|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
73.68.175.222
Guys, going to buy a Triode trx-3 preamp, which comes with JJ tubes installed. Are there better new production tubes out there? I've seen quite a huge variety of them online, but have no idea what is what.
Appreciate your input!
Follow Ups:
I found Sovetk LPS to be terrific in the phono section of my VAC preamp. They've been in there for several years now with no noise or reliability issues. Sound is very linear and resolving without stridency after around 100 hours. I have a box of pricey NOS 12AX7s but these current production Sovteks are my favs. Who'd have thunk it? Jim McShane is a great source for quiet ones.
IMO the new production 12AX7 tubes are mediocre.
NOS Mullard are terrific, as are the Brimar 12AX7 type tubes. Next tier are the USA 575 and 12AX7
Cheers,
P
Depending on where you are placing the tube, the reissue Mullard 12AX7 is a great option. I rolled these into my driver stage of my amp and they are a significant upgrade over the NOS Siemens that it replaced. I think the Mullard reissues are well built and when you buy one new, that is what you get, vs. a NOS tube with who knows how many hours already on it?
Edits: 05/29/21
@daveyf: If tubes have hours on them then they are not NOS (New Old Stock).
Ofcourse if a claim is being made the vendor can state that he meant with NOS "Nasty Old Shit"
(wink)
AM
PHow many times have you bought NOS tubes and they have Never been used before? IME, tube vendors seem to get confused about this in a consistent basis...
Most of the time the tube resellers do not even know anything about tubes and do not know how to properly match them. If the pins are not straight then it is a dead give-away they have been used, too often I see the claim NOS with bent pins. Nasty Old Shit allright.edit: I prefer NOS but it is a matter of knowing your seller and discovering the provenance. Been lucky only four times in the last 7 years. One was a seller and he had some tubes I wanted that came from a shop that had closed down (I knew the shop). And I was lucky on ePray with some tubes that the seller did not know what he had (was not a tube reseller). But all the popular tubes have almost completely dried up.
Study the photo's and don't settle for a single photo. Often tubes have been relabelled or put into boxes that have been recently manufactured.
Sometimes you strike it lucky - found a pair SQ (10 000 hrs) 1950's tubes that were relabelled to a brand that no-one had ever heard off. Cost was less than the current new production stuff. They were not matched since the seller would not know one iota how to do it (and would not have the gear). Tolerances in those days was less than the current new production so I was not worried. In any case with cathode bias it is a moot point imho, it is different when using fixed bias (yuk!).
Edits: 06/04/21
Maybe they mean N2UOS?
Too much is never enough
Depends on which Siemens it was. The E81CC that I'm using is pretty good.
http://www.tube-classics.de/TC/Tubes/SieTel%20ECC83/ECC83.htm
BTW- why new, is NOS excluded?
A stunning 12AX7 that outperformed Mullard 12AX7 long plate are GE 12AX7/7025 short plate. I was stunned as the tubes are very low distortion like the Mullard, but are more energetic. They are cheap at around $90 a pair in NOS. Seriously, I would not ignore this post.
Raytheon/Baldwin 12AX7 black plates sound very good.
.
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
There are GREAT NOS 12AX7 tubes available on eBay for not much more than JJ E83cc tubes, which is what you would want over cheaper JJ ECC83 tubes if looking for current production.
I recommend Sylvania 12AX7 tubes, which sound excellent, which I prefer over many current production tubes tried. I have not tried the JJ E83cc frame grid, but I did try JJ ECC83, which is nothing special at all.
An old review of trx-1 mentions Sylvania 5751 was a great match. Unfortunately, 5751 hype has jacked up their prices, and I even prefer the Sylvania 12AX7 over sylvania 5751 in many instances anyway.
Tubedepot gets $100 each for NOS Sylvania 12AX7 tubes. I think it might be time for me to start selling.
Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
Could be indeed. Now if those were 6LF6's... :)
cheers,
Douglas
Friend, I would not hurt thee for the world...but thou art standing where I am about to shoot.
Those 7025's should command higher prices still. But yes, sell some to us :D.
I have a few of those old Sylvania GB gold pins and a few of the Raytheon windmill getter 5751's, and some European variants, but nowhere near your stash of those US made 12ax7's.
nada aqui
--------------------------
Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
Unless you sell your tubes to music lovers at good prices :)
Thanks for the suggestion, but I've been looking over eBay lately, nobody sells 8 in one lot, and the prices aren't comparable at all. Buying half-dead different tubes from different sellers is not for me.
Look no further than the JJ E83CC. It's a recent addition to the slew of different 12AX7s they make.
What makes this one special and much better sounding, IME, is that fact that it is an honest to god frame-grid construction.
I mentioned in a post below that between all my gear I use ten 12AX7s and the JJ E83CC is the ONLY one I use. It's that good. Really.
Be careful if you decide to order as it can be confused with some of their other offerings, but all the dealers I've seen specifically refer to them a "Frame-Grid". So look for that distinction and the E83CC number.
I'm a little confused on lineage, so is this JJ a descendent of the original Tesla E83CC?
From 2019.
Although I have yet to see a gold pin version like he speaks of.
I found 4 in a box
25 years ago or thereabouts I ordered these from Mathews, 2 gold pins 2 reg. I always kept them in a stash and I'm trying them now as I never did. I had a $10 mark on the boxes so I must have sold a few at the store.
The construction is looks 1st class with nice Tesla white printing on the tubes and yellow/blue boxes. So far they sound really nice. Further listening is required of course.
Thanks for the link, I'll read it soon after I wake up
Thanks, my friend, I definitely needed a guidance after seeing a plethora of the current stuff.
I
Which variant you wind up using may depend on the duty the "bottle" is given. Talk to AA sponsor Jim McShane and discuss your needs with him. It is entirely possible you end up with different variants in different "holes".
Eli D.
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: