New production "Mullard" EL34 tube

organ
organ Posts: 4,969
edited November 2004 in 2 Channel Audio
Looks like New Sensor (Makers of the famous ~C~ SED) just started making a new EL34 tube which is suppose to be a copy of Mullard. These new tubes are labeled "Mullard" on the glass and box!!! The only difference is that you'll see "Made in Russia" printed instead of "Made in Great Britain". Now, these new EL34's better be damn good because they have the guts to bring back the Mullard name in vacuum tubes.

You can do a search on ebay. Price looks fair for current production EL34. The seller was really raving about these new tubes. A few guys at the asylum are really enjoying them too. It will be a long time before I can give them a try because I'm really tight on cash right now, but if anybody else gets to try them out, post your results. I'm dying to hear how they sound.

Maurice
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  • gidrah
    gidrah Posts: 3,049
    edited October 2004
    Don't do that when you have something up for sale! You're just lucky that (hoepfully) by the time I fire up my ST-70 again I will need to put it on a variac.
    Make it Funky! :)
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited October 2004
    Found one closed auction...
    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=73377&item=5724715595&rd=1
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
    "There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
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  • dcarlson
    dcarlson Posts: 1,740
    edited October 2004
    They'd interesting to try. From that auction they seem on the pricy side. Maybe if more are made available the price will drop.
    SDA-2a, Anthem Pre-2L, Anthem Amp 1, MF A324 DAC, Rotel RCD1070

    Senn HD650 Cardas, Mapletree Audio Ear+ HD2, Kimber KS1030, Bel Canto DAC2, M-Audio Transit, Laptop.
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited October 2004
    Gidrah,
    How long has it been since you used your ST-70? The Dyna originally shipped with Mullard EL34 and they're very much sought after. NOS Mullard is considered the best EL34 tube along with Siemens.

    Tour,
    Thanks for posting the link. Forgot to do that.

    Derick,
    I'm guessing they're a little more expensive because production just started and there's not too many out there right now. I don't see it at tubestore or triodeelectronics yet. I'm sure it will be a fair price once they hit the mainstream. Man, I think I'm going to sell a **** load of video games to my dealer and get some cash for those tubes:D. I'm sure they're going to be killer tubes. We both think that the SED was amazing.

    Maurice
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  • gidrah
    gidrah Posts: 3,049
    edited October 2004
    It was Saturday night. I then swapped it and my preamp out with another combo.
    Make it Funky! :)
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited October 2004
    Well then, you've still got 177 days or so...

    Just spin them up on a load every couple months or so and mno worries... put a reminder in your PC's calendar...

    maurice,
    I asked Nicholas at Micronetics, if he's heard them and plans to stock them... I may get an answer, but I have managed to piss him off twice over the past month... No "black label" or Sylvania deals are in my immediate furture. The dollar's slide is hurting big time...

    dc,
    Devaluation vs. foreign currency could be a factor on these as well. how's the loonie holding up?

    Maybe we can just send a few rolls of TP to Russia for a dozen or so... :D
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
    "There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
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  • dcarlson
    dcarlson Posts: 1,740
    edited October 2004
    Last week the loonie topped $0.80 U.S. It was at it's highest in 12 years. Looks like it's even higher now. 81.6
    SDA-2a, Anthem Pre-2L, Anthem Amp 1, MF A324 DAC, Rotel RCD1070

    Senn HD650 Cardas, Mapletree Audio Ear+ HD2, Kimber KS1030, Bel Canto DAC2, M-Audio Transit, Laptop.
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited October 2004
    I took a look at the seller's ad again and his comment on the price didn't make sense. He said they're introductory prices which is expected to rise soon. I highly doubt that. The price will only drop when more become available. These are current production, not NOS! Nobody is going to buy current production at NOS prices.

    I have a feeling Electro Harmonix is going to make a new EL34 also. From what I see, there are as many people using EH as SED. The competition is heating up! Let the tube war begin!!!!:D

    By looking at the pic, it's obvious these tubes are made by SED. All my SED EL34 have the blue "OTK 2" printed on the glass. And the little metal things holding the plates against the glass are the exact same used in SED. The base and bottle looks the same too.

    Maurice
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited October 2004
    Bruce,
    Man, Nicolas have some problems! I also contacted him about my RCA black plates. Looks like 1 of the 4 is a defect. I get a continuous static/popping noise from one of them and I asked him if I could send it back and exchange it for a new one. He said the 30 day warranty is over and that I'd have to buy something else from him and he'll send me another RCA along with the new order. WTF??? I'll stick to the 3 working ones. I hear 7199's last forever.

    It's probably better if you wait for one of the online stores to start selling the new Mullard. Shipping from Nicolas takes two weeks. So did you receive a reply from him yet?

    Maurice
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited October 2004
    Maurice,

    It's been all I can do to not tell him to shove all his tubes up his... well, you know...

    We are working a deal, then he has to go to Spain for personal reasons, then when he comes back the dollar has fallen and so none of the prices he quoted were any good. Finally told him I will be back in touch when the dollar rises.

    Oh yeah, and through our "negotiations" he writes several full page plus messages, mostly telling me I don't understand business and other miscellaneous beratings, and then tells me not to waste his time. Nice people/ CS skills there...

    But, I bit my tongue/ fingers and I have not burned bridges as his company has a serious stockpile of tubes. However, if you are telling me his post sale manners are no better...

    Let me know how it goes..
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
    "There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited October 2004
    Buying from him is great. Ships as soon as he receives payment, etc, but like you said, his CS sucks. Doesn't he know that some people are planning to buy again from him in the future. When I'm ready to buy some more 7199, I'm going to look elsewhere first. You're right, he has a good stock of NOS tubes so we better not tell him to shove it just yet:D.

    I don't think I'm going to buy anything else from him for a long time. Those 7199's cost a lot. I'm going to keep the other working one incase one of the two I'm using right now goes south. One bad tube from the four I bought. I guess it's not too bad.

    Hope your negotiations go well. Good luck.

    Maurice
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited November 2004
    I don't know WTF is taking so long for these tubes to get to tube retaillers. I've been checking ebay and it looks like only small private online stores got them. I still don't know why they're so damn expensive ($129 for a quad wtf???) They're not NOS.

    I e-mailed thetubestore.com a few days ago asking about the new Mullards and received a reply. They said they're not planning to sell them at the moment and that I should stick to my EL34EH because it's a better value (no ****, $45/quad vs $129/quad). However, they didn't answer my question about how much they would sell them for. They said that if demand for the new "Mullard" and "Tung-Sol" increase, they will get them. This proves that the online dealers on ebay are full of crap telling us the new tubes are extremely rare! They're being made but stores aren't ready to sell them yet.

    So there you go guys, if you really want to try them out, e-mail tubestore and bug the hell out of them. Like they said, if there's enough demand for them, they'll start selling them. Their e-mail is info@thetubestore.com

    Maurice
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited November 2004
    HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Found them at tube depot. MUCH MUCH cheaper than what those **** on ebay are charging. Can't wait for the next pay check:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

    http://www.tubedepot.com/mu-el34.html

    And for those of you with a deep pocket

    http://www.tubedepot.com/nos-el34-siemens.html

    Maurice
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited November 2004
    Thanks, Maurice... just bought the last two pair they had... ;)

    Did pass on the Siemens, however... I never buy tubes that increase the investment in my amp by 50%.

    Will be interesting to hear these "Newbies" vs. some used, but still strong, original Dyna Mullards I have.
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
    "There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited November 2004
    Super cool! Please let me know how they sound when you get them. I'm in love with the EL34EH(also a Mullard copy) and if these sound better I'm going to cream my pants. I just hope they don't take too long to break in. My quad of EH took 100's of hours to sound like they do now. A lot of people on AA say EL34 tubes need about 500hrs.

    Maurice
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