Does anyone have the original Mullards in their Montille?

triodesteve

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Apr 29, 2018
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I know its a long shot. I bought an older Montille (serial #39) and it seems like the "Mullard" el84's are
really Yugo tubes with fake silkscreens.
I would like to hear what Ken Shindo had in mind when this amplifier left Tokyo. If you have the Mullards that came with your amp could
you share the codes with me please. I'm interested in the change code (KM1 or the like) and the date code.

Thanks for your help

Steve

PS: I'm not looking for replacement suggestions...it's Kens voicing that I'm looking for.
 
Hi Steve,
My Aurieges was also bought with Yugo PCL86 tubes branded Lorentz.
I tried Mullards, TFKs, all of them sounds different but those EI are good.
 
Hi Steve - I have a Montille EL84 serial #24 and it came with Mullard branded Ei tubes with Km4 codes. I believe these are the original tubes in earlier Montilles.
 
Hi Steve - I have a Montille EL84 serial #24 and it came with Mullard branded Ei tubes with Km4 codes. I believe these are the original tubes in earlier Montilles.
Exactly the tubes that are in mine. Ken Shindo had the street cred to use any tube he wanted...why choose a fake? So now the quest is to find more rebranded Yugo tubes? Was it just that version of the Yugo or will any do? Answers beget more questions.
Thanks for the info!!!
Steve
 
The Yugotones are excellent. Mine had the same, branded as Mullard.
 

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I eventually found some EI tubes with the KM4 code. They do sound the same as the originals which is great. The surprise so far is the influence of the 6AW8a.
I replaced them with Phillips (label printed in green) and the magic was gone. As soon as I put the original Phillips tubes back in (printed in blue) the magic came back. I believe that these are the same tubes from the same Sylvania factory in Pennsylvania, the difference is when they were produced. The better sounding blue printed tubes are actually made more recently! My research reads that Phillips changed to blue printing around 1986. While I wait for the newer version to arrive, I also listened to an older Sylvania version...better but still not magic.
I'll update when the other 6AW8a's get here in the hope that it helps someone down the line.
 
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