I think I sort of got an answer to whether it would take el34's back in August. It was a bit confusing, so I'll just paste the correspondence and let people make their own call haha. I asked one of the synergy guys about swapping in el34s and it shook out like this:
Syn: "the switching out the tubes all depends on the socket...if they are the same you can..."
Me: "The sockets shouldn't prevent that swap, but I'm wondering more in terms of the power transformer and heat. If you're saying the SYN5050 is designed to use any tube that fits that socket (or even just 6L6/el34s), that would rock, but if not I'd want to tread lightly. The manual only mentions 6L6s, but I'm hoping it shares features of some of the older modular stuff. If multiple tube types IS indeed already a part of the design, does it function similarly to the RT2/50 from the prior gen MTS where the amp could operate one channel 6L6 and the other el34 and use midi to switch between the channels? If so & the PT and unit are built to take it, then count me in, if not then I might do a bit more research before making a decision."
Syn: "Maybe Dave Friedman can answer this for us...Dave, can the 6l6's in the 5050 be swapped out to EL84's?"
Dave: "NOPE"
Me: "Cool beans, I was actually wondering about el34's rather than the el84's, but I imagine the answer is the same. Thanks to you both for the timely responses as I try to get this rig figured out."
The initial response had me hopeful, but they didn't offer up a different answer based on my last response concerning the el34/el84 mix up, so I think the nope stands. I saw on their website that fryette likes to build their power amps to sound great with one tube type rather than pretty good with multiple types these days, so it makes sense the SYN5050 would adhere to that as well.
I use a helix along with my Syn2 and power amp, so the midi switching was really appealing and I ended up getting the rt 2/50 and VHT 2/50/2 for just a tad more than the SYN5050 would have been.
