Metropoulos Forum

I bought my "SED" from Tube-Town few months ago and inside the glass it looks EXACTLY like the one on your picture... Interesting...

I was reading on thetubestore.com website and they say the current Svetlana 12AX7 is better than the Winged C 12AX7. Anyone try both?

I've got a NOS RCA in v1 and new production mullard reissues in v2 and v3. They run quiet and smooth. I tried the mullard reissue in v1 and in my opinion they have sort've a flat frequency response which leaves a nice balance, but I preferred the rca there, which is a bit more thick. I've tried groove tubes and it sounded like noisy garbage, I'll never buy them again. Thats just me.

I quite like the JJ's.

Especially the ECC803S.

well...i think it depend most from the amp...
however i've an all original plexi 50 w bass from 1969...a BB reissue from 2007 and worked on many modern marshall, english vox ac30 and fender bassman.

my benchmark amp is the plexi..is very picky about tube..
power tubes are sed el34 pre are the 2 original brimar and a philips plate getter from 1970.
the best combination for this amp is imho a mullard or a philips in v1...now i use a high gain Ei for v2 (just to save the nos) and a brimar in v3.
this is what i heard...in v1 i like a gainy and brillant tube...and mullard and philips have the highest gain and the more treble detail...in v3 here is the tube that make the sound...the brimar (better if a little lower on gain) gives that relaxed, ample, hendrixy sound to all the amp!
speaking only about tube...new tubes...i like Ei..but for example in my BB are a little too boomy in V1...great in ac30 if you want that typical voxish midrangey jangly sound..and great in fender to warm up a bit also in plexi...especialy lead.
Eh 12ax7 is the most versatile and constant in gain and microphonics...great all around..a bit fizzy on top in some amplifier..great in ac30 for a very open and big sound.
Chinese...i can't like them..to much unidirectional...no 3d...good for v2 if you want to kick a bit the gain...
JJ have to find the right amp...generally to dark..may sounds good in twin reverb and simila...or maybe modern amps that tend to be a little bit fizzy on top.
sovtek are...are sovtek...a bit sterile and straight...back up tube!
not yet heard tungsol..nor GT mullard...but seems to be (the GT) very good and a little bit inconsistent.
To me a good V1 tube must have great harmonics content...a little bump in the high mids..and not caotics on bass separation.
obviously all depend on your amp - speaker...generally speaking the tube sounds as i've described..but one amp can accentuate some sides...

for the old tubes...well...mullard, philips and brimar are the best..(imho) with the brimar that's slighty lower in gain and a bit flatter in frequency response.
great also fivre (italian), sicte (italian)

I think their other tubes suck but I love the Electro Harmonix 12AX7EH..
Theyre very musical......I cheaped out and put JJs in my new 18w plexi build and like them. Been hearing all the rave about the Tung Sol reissues.......I'm so poor and so cheap!

I like the EH's too. And the TungSols, also the mullards.

I wasn't too pleased with the JJ's when I had them in a Rockytop.

I really have a hard time finding new ecc83s that I like. the russian mullard "RI" and the tung-sol can sound decent though. But I really don't like JJs

Big Mike wrote:I like the EH's too. And the TungSols, also the mullards.

I wasn't too pleased with the JJ's when I had them in a Rockytop.

Your speaking of the Groove tubes Mullards I presume? Havn't tryed em--
The best I've heard are the EHs personally.........and I'm afraid to spend the money on the Groove tube Mullards or the reissue Tung Sols for the reports I've heard about failing........EHs have been extremely reliable. The JJs are good sounding but the EHs are definately better IMO. To me the EHs make NOS a non issue...I think very highly of EHs.......

My mate has 3 mullard 12AX7 and 2 Telefunken 12AU7 tubes (all NOS) that he has had in his kitbag for several years. He is single parent, so he is going to sell them to raise money for a custom pedal build.
We looked them up at Tube Depot and couldn't believe the prices. US$100+++!!
He doesn't expect that much when we sell them, but whoa!! why so expensive!!
We have not yet tested them, but soon we will take them up to our tech and have him check them out.

Point is, I'd be surpised if they sound 10% better, yet are 10 times the price of new tubes.

Another friend of mine has a 73 superbass and after trying all sorts of tubes including NOS, he settled on cyro treated, and man that amp sound good now.

I use a sovtek 12AX7LPS in my PI with good results.
My tech said that modern marshalls (My crappy DSL100) are voiced to run the slightly lower gain chinese tubes, so I'm thinking of trying those in V1-3, because the Tung Sol RI tubes I have are a bit fizzy.

would say JJs

bdc wrote:

Big Mike wrote:I like the EH's too. And the TungSols, also the mullards.

I wasn't too pleased with the JJ's when I had them in a Rockytop.

Your speaking of the Groove tubes Mullards I presume? Havn't tryed em--
The best I've heard are the EHs personally.........and I'm afraid to spend the money on the Groove tube Mullards or the reissue Tung Sols for the reports I've heard about failing........EHs have been extremely reliable. The JJs are good sounding but the EHs are definately better IMO. To me the EHs make NOS a non issue...I think very highly of EHs.......

My bad...should've answered this awhile back.

I'm fond of the new sensor 'mullard' tubes. Not so much of the GT12AX7M which seemed a bit weak for me. It was ok in PI or Cathode follower. But I like the Tung Sol for most of my V1 use...or the EH for a bit smoother tone. Mullard is nice too, still deciding between it and the new TS. The LPS in the PI's are good, (sovtek). In my Cathode bias amps I usually use the EH in V1 for smooth but plenty of sparkle, and Sovtek LPS in the PI.

My JTM45 kit is running Mullard V1, ANOS GE V2 (CF stage) and Mullard PI. It's sounding good. My Reinhardt is running the same CF, and Tung Sol's in V1 and V3.

My 50 watt is running all NOS. Which warmed it up nicely. Mullard/Tele/Bugleboy and a pair of Siemens EL34's.

the JJs are okay in the CF stage, but I like the GE's better, and they're still not too expensive on the NOS market.

I hear a lot of guys praise the JJ's.

For me they were a bit flat, not very bright at all. So maybe in a dull mid heavy amp they would work good.

For most my amps, V1 is the clean stage so I really prefer NOS or used in that spot.
Right now I have quite a few Raytheon 12ax7's a friend gave me so I have been rolling through those but they sound real good.

I really need to try the Tung Sol 12ax7, it gets a lot of praise although there are the occasional stinker reviews on them.

EH pretubes have been pretty consistent for me.
Not the greatest tone but acceptable.

Never tried the EI tubes before they went kaput.

I continue to be a bit confused by New Sensor's offerings. Mike Matthews of Electro Harmonix fame, owns the company and the same factory makes the EH, Tung Sol, Mullard, Svetlana, Sovtek, I believe so I'm not sure of the real differences between any of them.
So really you have JJ, SED,and New Sensor besides the Chinese variants as the only current manufacturers.
I'm not counting the new TechTube 12ax7 yet, too many unknowns.
The Audiophool forums are really divided on that tube, some are really slamming it while others are indifferent.
I do like the Winged C 6L6GC's but I don't have a EL34 amp at the moment so I can't comment on those.

Depends on the amp really. I hated the JJ's back when I had a rockytop JTM clone.
I don't care for them in most marshall style circuits, but they work well in others. Vox type for example.

Yea jjs sound kinda flat also in my 50w plexi.

I heard its the best to put jjs in v2 and v 1 and v 3 something really good on a no master volume amps (1987 plexi)

Is that right?

Thanks!!!