MESA 2:90: Retube it or drop it?

Hi guys, I have a MESA 2:90 that needs some better tubes (than the Sovteks in there), should I put some nice SEDs in, or go for the 2:100?
Any big difference between them?

I like lots of headroom & punch, very little blurry breakup. I tried a VHT 2:50:2 and it didn't do much for me.

What do ya think?

I'd put some JJ's in there.

The 2:90 is designed for use with the triaxis.
The 2:100 is a copy of the dual recto power section and is designed for use with the recto pre.

So what preamp are u using?

I just retubed with Svetlana's and couldn't be happier.

Thx

I'm using the CAE 3+ SE if that helps.

Are those the "winged C" Svetlanas Daisy?

Personally I would keep the 2:90 rather than spend the money on a different poweramp.
The 2:90 is a very good poweramp.

I haven't tried Svets but I just put new JJ's in my little Champ and it sounds sweet. If you gonna try JJs check out www.eurotubes.com. Bob is really great and will anwer all your questions via email.

Ned

ned said:

I haven't tried Svets but I just put new JJ's in my little Champ and it sounds sweet. If you gonna try JJs check out www.eurotubes.com. Bob is really great and will anwer all your questions via email.

Ned

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+ 1 for eurotubes, The guy over there told me all my options and discussed them in a good amount of depth with me. He knows his tubes.

JDouglee said:

Thx

I'm using the CAE 3+ SE if that helps.

Are those the "winged C" Svetlanas Daisy?

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http://www.thetubestore.com/ne-6l6gc.html

The "Winged C"s are SEDs;

http://www.thetubestore.com/6l6gc.html

I did alot of research before choosing them. Since I liked the tone of the amp, I wanted something that would sound as good as possible without changing it too much. The option that seemed the best was the Svetlana's...Mesa sells them as STR454s. I almost went with both JJs and SEDs, but I went with the Svets on a gut feeling and I don't think it was a wrong choice. I've never tried the other two in this amp, so I can't do a comparison.

Grandor said:

ned said:

I haven't tried Svets but I just put new JJ's in my little Champ and it sounds sweet. If you gonna try JJs check out www.eurotubes.com. Bob is really great and will anwer all your questions via email.

Ned

Click to expand...

+ 1 for eurotubes, The guy over there told me all my options and discussed them in a good amount of depth with me. He knows his tubes.

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+2. I've never bought from him, but Bob's been super helpful and always responds quickly to email. Some friends of mine have done business with him and all have recommended him.

I keep hearing that Bob's JJs are a little on the "dark" side tonally.
Is this true?

JDouglee said:

I keep hearing that Bob's JJs are a little on the "dark" side tonally.
Is this true?

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They were my first set of JJ's, so I cant compare them.

No, sorry, I meant JJs in general, not Bob's specifically. Are they darker
compared to what you had in there before?

thx

JDouglee said:

No, sorry, I meant JJs in general, not Bob's specifically. Are they darker
compared to what you had in there before?

thx

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IMO, the JJ preamp tube are a little darker, but not very much. The power amp tubes scream. I have all JJs in my Dual Recto and love them compared to every other tube I've had.

Thanx guys, and congrats on the new board! 8)

I think I'll keep the old workhorse & get some tubes!

JDouglee said:

Thanx guys, and congrats on the new board! 8)

I think I'll keep the old workhorse & get some tubes!

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Good plan mate.
Look forward to hearing how it goes.

I just bought the 2:100 Recto, I put it against the 2:90 at the same time, the Recto seemed much more alive and full, very tight.
The 2:90 sounded much like my Marshall 9200, very nice but not as wicked as the 2:100..just my opinion. My rack has the Rectifier Recording preamp as the main sound source.


Here's what it sounds like:
http://www.thesamhillband.com/nasty.mp3

dont forget, the 2:90 and 2:100 are completely different amplifiers.
the 2:90 is simul class meaning on each channel, two tubes are
paired class A and the other are paired AB and the outputs combined,
giving slightly less than 25 watts per tube, IE 90.
the 2:100 is straight class AB. way different sound without a class A
amp mixed in.

JDouglee said:

No, sorry, I meant JJs in general, not Bob's specifically. Are they darker
compared to what you had in there before?

thx

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If you ask me, the 6L6GC's are a little darker. They're not as bright as the rest of the pack. You probably won't notice a huge difference in terms of brightness and darkness with those tubes though. They're real aggressive sounding.

There are a few problems with running JJ 6L6GC's in some of Mesa's circuits other than the Simul-Class stuff. JJ's do not have a very strong natural plate current draw and the bias runs extremely low because Mesa sets the negative grid voltage too low with a fixed resistor. They still sound decent, but they really start doing what they were designed to do when the bias is up higher. They become much fatter sounding and add some girth and punch to the power section when run hotter. They just don't sound right to my ears when they're run extremely cool. The JJ EL34 and E34L don't have this problem because they draw a pretty good bit of natural plate current.

The SED's sound the best to me in Mesa stuff as far as 6L6GC's are concerned. I also like NOS Philips 6L6GC's and 7581A's in Mesas. The Sylvania 6L6GC was Randall's favorite power tube. Philips bought out Sylvania back in the 70's.

Dale

JDouglee said:

Hi guys, I have a MESA 2:90 that needs some better tubes (than the Sovteks in there), should I put some nice SEDs in, or go for the 2:100?
Any big difference between them?

I like lots of headroom & punch, very little blurry breakup. I tried a VHT 2:50:2 and it didn't do much for me.

What do ya think?

Click to expand...

"Winged" SEDs or GT 6L6GEs. You might find some nice NOS Philips a bit cheaper than the GTs.

JDouglee said:

I tried a VHT 2:50:2 and it didn't do much for me.

What do ya think?

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Hey Doug! That's a first for the VHT that I've heard. What didn't you like about it? Also.. what did you notice as far as differences between the two?

Bob over at Eurotubes will fill you in on anything you want to know about running JJs with the 2:90 so shoot him an email or give him a call.