Which Telefunken 12ax7

You have to take your equipment into consideration also.The same tube can sound totally different in another amp.Just my 2 cents worth.

Thanks guys, I'm currently using a long plate Bugle Boy that's a little too soft for me overall with my current equipment, although I'm warming to it. A friend loaned me his smooth plate Telefunkens which I thought were a little more suitable with a wider variety of music. I'm using these in a 300b amp that doesn't need any extra softening up. I'm looking for dynamics, detail and PRAT but nothing unnatural. Another tube that looks interesting is the Mazda which somebody described to me as being a punchier Telefunken.

Hi Phaelon, take a look at my Gon review on the Mazda 12AU7 for details why you might love this tube in the context of your system.

FYI. . .Telefunken had TWO plants. One of them was in EAST Germany ("made in Germany") and had literally no access to fine metalurgy and so production was largely junk. LOTS of junk was produced. All say "Telefunken", all say "made in Germany", and all have a diamond logo on the bottom, and all have nearly the same packaging as the West German plant. True West German Telefunkens typically (this varies) have rather poor logo printing on the tubes. It is so confusing that I often prefer used "pulls" from McIntosh, Fisher, Eico, and Dynaco gear from the sixties. True West German Telefunkens typically last a lot longer than other tube brands (this depends on the circuit they are in), so if they test good, they usually are good. Neuteral in tone, detailed, and not at all rounded speaks for the sonic character. Be careful so as to not spend gobs of cash for the gobs of junky East German tubes that flood the market. Happy listening.

...are you sure about the Est German Telefunken's?They had factories just at Ulm and Berlin for the tubes....