Engel e530 preamp question

Hi there,

I have a e530 with which I'm really pleased except for the following: the cleans have too much bass, not enough highs and sounds flat. I want to replace the Sovtek in V1, but what is a good replacement in my case? Looking at the tubemap I'm thinking of a JJecc83 or a JJecc803 in V1 and keeping the JJ in V2. Anybody have experience with this and now how this will affect the clean and the lead channel? I still want to be able to get a brutal rhythm sound, a smooth lead without things becoming muddy, and a clear, Fenderish clean. I have a Mesa 50/50 poweramp.

Thanx a lot in advance!

Hallo,

the JJ12AX7 will be a good solution in the V1 position of this preamp. It give more dynamics to the sound. The JJ ECC803 will make the sound a little bit "thicker" - if you like it it is OK too.
If less gain is needed you can also check the GE5751 which is a very "sweet" and "smooth" sounding tube and should also do a good job in this amp.

Best regards, Dirk

Hi!

But aren´t the JJ´s known for rather smooth highs and a stronger midrange sound? The problem is obviously that it affects both channels I guess..

Regards Jogi

Yes, i think it's kind of a choice between the distortion you want or the cleans. I think the JJ's have a little less bass compaired to the Sovtek in V1. The one thing that bothered me was the huge amount of bass in the clean channel. A little bit more mids and smooth highs would get me closer to were I want to be soundwise.
The distortion on the other hand is quite okay, but I keep treble low usually to avoid those shrill highs. The JJ might smooth that out also, so I'll have more options tonewise.

Thnx for the replies!

@Danie: Please note that I mentioned the JJ ECC803 and not the ECC83 !!! They should have much mor bass than the Sovtek 12AX7 and also a much smoother sound. In my opinion they are a good choice for that amp.

Best regards, Dirk

okay thanx! I'll check them both out. I've also got a Marshall JMP-1 so there's enough places I can swap tubes around.

Hello!
The clean channel (with low gain pressed) uses only the first stage of the first tube (V1).
The lead channel (with high gain pressed) uses alle 4 Stages of both tubes.
I hope this helps too.
Regards,
Aladiah
 

Yes it does  .

I've tried some tubes I've had laying around and the combination of JJ in V1 and EH or Sovtek in V2 works the best for me. The eq of the lead section seems to respond a little better to the Sovtek for my taste, the sound is fat but not too mushy.
The EH has a lot more gain and seems a bit tighter sounding.
JJ's were a bit to mid-range heavy for me in the V2, harder too get a nice, scooped sound. Maybe an ecc803s will do a better job to my ear.
The JJ provides nice warm cleans and the clean section eq's well (not too bassy anymore).

I'm still trying out, I think the JJ in v1 is a stayer. For the V2 position chinese or the JJ ecc803s look interesting.

Thanx for the replies!