I can tell that one or more of the preamp tubes (12ax7 and 12at7) are starting to get weak...the music is starting to sound a bit muddled and not quite as clear as it used to be. I need to replace one or some or all. I am looking for suggestions for tubes. I love NOS RCA tubes, but they are getting harder to find and a bit pricier than they used to be. Has anyone tried the Golden Lion, and/or the newer black diamond telefunken? I think I tried Tung-Sol, but didn’t care for them much. I’m open to suggestions, I’d like to keep the price roughly around $50/tube. I have golden lion KT88 that still seem to be going strong. My system is:
CD Player : Marantz SA8005 Preamp: Krell KSP 7B Streamer: Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) Speakers: B&W683
+1 on the GE 3M/BP. They are a fine tube but not suited to all applications due to their lower gain. At your price point, the Gold Lion are a good choice.
# 1 Telefunken or RCA (I don't trust to many of them any more RCAs) Valvo, Mullard, Mazda, Marconi (Expensive) or Tungrsram (Expensive). Then Tung sol, GE, GL (not a big fan of their little valves) Sylvania (always bright).. GL KT66,77,88s good stuff, great sound.. KT66 in particular..
Why not buy exact replacements? I may be counterculture in an audio forum but what’s wrong with the date you brought?
I can appreciate upgrading and I’m a history major. So I make engineers and scientists to achieve my goals. I have MC 2600 preamp and I appreciate the impact of my preamp. I’d be more inclined to add a phono stage than change the phone tubes. After all that engineer is more trained than I. If I final a better preamp, I’d be happy to buy it and would rather upgrade than try to tweak myself to the same results
Re-reading this. Small signal tubes last a long time. You sure your KT88s are not getting tired? I suspect they might need re-biasing, if not replacement.
you may want to test the input tube for performance. As others have noted, they usually last quite a while. If you do not have a MC tester, some places offer testing for a reasonable price
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