Sovtek EL84 / 6BQ5

From our review of this EL84 tube: "The Sovtek EL84 tube has been a staple for Fender, Boogie, Crate, Peavey and other manufacturers of tube amps using the EL84 tube. This EL84 tube really is a good value. It is predictable, reliable and affordable. You can get good EL84 tone at a reasonable price. The Sovtek EL84 tube has been around a long time, and it has shown continuous improvement over the years. Using a matched set of properly biased tubes will yield a clear smooth sound that is fairly warm and transitions into a smooth breakup with that singing tone that EL84 tubes are known for. In Cathode biased amps like the VOX they get a premium workout and will suffer some effects from heating and cooling. Being prone to mechanical noise in a combo amp, the EL84 tube is not recommended for amps with poor air circulation. The heating/cooling cycle inside an AC30 easy bake oven seems to loosen up the mechanical structures within the tube causing them to become very noisy (mechanically) with time."

Note: These tubes have a slightly larger diameter than other EL84 tubes so they can not be installed into some '90's era Marshall DSL201 or DSL401 amplifiers, some '90's era reissue Vox AC15 amps, and Bad Cat amps.

Other Sovtek tubesEL84 Tube Types