Jeff Korneff Single Ended 6L6/EL34

Jeff Korneff is a legend in the world of single ended triode amplifiers, and is best known for his low gain 45 design. I have never had the pleasure of hearing one of those fine amplifiers, but did jump at the chance to acquire this one-off single ended EL-34/6L6 amp. I’m not sure if this is a unique design, or a 6L6 version of the 45 circuit, but it is a very nice sounding amplifier with a build quality that puts it near the top of anything I have owned to date. Electraprint transformers, vintage Chicago choke and hand matched Visconol British military grade oil filled coupling and power supply capacitors fill the underside. 6AR4 rectifier and 6SJ7 input tubes fill out this design. I particularly favored a pair of red metal 1940s RCA 5693 here.

If you’ve read other posts on my site, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of the 6L6 family of tubes. There are so many varieties out there, each a bit different, most of them excellent sounding tubes. In this amp I was able to use a variety of the 6L6 family, but a few were not successful. The 350B juts didn't work well, nor did the 6BG6. EL-34 was a fine sounding tube here, as it is in most cases.

The build on this amp is out of this world good. Everything is heavy duty and well fitted, hefty and solid. I wish every amplifier I own was built with this much attention to detail.