Thoughts on 6P14P-EVs in my 18 watt

[ac/dcfan87]

I just wanted to share this with you all. So I've tried a few EL84s in my Avatar 18 including some nos Tungsrams, nos RFTs, and nos Polams.

Today I put in some 6P14P-EV Russian tubes, aka Preferred Series 7189. To any of you (and I know there more than few) that say EL84 amps are thin, you can't get rid of that fizzy mid-high frequency, and they lack punch. You need to try these tubes.

These power tubes made my amp sound huge! You have no idea. Big, bold bass, awesome punchy mids, and crystalline highs with no ice pick. The sound is very balanced through each frequency. The volume increased significantly and the clean headroom. Clean sounds are thick and full with lots of harmonic content.

The real joy happens when you push them. It has a low-mid grunt that punches you in the gut. It reminds me a little of a plexi although I've never played one. But I mean the low mid grunt of the EL34 that is always talked about, again I've never played one so excuse my ignorance. It's the only way I can describe it. They sound different than EL84s, they sound like a bigger bottle tube more akin to 6L6,KT66 or what have you. The dynamics, and the overall punch is just in a different league from any other EL84 I've used.

I think I'm going to buy more.

 

[caljoe]

I might have to try a pair of those in the Asheville just cause, thanks for the info

 

[SGeoff]

I have a thin fizzy chinese cheepo, with el84's...its wortha try, so thanks for the info

 

[ac/dcfan87]

Now.. I've yet confirm 100% that they are safe to use. Initial research indicates that they draw about 20% additional heater current than EL84s. Thetubestore says they are direct sub for an EL84. I ran them in my Laney CUB12R for over a year with no issues.

The key with these tubes is they sound BIG. Power, clean headroom and dynamics. NOS RFTs were comparable in harmonic content but the mids sounded stale and nonexistent compared to the 6P14P-EVs. The other NOS tubes I tried were great but none had the bass and low mid grunt that these have. It makes you forget you're playing an EL84 amp.

I cranked this amp full tilt and the hugeness of the sound was just unreal. It made both the normal channel and TMB channel more versatile. I can get anything from a big, powerful low gain crunch to full JMP like overdrive. Pretty sick. Hope they're safe to use because if they are I'll never have to replace them. They're rated at 5000+ hrs lol. Most rugged power tubes ever lol.