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Sweetest sounding 12AU7?

I have a Rogue 66 Magnum that came with Radiotechnique tubes.I have had these before in my old 99 phonostage along with some Telefunken 12AX7's
The old 99 phonostage sounded very good with this combination.
In the 66 linestage the R.T.'s sound somewhat bright.Im not sure how many hours are on them but I know they are fairly new.
Im wondering what a good 12AU7 would be for the 66.
I also have a pair of Sylvania's that came with the 66 but havent listened to them.I would guess they arent that great.
Any leads for a sweet and warm 12AU7?
Anyone have experience with Tungsram?
david99
tpcarter
12 posts
 
I've tried many different tubes and have settled on two Tungsram 12au7's and one Tungsram 12ax7 (welded). Very sweet, full, accurate sound, with great soundstage and highly accurate timbre. BUT of course the sound is somewhat system-dependent!
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
When you're talking "sweet and warm" I would suggest a pair of British Mullard 12au7's, NOS. Approx. vintage 1960-1965. Talk to Andy Bauman of Vintage Tube Services. I talked to him at length about this, and these are what he recommended. I have had several pairs of these tubes and they seemed pretty consistent in sound quality.
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,372 posts
 
What do you folks think about the Amperex Bugle Boy Vs Genelex Gold Lion re-issue?
tlcocks
447 posts
 

Re issue GL is brighter with clearer mids. BB sounded muddy in comparison. I liked reissue GLs better. 

immatthewj
1,889 posts
 

Back in the late ’90s, Andy from Vintage Tubes sold me a half dozen NOS Mullard 12AU7s for my preamp (along with some Amperex 6922s for the amp) and I remember feeling that the sound I got from that combination was warm and musical and rocking. "Sweet" may be subject to whoever is defining it, though. That was a long time ago, and I cannot remember what vintage those 12AU7s were. I understand that one needs to be patient now a days when buying tubes from Andy, but I suppose if you told him what sonic qualities you were looking for, he would have something for you.

When Uncle Kevin was selling a lot of NOS tubes, I remember him raving about Cifte 12au7s and also Brimar 12au7s, but I do not recollect him using "sweet" as part of his description.

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