I'l be the only one to argue that it was an improvement over the stock 12AX7s I got with my Jolida CD100. I have several variants of these tubes in NOS Mullard which do in fact sound better to my ears (I have used them in other applications,) but for the price they made a tremendous improvement in the sound of my Jolida Tube output CD. I put them in and my wife won't let me roll them. She is a violinist who finds the tone and timbre excellent. I haven't been able due to anti-WAF to try them elsewhere they have been in place for over 2 years. Maybe they are just an excellent pair, bought them from a friend who got them from the Prologue dealer- I think about 4 years ago. So in sum, I think they are an improvement. How much I can't be sure because I secretly rolled all the other tubes in (her) my system so she wouldn't interfere, now its sound quicker and more transparent overall. At the same time I switched the ICs to Silver without her knowing etc. So take that for what its worth, they may not be the ultimate best choice, but if the price is right, I would give them a try. They do take some time to break in.
