SED EL34 users: Do you get hum on channel 3 triode?

[eudaimonia02912]

I've been using the SED EL34s for about 2 months now, if I remember correctly. I never tried triode mode with them until tonight. I noticed that I get a bit of hum through them, but only when in triode mode on channel 3. The hum doesn't get louder with amp volume, and it goes away in pentode mode on channel 3. I tried putting my JJ EL34s back in to see if this happens with other EL34s, and it doesn't with the JJs. (I also noticed that the JJs now seem to sound better than the SEDs, so perhaps this is all just a sign that my SEDs are dying prematurely.)

For those with SED EL34s, does this happen to you? Do you get additional hum in channel 3 when you switch from pentode to triode?

 

[eudaimonia02912]

Hmmm...

The JJs are sounding livelier and richer than the SEDs. I wonder if this, when combined with the fact that I was getting weird hum, indicates that one or more of them is dying.

 

[eudaimonia02912]

Today I tried all three sets of power amp tubes, the Mesa 6L6s, the JJ EL34s, and the SED EL34s, right after one another, with the same guitar, same controls, etc. Despite what I wrote in my last post, I still have to stand by the SEDs being the best. They have the fullest, richest sound, even if I get some hum in triode mode (which I wasn't using anyways). The JJs are mellower than the Mesas, but they lack the bottom end. The SEDs are smooth like the JJs on the top end, but have more girth and bottom end.