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Re: What new old stock 12au7 do you like.

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In Reply to: What new old stock 12au7 do you like. posted by Jwm on September 18, 2006 at 16:01:50:

I recently tried a number, including RCA cleartops, Baldwin (?Raytheon) blackplates, Teles and RFT. Also 6189 Radiotechnique and blackplate(?GE stenciliing). Also 5814A Siemens, Raytheon (black plate windmill getter), RCA (black plate triple mica) and Tung Sol. All had closely matched sections and tested "new" range on a B&K Model 700. My system: Ensemble Dirondo CDT>>AN DAC 4.1x Sig>>MP3>>Atma M60 MKII.3 fully tricked>>Talon Firebird Diamond
Note no vinyl - CD only
The differences were actually quite small, to me, and I can live with them all.
My favorites were: Tung Sol 5814 > RCA and Raytheon 5814 > Baldwin and RFT 12AU7 = GE 6189 = Siemens 5814 > RCA cleartop 12AU7 > Radiotechnique 6189 and Tele 12AU7
There were lots I don't have and didn't try, among them Amperex Holland and Mullards
Bottom line for me: most 12AU7 varieties in the $20/30 range sound wonderful in the MP3. Just be sure to get strong tubes with tightly-matched sections and you'll be happy.

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Re: What new old stock 12au7 do you like. - Jwm 19:21:03 09/18/06 (1)
When I listened to 12AX7 tubes the tungsol's were my favorite. They beat the Telefunkens, Bugle Boys, RCA, and Siemens. Its interesting to see that you also like the tungsol's best.
- Re: What new old stock 12au7 do you like. - jb0194 13:46:32 09/19/06 (0)
  The Tung Sol 12AU7s actually seem to get much more positive "press" on audio sites than their 5814s, FWIW. Never heard them, though.
  I use Tung Sol 5687s in the Audio Note DAC as well. The Amperex Holland and RTC (Amperex tooling)7119s sound too forward, maybe because of the extra gain...
  Again, to me, the differences among most of the 12AU7 varieties I have, when used in the MP3 are subtle. The Tung Sol 5814 is just a tad smoother on the most sibilant of live vocal recordings I used as a test, and this held true on two separate test days.
  FWIW, shortly after running all my 12AU7s through the MP3 I ran each of three CD transports I have through my system, just for a frame of reference. Even CD transports have immediately more audible differences than did the preamp tubes, not unexpected...
  Good luck!
  jb

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