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Does anyone here have any experience or advice with EL84 power amps? I'm considering one because of the low wattage and because I'd like to have a 4 space rack with a Furman power conditioner, a modified ADA MP-1 preamp, a BBE Sonic Maximizer, and a 1U power amp. I don't have any experience with EL84 tubes. I was also wondering if there are any other power tubes that can fit into EL84 sockets.

EL84's have tight low end, but not extremely deep. The real draw to those tubes is the beautiful top end chime, especially in a cathode biased amp, but they still show their character in regular Class A/B amps as well. If an amp isn't optimized for EL84's it can sound harsh.

I hope this helps you out. IMO a good example of a well designed EL84 power amp would be the Mesa 20/20 Dynawatt. I think Peavey used to have a cool as well, but I don't remember the model number.

I had the Boogie Dynawatt. For 3 days.
It has great cleans with lots of sparkle, chime and complexity, adn the medium gain tones growled and had a nice edginess to them, but the heavier sounds didn't seem to punch hard enough for me. It almost seemed like I was playin gin anothe room.

Maybe I needed to optimize my preamp to that particular power section, but I like the way my V-Twin and my GT-8 sound much more through my Mesa 50 watt per side power amp (running on 6L6's).

It seems like all of my tones have more authority and depth to them.


Originally Posted by n00b

Furman power conditioner

I see these mentioned all the time in rack setups but I have no idea what their purpose is. Can someone please tell me?


Originally Posted by Hames JetfieldI see these mentioned all the time in rack setups but I have no idea what their purpose is. Can someone please tell me?

They're basically a power strip/circuit breaker for the other rack equipment. They have outlets that you plug your other gear into instead of running cords all over the place, you just have the one to plug into the wall.

Very nice when you live in a place like S. Florida where the afternoon lightning storms will fry the piss out of your gear if not grounded amp; protected!!!As for the EL84 question....just like FireBros. said, beautiful top end chime amp; aggressive when overdriven, but they lack a little bass.

If you can saturate them they sound beautiful!!! But they also run hot...so they don't last as long.

I had a Mesa/Boogie 20/20 amp; loved it.....mainly because of the cleans. IN MY OPINION, if you can get the amp to stay clean amp; use pedals to dirty things up, you're all good.

It's easier to dirty up a clean amp than try to clean up a dirty amp!

Also, the 20/20 likes to run in stereo (20/20....really???)....1u rack...very nice. The fan is a little loud though.

I think Marshall makes an equivalent but don't know anything about it.

in my Marshall DSL, I dont like them. Too toppy, not enough bottom end. They sound harsh and compressed under heavy gain to my ears, which I imagine wont really be suitable for use with an MP-1, however I could be wrong. EL-34s and 6L6s for me from now on.

My EL84 Traynor Bassmate is a tone monster and does not lack in the bottom in any way. I am amazed by the thump that 20 watt beast has. I love that amp, I know it will eat more tubes but the tonal trade off is worth it.

The only ones I know of are the Marshall and Mesa. The Mesa has a quot;deep modquot; which involves cutting out a quot;sausage looking thingquot; that bypasses tone sucking capacitors It cuts back on the highs and mids, and supposedly makes it sound a lot better. The Marshall has a deep switch, which supposedly overcompensates and gives it too much bass. My first choice would probably be the Mesa.

Is leaving an empty space above the power amp necessary? How effective are the fans?

I love EL-84s. Everyone here has nailed it. Chimey top end, sparkle, complexity and because of the lower power, they can be overdriven easier than others. I haven't found overdrive to be harsh or nasty in any way, although I agree that there isn't quite as much bass as with some others.

I used to use a Peavey Classic with EL-84's, I used it with a POD and a Mesa Studio preamp. Very nice sounding amp. If your interested, I believe that Music Go Round here in Ann Arbor still has it for sale for $225!!!! I traded it for a 69 Bassman head, 2 years ago and it's still there.


Originally Posted by n00bI was also wondering if there are any other power tubes that can fit into EL84 sockets.

AFAIK Nope...EL84's are 9-pin tubes, and all other power amp tubes I know of are 8-pin.

I love the 84's they have the chime, but the midrange sounds great to my ears. I go through a set about once a year. Right now it's time to change them out actually.

Luke

I'd probably opt for 50/50 or 60/60 with 6L6's, or maybe EL-34's. They just sound better with pre amps, to my ears. EL-84's usually sound best as dedicated power sections in amps that are designed around that sound.

100/100 or more is so crushing loud that they almost serve no purpose other than insane volume.....you almost don't even hear a hint of power tube breakup.

Yeah, I was gonna mention the 50/50, but he said he wanted EL84s...and a single rack space.

The nice thing with the 50/50 is the 1/2 power switch...actually, I think it's more than 1/2; doesn't it knock it down to 15watts?

I have had the 20/20 for about 6 years now and absolutley love it. I did the quot;deepquot; mod and Built in mini switches so I can turn it on and off. I find I usualy leave it off. It kills the mids and lowers the volume a bit. It's cool for dark heavy stuff though. I run a Marshall 9001 Tube pre in front of it and that seems to be my favorite. I had a v-twin and it was a bit quot;too muchquot;. By that I mean it was very fat sounding, alittle too fat for me. From what I hear, you want to stay away from the Marshall EL-84 amps. They have serious problems with overheating. When I was reserching I found this out and got the Mesa. I've been happy ever since. And don't forget to put a BBE in there. It just opened everthing up.