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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
larryi
4,221 posts
 
Yes, it does appear that many older tube varieties have very fragile printing on them. My telefunken ECC83/12AX7s barely have any markings left, just from handling. I am fairly careful handling the ECC803S which were never used (cam in very nice looking boxes, though the cardboard has become somewhat fragile). My Bugle Boys also have somewhat fragile printing.

Because of all of this discussion, I did something I rarely do (being quite lazy), which is to switch out the ECC803S and replace them with the ECC83. Where my memory was that the ECC83 was more "muddled" sounding, that turned out to not exactly be the case. The ECC83 is not really more muddled or lacking in clarity, it is more the case of transients (initial attack of the note) being softened, as compared to the ECC803S. I still prefer the ECC803S, but again, the price differential is striking.

I should also mention that, in another friend's system, the Bugle Boys sounded terrific in the phono stage of a Hovland preamp -- so much more lively than the stock tube that came with the preamp.
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
Larry, one day I just said, "this really sucks!" and I got some Q-Tips, gathered a few old European tubes that had almost no printing left, and set out to try every solvent I could think of to see if anything would spare the printing. Naphtha was IT. And no surprise really -- that's the only solvent dry cleaners will use on your clothes!

I should have noted that even the moisture in some peoples' skin can take off the printing, so it's best to handle those with really fragile (almost gone) labels with a clean cotton cloth or latex gloves before and after cleaning.
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opus88
530 posts
 
It seems many are raving about the RCA 12ax7 black longplates, but I've barely seen or heard a word about the RCA 12ax7 GRAY longplates. I've owned and listened to both varieties in my system. I just shook my head. I wound up selling the blackplates.
ptmconsulting
1,000 posts
 
Just replaced my Tung Sol 12AX7's in my phono stage with the Black RCA 5751's. This is the way to go if you can handle the slightly different tube. More dynamics/punch on the bottom end, smoother on top and just clearer overall.

Bob
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
Bob, the RCA 5751 TMBP is my favorite 5751 (it's a REALLY tough call, but I still think I like it better than the Sylvania.)

I have mine in a Mac amp, but in a phono stage did you notice:
A. Any reduction in gain? Many are concerned about this, personally I don't think it would show up unless one is driving the tube over the brink!
B. Any (noticable) reduction in noise floor - you did say "clearer", so that might could be lower noise floor?
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