Inane question

[ArturoQ]

Strange Update....
Put what I thought were JJ relplacement tubes for Blues Jr. el84s. Bias voltage difference was only .5 and .6 Vdc. After much consternation and double checking, finally putting the mismatched El84s back in and getting normal readings, I realized I had purchased El844 tubes........... Well at least they are pretty well matched. Haven't pushed them much yet.
Reputedly supporsed to lower my clean headroom, certainly don't need to rebias the R37 resistor with them. Is there any harm in using them? If they sound good enough I don't have to purchase real EL94 replacement.

[eschertron]

I purchased a pair of EL844s to hear what they are about. Swapping into a cathode-biased EL84 pp amp, I'd characterize them as having a lower dissipation, lower output power, and because of those factors, a much lower idle bias (IIRC, about -9vdc instead of -14vdc in my amp). They also produced less headroom (more grind!). If you have a different bias method, your results may vary.

[tedmich]

the little Masco amps are well known among harp players, and even dead ones are not cheap!