I have just brought 2@JJE34L Tubes as someone said they are 100% better then the Chinese EL34B Tubes but really I can't tell the difference I know the EL34B are a lot more harder to me but is it just "JJ" I have read that "JJ" are not the best Tube out there?? I also have a JJ5U4GB as a rectifier tube over the 5Z3P Chinese tube Can anybody tell me whether "JJ" are the right choice over these Chinese tubes ? or is there a better replacement as I use mainly Russian preamp Tubes and find they are very good. Cheers
If the JJ EL34 work you are probably OK, they do have a reputation for failing catastrophically but if they were purchased tested and burned in you should be fine based on my limited experience.
Their octal tubes have a reputation for erratic quality control which is unfortunate, their miniature 9 pin and 4 pin dhts on the other hand have generally been quite good.
All current production tubes are subject to some variation in quality control. I've had problems with tubes made by most current tube makers except for a few low volume/expensive boutique makers.
Their octal tubes have a reputation for erratic quality control which is unfortunate, their miniature 9 pin and 4 pin dhts on the other hand have generally been quite good.
All current production tubes are subject to some variation in quality control. I've had problems with tubes made by most current tube makers except for a few low volume/expensive boutique makers.
For what's worth;
I use JJ tubes for all my repairs and that for the last 10-15 years or so.
Apart from a few, and I mean a few, they all survived pretty wel and still do.
A robust valve brand with no frills...
I use JJ tubes for all my repairs and that for the last 10-15 years or so.
Apart from a few, and I mean a few, they all survived pretty wel and still do.
A robust valve brand with no frills...
I've had varying experiences with JJ power tubes. Their EL34 has proven to be excellent, both regarding sound and reliability. Their KT77 used to be nice sounding but highly unreliable, nowadays at least the pairs I've had have been quite durable. Their 6CA7 sounds nice too, but 3 out of the 5 I've had have failed.
Their KT88, at least in my experience, takes a lot of punishing for extended periods of time without sweat. I ran my quad in a PP class A amp for a couple of years, and they still work and are quite stable, even after having maybe 4k hours on them. The amp runs 460V on the plate. Sound wise, though, I prefer the EHX KT88, but the JJ does seem very robust.
They way things are I don't think you can salute any particular brand across the range of tube types. One makers 12AX7 may be fantastic but a power tube from same stable may be terrible. I think we all finish up with our own preferred tube manufacturer for a particular tube and even this is dependent on the application we have planned for it. After some years of tube rolling my personal preferences are:-
12AX7 for phono amplifiers = Sylvania winged =C= with box plates or TJ Full Music.
TJ's are hit and miss, either good or slightly noisy with weird pulsing noise but great if you get a good one. Just tried some JJ boxed plate but not quite up to the mark on clarity. I find boxed plate tubes excel in phono stages but you have to be prepared to find those with least micro-phonics but magic once you do.
12AX7 for other general application? Probably Electro-Harmonix.
EL34 = Electro-Harmonix but I do prefer their 6CA7.
KT88 = JJ's as they are so reliable compared to Electro-Harmonix or Psvane which like to pop their envelopes and lose vacuum. I am informed that TAD are very good but not tried them yet.
So you see JJ's good for KT88 but not so good for 12AX7 and that's the way it goes.
But we are talking HiFi here, for a guitarist a boxed plate winged =C= would probably be out of the question due to possibility of feedback at gigging volume.
So no hard and fast rules - over time you will get to know the ones you like and will probably stick with that type.
12AX7 for phono amplifiers = Sylvania winged =C= with box plates or TJ Full Music.
TJ's are hit and miss, either good or slightly noisy with weird pulsing noise but great if you get a good one. Just tried some JJ boxed plate but not quite up to the mark on clarity. I find boxed plate tubes excel in phono stages but you have to be prepared to find those with least micro-phonics but magic once you do.
12AX7 for other general application? Probably Electro-Harmonix.
EL34 = Electro-Harmonix but I do prefer their 6CA7.
KT88 = JJ's as they are so reliable compared to Electro-Harmonix or Psvane which like to pop their envelopes and lose vacuum. I am informed that TAD are very good but not tried them yet.
So you see JJ's good for KT88 but not so good for 12AX7 and that's the way it goes.
But we are talking HiFi here, for a guitarist a boxed plate winged =C= would probably be out of the question due to possibility of feedback at gigging volume.
So no hard and fast rules - over time you will get to know the ones you like and will probably stick with that type.
As said; no problems with JJ tubes.
I'm not interested to seek the "best" tone as this is as much a matter of taste.
I make sure the amps are within spec and they do what they suppose to do:
"Making sound".
And they do it for a long period...
I all ways explain why a JJ and not another one.
Partially I do not like to have a bunch of "equal" tubes in stock; the client has to pay for it...
And I do not repair "HiFi"... only the "good" stuf, guitar amplifiers.
I'm not interested to seek the "best" tone as this is as much a matter of taste.
I make sure the amps are within spec and they do what they suppose to do:
"Making sound".
And they do it for a long period...
I all ways explain why a JJ and not another one.
Partially I do not like to have a bunch of "equal" tubes in stock; the client has to pay for it...
And I do not repair "HiFi"... only the "good" stuf, guitar amplifiers.
Just my 2 cents regarding my use of JJ 5U4GB, bought two in the last six months they failed.
One failed on power up the first time it was inserted the other failed weeks later in my other amp.
I am using Sylvania 5U4GB with no issue now in both amps.
One failed on power up the first time it was inserted the other failed weeks later in my other amp.
I am using Sylvania 5U4GB with no issue now in both amps.
Electro Harmonix are reliable & last a while. Ruby tubes have been very reliable in guitar amps.. I've tried several brands of EL-84's in combo amps and they all get loose inside & rattle. Still looking for some durable EL84's............Terrible luck with Sovtech 12ax7wa, noise & hum. Anybody else?
Crispy have you tried the Sovtek 12AX7LPS? I have had fairly, if not consistently good luck with these - noting that I have not installed any in a guitar amp in recent years. I have not had good luck with Sovtek WA, for some reason in my older designs they wear out in a year or less. (Plate current of <=1mA)
I used JJ tubes in a diytube st-35 I built a dozen years ago. The small tubes are still in there, still sound fine, but the El-84's got noisy before very long. I purchased tubes from Roger Modjeski and haven't looked back.
Power Tubes/Rectifiers
Power Tubes/Rectifiers
No question about it to me...JJ E34Ls sound better to me than chinese. .but don't be surprised if they start shorting/drifting/arcing/run away, throwing some good voltages/current at them...They sure did something right with the EL84s though they can take some voltages/Abuse like NOS, Russian/Chinese will die for sure. 6v6s I don't mind kinda really liked for some things but developing microphonic's/noise to the point of unusable...
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JJ EL84
Seven years ago I built two monoblocks push-pull with dual EL84's from JJ and they are still going strong. The only time it failed spectacularly was when a floorstanding Ikea lamp fell on top of one of the monoblocks...
One tube shattered but I replaced both tubes to be sure..
Seven years ago I built two monoblocks push-pull with dual EL84's from JJ and they are still going strong. The only time it failed spectacularly was when a floorstanding Ikea lamp fell on top of one of the monoblocks...
One tube shattered but I replaced both tubes to be sure..
I replaced Shuguang EL34B with JJ6CA7 in my VR-70mod Amp an was surprised about their clean sound. In my Phono Pre-Amp I use ECc83 from JJ and they have a very clean sound with low noise.
Greetings from Germany
Dieter
Greetings from Germany
Dieter
I have 3@ 1960's 12AX7 Phillips and they have the punch and gain I'm looking for but are very noisy was planing to up grade them and saw the "JJ" version are cheap but didn't think they would cut the muster like the old 12ax7 I have already? but for $30AUD for 2 matching it is worth a try. the new amp I'm building now is a SE Stereo 12ax7/ 6P3S or in place of the 12ax7 6N3 mainly for Jazz music as I have for rock other music a 6H9C/ E34L SE amp
I think i could be a good idea to take the JJ for the first stage and let the Phillips for the next stages not to loose the punch. For my opinion the JJ ECC83 has to less punch, the sound is to clean.
Just a note on the poor ol' Shuguang EL34B - I've tortured a number of these in test amps and they've even done duty in a pair of Eico HF-60s, with a punishing 495VDC @ 60mA for each tube. No red-plating or fiery explosions.
Eventually switched over to vintage Mullard XF2s which was an upgrade sonically but bot as much as I thought they would be. Of course YMMV.
Eventually switched over to vintage Mullard XF2s which was an upgrade sonically but bot as much as I thought they would be. Of course YMMV.
The way I remember the story, it was Groove Tubes that got hold of old stock GE parts tools and material to make E34L tube. Mitch Margoles helped Groove Tubes prepare the design, which was farmed out to JJ for manufacture. At simmilar time, Margoles designed the Manley Snapper amplifier which used the GT E34L, which were matched and tested by GT after receipt from JJ. GT also sold the tubes direct.
I owned Snappers at that time and I can attest that those tubes were like nothing else. Powerful, yes, the internal structure allowed them to make 5W more than normal EL34 tubes. The sound was extremely refined, clear and ballsy. Never heard any tube amp sound like since. But then the first batch of bad tubes came in. I bought a new octet from Manley when my originals wore out at 2500 hours (570V B+.) Between 100 and 500 hours on thenew tubes I had 3 exploded tubes which damaged the amps, and others that just failed blowing the fuses. I replaced a diode once and shipped one amp for repair another time. Manley was always very responsive and sent free replacement tubes... until they didn't anymore, because they were all blowing up. They built their own screen tube tester to try to filter out the junk, but they were all junk. So they switched their standard new tube for the Snapper to the seriously mediocre EH 6CA7. They graciously sent me a new octet of those for free. They held rock stable bias, had good power, quality tube, but the incredibly incisive sound was gone, replaced by typical tube blur and boring tedium. I stupidly sold the amps out of frustration, rather than explore some of the new super tubes coming our of China and Russia, like Gold Lion and Treasure. A year later a friend told me he had 6 quads of NOS GT E34Ls he would sell me for $100/quad. Too late...
JJ also sold the tube under their own brand, I doubt with GT permission.
I see that Groove Tubes still sells their E34L, with same marketing description, saying that it is their exclusive design. I don't know if they fixed the problems, or changed supplier, or what.
Then there is the wrong size pin distaster, when JJ made a batch of power tubes (6550?) with the undersized pins. That caused a lot of damage.
Before I learned JJ made junk I tried an upgrade 12AT7 gold pin input tube from JJ for the Snappers. It sounded excellent, but it started making noise after a couple hundred hours. I would put it away for a few months and try it again, it was quiet for a 100 hours then noise. Unbelievable.
I think the sound quality of JJ tubes is not the problem, they usually sound good in my opinion. But the reliablity and construction quality has traditionally been the problem with JJ. Maybe they have improved their QA since my experiences with them.
Rich
I owned Snappers at that time and I can attest that those tubes were like nothing else. Powerful, yes, the internal structure allowed them to make 5W more than normal EL34 tubes. The sound was extremely refined, clear and ballsy. Never heard any tube amp sound like since. But then the first batch of bad tubes came in. I bought a new octet from Manley when my originals wore out at 2500 hours (570V B+.) Between 100 and 500 hours on thenew tubes I had 3 exploded tubes which damaged the amps, and others that just failed blowing the fuses. I replaced a diode once and shipped one amp for repair another time. Manley was always very responsive and sent free replacement tubes... until they didn't anymore, because they were all blowing up. They built their own screen tube tester to try to filter out the junk, but they were all junk. So they switched their standard new tube for the Snapper to the seriously mediocre EH 6CA7. They graciously sent me a new octet of those for free. They held rock stable bias, had good power, quality tube, but the incredibly incisive sound was gone, replaced by typical tube blur and boring tedium. I stupidly sold the amps out of frustration, rather than explore some of the new super tubes coming our of China and Russia, like Gold Lion and Treasure. A year later a friend told me he had 6 quads of NOS GT E34Ls he would sell me for $100/quad. Too late...
JJ also sold the tube under their own brand, I doubt with GT permission.
I see that Groove Tubes still sells their E34L, with same marketing description, saying that it is their exclusive design. I don't know if they fixed the problems, or changed supplier, or what.
Then there is the wrong size pin distaster, when JJ made a batch of power tubes (6550?) with the undersized pins. That caused a lot of damage.
Before I learned JJ made junk I tried an upgrade 12AT7 gold pin input tube from JJ for the Snappers. It sounded excellent, but it started making noise after a couple hundred hours. I would put it away for a few months and try it again, it was quiet for a 100 hours then noise. Unbelievable.
I think the sound quality of JJ tubes is not the problem, they usually sound good in my opinion. But the reliablity and construction quality has traditionally been the problem with JJ. Maybe they have improved their QA since my experiences with them.
Rich
Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
oh dear. I have a JJ 2A3-40, brand new, bought a few years ago and in a box. I was planning to make a really nice 2A3 amp (mono) but now I'm not sure what to think ?
JJ ECC83s is okay I guess I like them better than Chinese 12AX7s, pretty Dark/Linear like, Chinese 12AX7s are just nothing but really gainy about it, both not that detailed vs good NOS RCA/GEs /Blackburn blows em away...
If you do get a hold of a Set of JJ E34Ls that are actually reliable etc...I still definitely think there is something missing even vs old Tesla Black bases, definitely brown bases.... missing a bit of that Detailed Airy sound, hard to explain.
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