WD KEL84 Valves and cables

[hunterwd]

Hi All

I have a KEL84 and am looking to replace the valves as i dont think the ones in it are as good as they could be.

The current valves are 2x cvc ecf80 and 4x golden dragon el84

I'm thinking of some Telefunken ecf80 but not really sure about the el84

Has anyone got any recommendations for both 80 & 84?

Also what speaker cable are you running?

My whole system is LP12/KEL84 and Celestion Ditton 33 speakers

Thanks

[davebms]

hello all,, I have not tried golden dragon, mine had electro harmonix 34s
the ecf80 make a big difference to the sound of these amps
telefunken I found very good, very fast sounding.. ecf80 are not
to expensive (but I have not looked lately)so poss not to many ££ to try some
speaker cable,, mine are transparent audio music wave super

I may still have a spare matched quad off EH34 I can have a look if your
interested

dave

[John Caswell]

I don't wish to appear superior or pedantic but it is a KEL84 not a KEL/KIT/KAT34,
so EL34 are not much use!

John

[davebms]

Originally Posted by John Caswell

I don't wish to appear superior or pedantic but it is a KEL84 not a KEL/KIT/KAT34,
so EL34 are not much use!

John

TYPO EL84

[hunterwd]

Thanks for the reply Dave

By all means feel free to let me know what el84's you have.

Think i need to order some telefunken ecf80's

[bob orbell]

I will put my finding's in, I built a KEL 84 from parts that had been discarded, finished up with the new up-to date PCB and all new standard components, including new transformers, EL 84's were JJ, and ECF 80's were CVC, all sounded very good, I did try some Mullard ECF 80's that I had, but the sound was too much in your face, I also run a LP12, through a WD Phono III, and found the little KEL to be very close to my WD, WA88, but lacking the power of the 88, as for cables, well, over many years I have tried many different cables, but I now use good old QED 79 strand, it's cheap and I doubt your system would benefit from more expensive cables. Just for the record, how is your Linn configured, arm, cartridge, power supply, etc, and what Phono stage are you using, also, do you use a pre, or is your KEL integrated ?. BOB

[hunterwd]

Hi Bob

Full set up is as follows

Kel84 xl integrated
Lp12 with ittok arm & denon dl103
Origin live power supply
Creek obh-15 phono stage

Celestion ditton 33 speakers

[davebms]

you have PM, looks like you have a good set up

dave

[A.N. Beal]

Valves: I found NOS RCA (rebranded Siemens) ECF80 were a good upgrade, better than the standard CVC ECF80 and also better than JJ.
Cables: internal signal cable - stay with standard cable, don't substitute something more exotic like Soniqs, which is too bright.
Cables: speaker cable - I have just changed from standard 79 strand to Shark OFC S12 cable from Maplin (£20 for 10m reel) and found this a good upgrade - no funny effects, just very nice clear sound.