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Tube sites/books, recommendations please

After spending my audio life as a member of the solid state party, I am dipping my toe into the dark and mysterious world of tubes. I am purchasing a tube pre-amp in the next couple of weeks and am looking forward to doing some tube rolling. I am looking for any advice regarding either web sites or books that will help me get a basic education on tubes to get me started. Thanks so much in advance for any help offered...
lensteve
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jazzerdave
163 posts
 
You could check out Vacuum Tube Valley. I believe they've been out of print since 2004 or so, but tubedepot.com has the back issues for sale. It's a nice resource. Most of the books that I know/have are for amplifier design.
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Hi Lensteve

One place to get great info about the different kinds of tubes is Brent Jessee Recording. The format of the site can take some getting used too but there is a lot of good information regarding various tubes.
thorman
1,262 posts
 
Also a good read that many follow is FAQ's at Audio Asylum.."Joe's Tube Lore"...More than likely you will be using one of the tubes eveluated..
I personally can relate to his findings on 12ax7,5751 and 12au7 tubes......
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,212 posts
 
Ditto the suggestion for Brent Jesse's informative website. He's also a very good source for reasonably priced, high quality tubes, as is Andy at Vintage Tube Services.

BTW, don't stop with just getting a tubed preamp... you have to go the full distance and switch to a tube amplifier. Trust me... once you try a decent tube amp, you won't ever be satisfied with solid state.
trelja
3,223 posts
 
Pdreher, "BTW, don't stop with just getting a tubed preamp... you have to go the full distance and switch to a tube amplifier. Trust me... once you try a decent tube amp, you won't ever be satisfied with solid state."

I completely agree, and feel that's terrific advice. In fact, given the scenario where I could only choose of the two, I'd go with the tube amplifier. No doubt about it. Only a tube amplifier can truly provide the sound of tubes.
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