12ax7's to roll

Some Telefunekin wantabe's - EI 12AX7E (long grey plate). No longer manufactured as EI is out of business but they can be found. An excellent and balanced sound. The only reservation I have is that they could be microphonic in a sensitive (i.e. a phono stage)location. I use them a lot. I bought from a dealer in England and the last time I was on the their site they still had them listed.

For warmer sounding 12AX7s, I like Amperex Bugle Boys. It could be just a synergy issue, but, Mullards do not sound that good in my Viva Fono phonostage, and they sounded oddly phasey in a friends Tron phonostage.

Telefunkens and the one set of RCA tubes I have are on the leaner, clearer and more dynamic side. The most dynamic and exciting sounding 12AX7, to me, is the ECC803S. This tube is, however, insanely expensive and it could be too lean sounding for many applications. This is the tube I use in my phonostage (I am counting on its reputation for being extremely durable).

I really like the 5751s I've tried, though they may not be suitable drop in replacements for 12AX7 (they deliver lower gain than a 12AX7).

I agree with Andr 5751's would be the closest to the tele's clean detailed sound at reasonable $'s. The 5751 is a very low noise tube,less gain than 12AX7, but if your preamp has plenty of gain you will be OK.

5751s are a great experiments, and make serious committments once done. As mentioned not too much $$.

I liked the Sylvanias in my Magnum, but swapped the 12ax7s out for Tungsol 5751s and the 12 au7s with RFTs (similiar in sound to RCAs to my ears) overall a little warmer sound than the Sylvania's . Here's a link to Brent Jesse's 12ax7 &12 au7 web pages (I am only a customer) gives some isnight on different tubes - easy guy to talk to as well

http://www.audiotubes.com/12ax7.htm
http://www.audiotubes.com/12au7.htm