Best EL34 ?

If you found NOS GE or Sylvania EL34s they would have been made by Amperex or Mullard and would cost the same. Unless your talking about a US made fat bottle 6CA7 which sounds better in a guitar amp then a hi-fi amp.

I just purchased eight of the old EL34 Mullards on EBAY for $200.00,. My current wholesale price list from New Sensor Company shows the Tesla E34 L @ $8.90 each dealer cost.

This makes a total investment difference of only $128.80 for amps requiring sixteen EL 34 outputs. This small difference in price between ordinary tubes the best ever EL34 is the bargain of the century. Obviously everyone must decide where to invest their limited audio budget, but the old magic tubes are often more gain in performance than the same investment in wire, isolation, and equipment upgrades.

My Anthem Amp 1 came with Electro Harmonix El34's which I believe are made by Sovtek. I changed over to Svetlana and the sound is much smoother. Something else I have discovered is after I changed preamps(Anthem pre2L to ARC Ls7)the low end has improved. Don't know if the new pre is letting the Svetlanas do there thing or the pre2L was just lacking. Any comments?

Eight 34s for $200.00? AP, you stole these, good for you.AP is right about the improvement made by tubes versus those made by cables etc.Those of you who haven't tried a great NOS tube need to. Start with your small tubes, a 60s, or better yet a 50s Amperex or Mullard 12AX7 or 12AU7 longplate.It is so much better then anything made today it'll seem like a component upgrade and not a tube upgrade. These can be had (once found) for around $200.00. $200.00 for an improvement that is usually staggering! No upgrade provides more value for money.

What I find interesting about NOS is how much of a difference they make even in relatively inexpensive gear. Recently, when I was stocking up on NOS for my main amps, I bought a Mullard tube set (Amperex for the 12AT7) for the Jolida 302 in my office. I had tubed it with Svetlana EL-34 and Telsa. It was a very significant upgrade in sound even if the tube cost was more than the cost of the amp. Given how compulsive people seem to be about the rest of their cables and tweaks I'm always suprised by the reluctance to go with NOS tubes.