Hello Dennis, >From working with many EL-34 based amps from Guitar to HIFI I would have to agree with you. Just look at the cathode area and size of the plates. While I don't have the technical reference to back me up, there's a direct correlation between the size of the Plate/Cathode area and a nice sound. Higher peak current capability? Density? Who knows. I have yet to hear any small internal tube sound big and fat. Most noticeably with the later 12AX,U 7's. A NOS large plate,while supposedly the same parameter tube, sounds much "fatter" than a later,much shorter box plate. El-34's are known for their higher even harmonic distortion which is why they work so well on guiter. EL-84's in the same way have an even higher even harmonic level which makes amps using them sound way louder for the watts. Vox AC30 for examp. I will have to try the EL34's in my VK 2 since direct driving the grids of the 807's with a UTC line to grid transformer of appropriate ratio and op level just doesn't quite cut it either. There's also the fact that the 807-6L6 family of tubes are beam power tubes and an EL34 is a real Pentode.
Enjoy! Wm. Courtright KB3DKS/1
