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I think that many of us don't have the money or time to find NOS or used tubes so what about compiling a list of the best available current production tubes? This would be helpful to users and would support the good manufacturers and encourage others to upgrade their processes. I know there are recommendations here and there in the asylum but what about gathering them together in one list? If there's interest I'd like to start with the JJ/Tesla EL84. I recently retubed my VTL TT-25's with this tube and was amazed by the transformation in sound from top to bottom. Any other recommendations?
Follow Ups:
Many thanks to all who contributed their recommendations. Unless I missed them I didn't see any suggestions for 12AT7's or 12AU7's. Does this mean there are no current excellent or very good versions of these widely used tubes? I've tried EH 'T7's but found them quite ordinary.
Good new-production 12AU7s? I'll make an offer. The Ei silver and gray plate 12AU7 I think are pretty darned good. I might give a slight nod in the direction of the silver plates over the gray plates. To my ears they sound a bit like the early Tung Sol 12AU7s, which I like a lot, or the really early GEs, which I like too. The Eis are not up to my very favorite 12AU7s, but I could probably live with them if I couldn't find a Raytheon/CBS 5814, long plate Tungsram, 7316, 7318 (I can't find any more of these, anyway), old Sylvania 5963, etc., etc.- SJ
Hi !And how about EF86s ?
Thanks for the recommendations. Where do you buy your tubes from? I am looking for fast and reliable sources.
thetubestore.com, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
I am looking for fast and reliable sources.>
How about the Sovtek 300b and EH 6sn7 they both sound great in my amp. The 6sn7 are not quite as good as my NOS sylvanias but they are pretty damn good. And the Sovtek 300b cant be beat for the price!!
nt
My JJ E34Ls lacked mid-range clarity and one of them crapped out after less than a year. In their favor they are cheap to purchase.
Jim allready mentioned the SED EL34, so that leaves me with the JJ ECC83S. Careful now, cause labeling can get screwy -- the ECC83S JJ I'm talking about is a copy of the Telefunken ECC803S frame-grid 12AX7. Easily recognized due to its funky look - it has a very short, squat plate structure with a massive getter support -- looks nothing like a regular 12AX7, but to my ears sounds delicous.These are copies made on the same tooling, or so I hear. I also read somewhere that Tesla (what JJ was before it was JJ) made the last ECC803s for TFK. Dunno if any of this is correct, but visually they look identical save for the lack of gold pins on the JJ.
Some folks say it compares favorably to the Real Thing (the TFK ECC803S) -- but I wouldn't know -- 803s go for waaaaay too much moolah.
I will say I like it better than any 12AX7 i've thrown at my arc sp6a. Including long and short plate Telefunkens, and *definitely* over Sovtek 12AX7.
My current sextet are approaching one year of use, still sound good, no reliability issues. *knocks on wood*
I'm not impressed by any current 5AR4. I'm currently running a JJ 5AR4, let's see if it does a year without blowing up.
Not totally sure about the rumour that it was made with the Telefunken tooling. Very likely it was just a copy. Still a very fine tube though. Yellow print tubes are from early 70's (71,72,73), and white print tubes are from 80's.We've seen the same tube labeled as Tesla ECC803S. This was probably done in the 80's.
Well, here's mine:Sovtek - 12AX7LPS, 2A3, 6B4G
EH - KT-88, EL34 (more for guitar amps than audio), 6CA7, 7591A, 6SN7, probably the 7868 too
JJ - EL84, maybe the 6V6GT (a bit too new to tell)
Ei - KT-90, 12AX7/ECC83, 6FQ7 (in all cases ONLY IF properly made)
SED/"Flying C" (formerly known in the USA as Svetlana) - 6L6GC, EL34 (for audio use)
China (most appear with many different brands on them) - KT66, 5AR4, 845
There are others that are good, but the ones I listed above I would rank above good, definitely excellent.
A very rewarding thread!May I add cryo Valve Art EL34 - very smooth sounding in my Marantz 8B?
I'd add the ECC99 and the E88CC (6922) to the list of good JJ types.The JJ 6922 sounds better than Philips JAN. It's not quite in the Siemens/Amperex league, but has that style of voicing.
The closest NOS type to the ECC99 is the 5687. However, the ECC99 has a higher mu and pins out like the ubiquitous 12A*7 types do. The ECC99 is excellent as a common cathode driver or a cathode follower. Watch the "stoppers", as the ECC99, like all high gm types, is vulnerable to parasitic oscillation.
Eli D.
I like the Electroharmonix 12AX7EH in my ASL Tulip. Prefer them over Telefunkens. I also like their 2A3 gold grids in the Tulip. Much better than the stock tubes but I have not compared them to NOS. Good sonics and reliability. Hard to beat at the price. The new JJ 6922 is also supposed to be a very good tube. Just trying out a pair now replacing Amperex 6DJ8 in my preamp. They compare very favourably so far but need more time to evaluate. Cheers.
I can vouch for the ECC99, Sovtek 2a3 and 6B4G and the EH 7519
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