@noromance
I’m trying (all) four 12ax7’s first. They are (supposedly) ‘platinum’ matched as a set of four. Thus, I just figured that was the way to go instead of mixing the 4 12ax7’s. Are you saying you can mix within the same tube type without issue? I don’t have them yet BTW.
I may also try new 12au7’s as well, but only have a pair of those. And not certain those are as critical as the ax’s in terms of overall sound.
Got a decent price on the Genalex Gold Lions (gold pins) at about $32 per tube, or about $10 less than most all are charging. So, not a huge investment at all, more about trying something different, and they seem to have an excellant reputation for new lower cost tubes. From what I have read, they have very good performance across all frequencies. I may also try some new Tung-Sol, but figure from what I have read, that would be a much different sound. They are pretty cheap though.
I haven’t considered too strongly NOS yet, but they are intriguing. Just don’t have enough history of their various sound signatures yet. And also not ready to pay $450++ for a set of four......yet 😉
