Ok now I'm confused.......

[sted]

From the Mark V microsite....

"Finally a BIAS SELECT switch is included that allows you to run EL34 power tubes in place of the stock compliment of 6L6’s. You can run EL34’s in just the outside pair or all 4 power tube spots"

And a little further on.....

"Whichever tubes you prefer, MAKE SURE THE SETTING OF THE BIAS SWITCH MATCHES THE TUBES IN USE!
NOTE: ALWAYS CHECK THE BIAS SWITCH AFTER SWAPPING TUBES AND EVEN AFTER TRANSPORTING YOUR AMPLIFIER! THE BIAS SWITCH MUST BE SET FOR THE TUBES IN USE!"

Firstly Im bloody sure everybodies told me you cant run EL34's and 6L6's together as you could on the Mark IV? And if this were true whih Bias selection would it be? :? Cant find any mention of this in the manual??

 

[Barry]

you cant run both . You have to make a choice between 6L6 or EL34 and set the bias switch accordingly

 

[Scary]

It's one or the other to be safe. Some people have said you can mix them as long as you DO NOT use the 10 watt mode. I'm not sure what site you got that info from, maybe it's old though.

 

[LPJunky]

I just checked and this information is still there on the Mesa site

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Mark_Series/mark5/mark5.html

Those pages have been up since as long as I can remember - jan 2009?

...as long as you DO NOT use the 10 watt mode...

That is what I understood as well. You also have to keep the bias on the 6L6 settings. Doing so you will run you EL34 cold. Last point is, the 10 watts setting is some sort of Class A using one outer and on inner tube so it's definitely forbidden as the design call for identical tube to be able to do this. I'm just repeating what has been said. I'm no tube circuitry wizard.

 

[sted]

Im running EL34's atm, very happy with that sound so far so I dont think I'll bother trying the "mix n match" option, these things are expensive enough over here without a fried transformer to worry about, Mesa really need to take that off their website if there is an issue though.