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A lot of people are raving about these "Ken-Rad" tubes online. Has anyone heard them? I've heard a GE and RCA black plate and they are impressive but not the sound I'm looking for, too forward and biting, not relaxing. Would I like these?
Edits: 04/13/16 04/13/16Follow Ups:
His name is Oscar but he really seems to like them and he can give you a complete run down on them.
A friend you get for nothing,an enemy has to be bought
These are the earliest of the Ken-Rad/GE 12AX7s (at least the earliest I've seen), from the early 1950s, maybe even as early as the late 1940s. Then by around the mid 1950s the plates went to the familiar gray plates. I've never seen that I can recall a black plate Ken-Rad/GE 12AX7.
I have a fair few of them. I was just using a pair the other day, rolling them into the input/splitter positions of my Conrad-Johnson CAV50, which is pretty sensitive to rolling in all of it tube positions. I do like them, but to my ears and my gear I'd characterize them the way you do with the GEs and RCAs you've listened to. The only way for you to tell for sure is to listen to them in your gear with your ears.
I've found that they can be noisy. There's a look-alike 12AU7, and I really like this tube. Problem is that they can be noisy in critical circuit applications, like a phono or linestage. Typically, being patient with them they can clear themselves, sometimes completely, sometimes not but are still tolerably quiet. I haven't had any issues with these 12AX7s in the CAV50.
More relaxed? A long or short plate Mullard, maybe? The long plate Sylvanias I've found to be "softer". Of course this all can be an overall system synergy thing. Perhaps tweaking something else in the system to get the sonics you're looking for?
Thanks for your response. My Mullards sound great in this spot but very little bass. Maybe because they're cryo'ed?
That's kinda the Blackburn Mullard thing, in both the 12AX7s and 12AU7s - softer in the bass and top end.
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