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Earlier this month I posted a message about how nice these tubes sound in my modded AN kit 4. After listening to them exclusivly these past several days all I can say is these things are bitchin'!! I have rolled more 12AX7's, and the variations of it, through this amp than I can ever remember. I had settled on a pair of Brimar CV4004/12AX7 from Kevin Deal that have been working fine. Then I find these NIB NOS at a relatives house and I was going to put 'em on up eBay for quick buck but now, NO WAY.
I realize that circuit design and system synergy play HUGE rolls in whether and amp sounds great, or like crap. These tubes get the job done in an Audio Note Kit 4.
Strenghts: More powerful in the bass region, Huge musical image, better soundstage width and depth, and more real sounding in the high frequencies.
Now, what to do with the Brimars????
Follow Ups:
I've been using Baldwin 12AX7 tubes that sound similar to your description. These awesome tubes were made by Sylvania I've been told. I wonder if they are not the same with different labels? Byrd69 sells the Balwins, highly recommended.
Hi Jim....howzyadooin?Hey...I think I know that guy. He really knows his beers too...lol.
You asked what do I do with the Brimars. I thought you were serious. I should have been more clear, I suppose, that it was that question I was addressing
Oh, my mistake. Actually I'll probably just keep the Brimars for now. I paid a pretty hefty price to Kevin for them, and they do sound nice. We'll see what the future holds.
Yeah-- in the right system people like the later Sylvania tubes. They are better in most apps than those weird Brimars. It's nice you got a good DEAL on them (=free!)The widely held belief is that it is only the black plate, square getter Sylvanias that are worth bothering about. Some favor 1960s Sylvanias like what you have. For $20 or so they are a decent buy... better for free like yours!. While the 12AX7WA might not be MY cup of tea, As always, different horses for different courses. I'm happy for you that you found some cheap and great tubes! Hopefully there was a decent "stash" at your relatives house (must be related posthumuosly or he'd come looking for them, right? :0) )to set you up for life! Some guys get good money for the 12AX7WA version, but I'd go with the blackplates; they ABOUND for $20-$25 or so at tube sellers like SND tubes (Michael Marx) Tubeworld, Vacuum tubes inc, Vintage Tube Services (Andy Bouwman) and sometimes at equally great vendors like Brent Jesse, Jim McShane, Tube Depot and many more. Congrats on your score! I'm sure they ARE better than those Brimars; I NEVER liked them.
ARC,
Don't get me wrong, I really do like the Brimars. My speakers are Altec 9844A monitors that used to have the 811 horns on them, and were always a bit "strong" on the top. I replaced the ALtec horns with Emilar "bow-tie" horns and alnico drivers that I got for a song off of eBay. The Emilars are much smoother to listen to but I still wanted to tone down the high end a tiny bit. Enter the Brimars, which did a nice job at this task...until a couple of weeks ago. These Sylvanias do as good, if not a better job in the upper ranges than the Brimars.
I never listen the Sylvania 12AX7WA, but the recent Philips 12AX7WA do not have a good sound.
I prefer other NOS as RFT, Miniwatt, RCA black plates, Raytheon black plates, Siemens and Telefunken.
You know what is the date manufactures of this tubes ?
The letters is green ? What is the code in the glass?
Aldovan,
Yes, the printing on the tubes is green. On the boxes it lists the date packed as 05/64 an d06/64. The only numerical codes on the glass are the date codes.
All this tube stuff is so circuit/system dependent that any advice for or against a certain tube must always be viewed as one persons opinion, which my original post most certainly is.
Actually, I have good results with the Brimar 12AT7 black plates 50's in the 12AX7 socket in my ASL amp.But I will looking for some of these Sylvania 12AX7WA tubes.Thanks for the information,
Test them and sell them. They are desirable to regular tube buyers. If they still test ok for gain you list the number and tester. If you have a mutualconductance meter or access to one and the triode sections are within 10% even better. If you don't have a tester the honest thing to do is say they work well if they sounded like they usually do, in your system but without some gain figure they won't fetch as much.
You missed my point. I'm keeping these tubes. The purpose of my post was to inform other owners of this amp that this tube is a supberb selection for the 12AX7 position, and to inform anyone else that they should not overlook this tube in favor of the more exotic brands because they may find, as I did, that it is quite special.
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