Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Have to reply to leak thread here as "strangely enough" I can't reply in that thread.... must be a bit in invisible ink where the AUP bans you from offering tech advice on modding them....
Anyhow there's a "love in" on Mullard ECC83's going on there and all my experience makes me say the exact opposite!! I VERY strongly disagree with both Alex S and TonyL on the matter of Mullard ECC83's in a St20. The Blackburn 16I is the worst ECC83 in existence on sound quality to my ears, although superbly reliable. It's pipe and slippers city!
Brimar is about the best with EI very close indeed of the one's I've tried. I haven't personally had any reliability problems with EI, even with ones pulled from Marshall guitar amps that have been rattled about in the back of transit vans and no doubt had a severe time from the SPL's and vibration of live band use. No way will they be as reliable as Mullard but like I say no problems so far.
I find the Russian 6P14P-EV as good as Mullard and expect similar reliability from 70's and 80's made mil spec ones.
If you really want to be in no doubt that you are listening to a 1960's valve amp (a bit grannys warm sounding old radio) and are not bothered about proper treble transients, transparency, speed etc then the Mullards are just the thing...
I found much the same in the Arkless Electronics valve hybrid line stage... I use a Brimar here but both silver and dark anode EI sound good but different to one another
Anyhow there's a "love in" on Mullard ECC83's going on there and all my experience makes me say the exact opposite!! I VERY strongly disagree with both Alex S and TonyL on the matter of Mullard ECC83's in a St20. The Blackburn 16I is the worst ECC83 in existence on sound quality to my ears, although superbly reliable. It's pipe and slippers city!
Brimar is about the best with EI very close indeed of the one's I've tried. I haven't personally had any reliability problems with EI, even with ones pulled from Marshall guitar amps that have been rattled about in the back of transit vans and no doubt had a severe time from the SPL's and vibration of live band use. No way will they be as reliable as Mullard but like I say no problems so far.
I find the Russian 6P14P-EV as good as Mullard and expect similar reliability from 70's and 80's made mil spec ones.
If you really want to be in no doubt that you are listening to a 1960's valve amp (a bit grannys warm sounding old radio) and are not bothered about proper treble transients, transparency, speed etc then the Mullards are just the thing...
I found much the same in the Arkless Electronics valve hybrid line stage... I use a Brimar here but both silver and dark anode EI sound good but different to one another