roadking....much difference in sound with diff output tubes?

[animal]

To the guys that own the roadking, is there a big difference in sound with using the el34s to the 6l6s to your ears? or is it fairly similar or something you could maybe dial in ....its a big reason I might take the roadking over the roadster

thanks!

 

[edgarallanpoe]

+1 on everything Rabies said. The EL34 section was the main reason I went with the RK over the Roadster. I need that 50 watt EL34 sound. If it isn't something you need, then a Roadster will probably give you all you need.

That being said, my fave channel on my RK is channel 3 with 2 EL34s set to vintage. Bad assed.

 

[oyster]

Yes, there is a significant difference in tone and headroom. EL34's are more British sounding (think Marshall mids) and 6L6 are more Fender style with more headroom and low end than EL34's. This difference will obviously be more noticeable the louder you crank the output knob (to get the power tube saturation in the mix).

I have a RK1 and my favorite setting is the 2xEL34+2x6L6 via progressive linkage in the power section. This is not possible with the Roadster. Thus, one of the reasons the Roadster is cheaper.

If I sell my RK1, I will miss this power combo/feature...

Yes these tubes sound and just as importantly, feel dramatically different as has been explored here on the forum too many times to count.

Note, you can easily mix and match tubes in Roadster using a clever combination of power selection and integrated quads from Eurotubes (or other suppliers)...for example you can easily run either EL34 or 6L6 plus EL34 per channel, or other combinations! You can also run other power tube combinations such as E34L, KT77, 6V6 and others, with both Road King and Roadster.

Obviously Road King is more adaptable for these permutations than Roadster is due to the flexibility on board, but don't think you are sacrificing this capability entirely with Roadster.

By the way edgarallanpoe, you can get the 50W EL34 setting on Roadster, just as you can with Road King.

 

[lactose]

Maybe its me but I am not hearing a big difference. And I crank the ouput into an attenuator.

 

[oyster]

Correction - it is not strictly either/or with roadster... there is mixing tube types but it is a bit of a workaround as I mentioned in my previous post (about two above this one). I am currently running a combination of KT77s and 6L6s, so on my 100W channels it uses 2x each, and on my 50W channels it uses just 2x6V6s (if that makes sense).

But it's either/or, no mixing RK style.

PS my favorite channel is CH3 Raw on Roadster, set to 100W so I am using 2xKT77 and 2x6V6s. woohoo!

 

[MesaENGR412]

I was posting my post when you posted your post so I didn't see your post. sorry.
.

:lol: :lol:

-AJH

 

[dennq45]

When I had my Single-Recto and my Roadster I found I was swapping tubes like crazy. Back and forth, back and forth. So when my Roadster fried on the third day of ownership, I decided on biting the bullet and getting the RKII. I am not sorry to say the least.

And there is a huge difference in sound between the tubes. I am an EL-34 guy for sure, but some days I just want to play some nice cleans and thats where those 6L6's really shine.

 

[123thefirst]

PS my favorite channel is CH3 Raw on Roadster, set to 100W so I am using 2xKT77 and 2x6V6s. woohoo!

I'm really starting to love Raw mode too. It will do everything well from very nearly clean to fairly heavy gain so long as you turn the bass and the output way down.