EL34 for my Swart STR?

[lang.murphy]

So... I'm looking at The Tube Store's reviews of EL34 tubes and it looks like the Svetlana best fits what I'm looking for... straight ahead rock 'n roll crunch.

The Tube Store wants $35.95 for a matched pair. Musician's Friend wants $25.99 for a matched pair. Seems kinda like a no-brainer to me...

But... MF lists three options: Hard/Blue, Soft/Red, and Medium/Green, while TTS does not.

From what I could find googling it... soft=early breakup, medium=middle of the road breakup, hard=late breakup. Assuming that's true, soft is what I want.

And why does TTS not list such options? I could no way to specify that in their shopping cart.

And... I only need a single, so I don't really care if TTS does a better job at matching pairs... not for a $10 uptick in price. Just noticed that MF is saying 20 days before they're in inventory, but that's not really an issue for me. I'm in no hurry. And when you add the shipping, MF's is cheaper too for a total savings of $12 over TTS.

Unless, of course, I'm missing something here. If so, please enlighten me.

TIA,

Lang

P.S. I picked up a GT Silver ST-EL34C at GC today for $7 on clearance. I figured for $7, why not?

[Gretsch47]

You might also try a Tung-Sol (re-issue) 5881 in your STR, it's more of a 6L6 but sounds fantastic in my STR-Tweed.

[Blue Strat]

Seriously consider SEDs (Svetlana Electron Devices) which were formerly known as "Svetlanas" before their trademark got hijacked by the company that sells today's "Svetlanas".

The SED's are definitely an upgrade in every way.

BTW, are EL34's ok in that amp? I haven't encountered a Swart that uses EL34s.

[lang.murphy]

Originally Posted by Gretsch47

You might also try a Tung-Sol (re-issue) 5881 in your STR, it's more of a 6L6 but sounds fantastic in my STR-Tweed.

Thanks, Gretch47. Will have to try a 5881... building up my tube collection now. Well, lol, starting my tube collection.

Lang

[lang.murphy]

Originally Posted by Blue Strat

Seriously consider SEDs (Svetlana Electron Devices) which were formerly known as "Svetlanas" before their trademark got hijacked by the company that sells today's "Svetlanas".

The SED's are definitely an upgrade in every way.

BTW, are EL34's ok in that amp? I haven't encountered a Swart that uses EL34s.

Blue Strat,

The SED's have been on my radar. Thanks for the tip!

There are a number of Swart's that support EL34's... my STR, the "newish" STR-Tweed, the AST Head MkII, and the SST 30.

I really like my STR running an EL34. I got the STR used here and it came with a Brimar 6v6, which is a lovely sounding piece of glass. But even the clearance GT Silver EL34 I bought yesterday brings the rawk more than the Brimar.

Thanks,

Lang

[bradinnm]

I picked up a single 6CA7-EH from thetubestore for use with my STR (they will sell you a single) and it works great.

bradinnm