Hey Joe!
I have to disagree with Trelja, but with a Caveat:
I owned the 805 for quite a while, and drove them well with 30 push-pull triode watts from a Rogue Tempest, and a Cary SLI-80 sig, I had great results, but with 6550 or kt-88 tubes.
The el-34, while having a beautiful midrange, just wimps out on the bass.
I'd rather have a fuller bottom end, and use line-level tubes to get the midrange sound (or as close as you can).
I know Trelja loves the el34, and perhaps the reportedly excellent bass response of most all totems is probably a good match.
IF you are going to try to drive the 805s with el-34s, you're probably not going to get the bass that you want.
IF you try some 6550/kt88 tubes, at the expense of some of the midrange magic, you might get a fuller sound, plus a little more juice.
I have to disagree with Trelja, but with a Caveat:
I owned the 805 for quite a while, and drove them well with 30 push-pull triode watts from a Rogue Tempest, and a Cary SLI-80 sig, I had great results, but with 6550 or kt-88 tubes.
The el-34, while having a beautiful midrange, just wimps out on the bass.
I'd rather have a fuller bottom end, and use line-level tubes to get the midrange sound (or as close as you can).
I know Trelja loves the el34, and perhaps the reportedly excellent bass response of most all totems is probably a good match.
IF you are going to try to drive the 805s with el-34s, you're probably not going to get the bass that you want.
IF you try some 6550/kt88 tubes, at the expense of some of the midrange magic, you might get a fuller sound, plus a little more juice.