Want to upgrade 12ax7's on Jadis OR


First let me say thanks to all the folks in here who have shared their advice and passion of hi-fi with me. Audiogon has become a site that I visit every day... so much great information about the stuff I love most... THANK YOU !
OK . . I have a pair of electro harmonix 12ax7's in my JOR right now, and the system sounds ridiculously excellent to me. I am trying to see if there is a tube that is pretty well undisputed as a marked improvement over my tubes.
I am learning as I go, but I have been reading of Telefunken, Mullards, Amperex, Brimar and some of the other well respected brands, but not sure which would be a better choice over my stock 12ax7's. I'd like to hopefully just make one purchase and be happy with it.
Any recommendations ?
Thanks - Matt
128x128mattzack2
I have not heard them, but I Googled and found then on Doug's Tubes. They seem fairly inexpensive and the are reported to be used on high end recording gear.

Hope this helps.

Matt
Went through several different 12AX7's in my phono stage (Hagerman Trumpet) recently that were loaned by a friend who has a stock. I liked the Tung Sol 12AX7's the best. Detailed, open with no grunge but still musical.

I also heard RCA black plate 5751's (2 mica version) and was not overly impressed. They definitely had lower gain but were fairly average sounding in my Trumpet. May be better elsewhere.

There was a Baldwin organ pull 12AX7 (not sure who made this and I've never seen it before) that had a lot of punch with an open and very clear top end. However, the mid bass was a little plumy and slow. But not a bad tube if you need a little warmth.

Bob
Well... I just bit the big bad bullet and bought a pair of Mazda Silver Anode SELECTED 1962-1963 date coded vintage 12AX7S / ECC83, Ultra-low noise premium 12AX7, TRIPLE-MICA, standard pins.

The decription from Brent Jessee's web site says:

New Old Stock in original boxes. Can this rare, amazing tube be improved upon? YES! This is a very low noise, seldom seen special quality 12AX7, with bright silver anode plates. Like the standard version below but with triple mica support, and factory selection ("S" suffix) for superior performance, internal matching, and low noise. These have the ultra wide bandwidth of the Telefunken ECC803S, with nearly identical sonics, which are refined, smooth and accurate. These have slightly higher gain than most 12AX7 tubes, which gives this tube better punch and clarity. AWESOME in phono stages and mic pres. Compare the price to the more expensive and equally rare Telefunken ECC803S! These tubes are currently soaring in value as stocks of them vanish. 1962-1963 French Mazda manufacture, these are NOT the later Sovtek or Svetlana silver anode tubes which are not nearly as good. Virtually unavailable in the USA, these came direct from an old electronics shop in the Normandy Coast area of France. Carefully matched, a very rare chance to grab a matched pair of these superb vintage tubes. SINGLE TUBES, WHEN AVAILABLE, ARE $200.00 EACH.

So.... I should have them Friday and hope to be able to enjoy both them and a new Teac VRDS-10 CD player that I should be receiving tomorrow.

I will be selling a few items pretty soon because my wife is starting to give me the evil eye. And she doesn't know that I starting researching another quad of KT88's yet either.

P.S. - I am starting to really believe that I am addicted to HiFi.... coke would probably be a lot less expensive, but I doubt if it would be as enjoyable.

Happy listening !