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Rolled some 12ax7's recently...

Hi All,
I went through my supply of 12ax7's recently and found some goodies.
I recently compared Bugle Boys to Telefunkens in the phono stage of my pre-amp. Interesting (to me, at least). I found the Telefunkens to be nice sounding; very clean and clear, very nice detail, over all a very nice sounding tube. The Bugle Boys, however, were magical! WOW! Timbre was so much more apparent. The soundstage depth and width increased; especially the depth. The music seemed to come alive and glow. It was much more captivating.
I found such a dramatic difference between two high quality tubes very interesting.
I have yet to try 10m's, and 70's Mullards that I found. I will report when I do...
By the way, NOS Sylvania's sound nice in the line-level stage. All tubes reported are vintage NOS. I match them with my tube tester. And, I do not change the volume setting between tube brands tested.
Any comments are more than welcomed! I appreciate any information on your experiences with 12ax7's. The price of some of these NOS is incredible; I am glad to have these nice examples in my collection!
Cheers.
bicycle_man
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
To quote Ivor Tiefenbrun(founder of Linn Products), "If you gaven't heard it, you have no opinion."
Right! And good luck getting anyone to send you a demo tube so you can form an 'opinion'!

I'm more interested in how these TechTubes will sound. They should be ready (finally) to release them this month:
http://www.techtubevalves.com/
The have a new (for 9-pins) internal structure that uses CRT technology. And at $30 a pop (or so) I'd be willing to try a couple ;-)
.
bicycle_man OP
100 posts
 
Thanks Rodman! I have read good things about the Winged C el34's. The National el34's look nice, too. Great information!

I use the 12ax7's in the pre-amp phono stage.

Cheers!
rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
Happy listening!
theclipper
27 posts
 
I am trying to find some tubes to replace the six JJ 12AX7s in my Fisher 400. I am wondering if you guys have any suggestions? They way everyone is talking I might be wise to try some 5751s in there. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-Clipper
rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
Clipper- You'll have to turn your volume control up a bit to get the same SPLs with the 5751, as they have about 30% less gain than 12AX7s. Their "tone" is also a bit more laid back(richer/smoother/warmer-more 2nd order harmonics) than most 12AX7s, if that's what you're looking for.
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