I want to throw something open for interest and comment. How good, bad, or indifferent are Sovtek EL34G and WXT valves? My past experience with EL34?s (and 84?s) has been with those from Mullard, Philips and Telefunken, since these were easily available when I was building valve amps years and years ago. Is the apparent high regard from audiophiles for those brands justified? Do they last better, sound better, and have tighter spec tolerances, or are there simply no truly important differences? The reason I ask is that I?ve been digging in my stock of valves and have largely come up with Sovtek (and Electro-Harmonix) stuff as far as the power pentodes go, which is somehow disappointing!
