El84 amplifiers..recomendations?

[philv]

Thanks for tne reply.
I agree about tne kt88.
Great dynamics but not valvey enough.

As conincidenc has it, i’ve just bought some ‘65 mullard el34 over on the wam earlier today.
Quite excited.

None of those valves will give you the tinkly, chimey sound you get with EL84s. IMO KT88s sound solid-state-ish in their matter of fact type presentation, tidy, clean and punchy but lacking a bit of character. I could never get on with EL34 amps years ago but for some reason over the last few years, Ive started to favour them, if you get a decent set that are sweet yet punchy. The prima Luna never ceases to impress me im using mine with a set of Mullard EL34s in and it's superbly balanced.

[Barry]

Thanks for tne reply.
I agree about tne kt88.
Great dynamics but not valvey enough.

As conincidenc has it, i’ve just bought some ‘65 mullard el34 over on the wam earlier today.
Quite excited.

Off topic, but I use Blackburn Road Mullard EL34s in my Radford amp.

[walpurgis]

Thanks for tne reply.
I agree about tne kt88.
Great dynamics but not valvey enough.

How can it not be "valvey" enough, it's a valve?

Perhaps you mean it's too accurate sounding and not slack low down and rose tinted and blowsy through the mid.

[philv]

Exactly!

I went from an audio innovatns s700 with knackered mullard and other el34.
Sounded lovely

Swapped to john wood kt88 monos.
Superb, but couldn’t love them.

I need some nth order distortion or whatever to be happy.

How can it not be "valvey" enough, it's a valve?

Perhaps you mean it's too accurate sounding and not slack low down and rose tinted and blowsy through the mid.

[walpurgis]

Have you ever heard the Quad 2 power amps? They may be exactly what you're looking for.

[philv]

I quite like the look of the quad ii classic integrated.
But spending mney like water at the moment.

Have you ever heard the Quad 2 power amps? They may be exactly what you're looking for.

[walpurgis]

I quite like the look of the quad ii classic integrated.
But spending mney like water at the moment.

That won't sound anything like the original 2 power amps. They are very sweet and ethereal through the mid and treble. Bass presentation is the opposite from the KT88.

[philv]

Iteresting.
I’ll keep those in mind long term.

That won't sound anything like the original 2 power amps. They are very sweet and ethereal through the mid and treble. Bass presentation is the opposite from the KT88.

[Bourney]

If you want sweetness and guile, think about an Almarro A318b.

[anubisgrau]

Acoustic Masterpiece AM-201 despite its name is truly phenomenal parallel push pull amp based on 2x EL84 per channel, if this is not enough for your speakers, change them. It's Air Tight subdivision with similar quality of execution.