AX7s that I'm going to experiment with. But, she sounds amazing as is.

My EL34Bs seem to be still running strong but, I think when i change I'm going to try a set of NOS Tesla's from Mike at KCA (if he has any left) based on the results of these in my Matchless Clubman.

SED/Winged Cs are hard to beat in most applications (although EH are my fav new production EL34s) but, I haven't tried them in the Hot Cat yet.

[stratton]

Originally Posted by hardys

Thanks for the help Stratton. Drew tells me that the amp is a 2004 and you are the original owner. Is that correct?

You're welcome. Not sure about the mfg year because it was in the store for a long time, but I bought it new.

BTW, the biggest changes in sound on that amp will come from different speakers. Big difference between a GB and V30, for example.

[Probos]

I run the Ruby EL34BSTR's in my Hot Cat 30R and C9's in the preamp. Love my Hot Cat!