HIWATT vs. SUNN

[jjmoreno]

I have 2 Hiwatt dr-103 heads a 76, and a 78

I recently bought a 1974 Sunn Model T and it isn't as glassy, clean and chimey as the hiwatts. Seems like it has less headroom also. Anyone know the difference between the 6550s and el-34s. Seems to have a rounder clean tone but can't get past 3-4 on the gain and master for clean.

Thinking about buying a hiwatt dr-201 w/ 6550s and an HH IC100s head.
What are the differences in all of these, anyone know?

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[Gtr_tech]

I had an original issue (73) Model T. It sounds darker because they are running a fairly low plate voltage to the output section. 6550s won't even wake up until you get at least 600 on the plates. Hiwatt stuff typically has higher plate supply V. Keep in mind the output sections are different as well....the Sunns had a screen tap arrangement while the Hiwatts were standard.

The headroom issue may be due to tired old filter caps in the pwr supply and/or possibly mismatched output tubes.....the bias could be way off as well.

I'd be curious to see what EL34s would do in a Model T....never tried it with mine. It was too damn loud for guitar to begin with and I never liked the tonal shift that the ultralinear output section provided. Better for bass really....

Ugh...that reminds me...I need to get to my 100S one of these days....the filter caps in that are *completely* wasted.....