12AX7 suggestions?

[bruce ferrara]

12ax-7 suggestions?

Hi,
I have a Symphonies Plus pre-amp..I like it. But I have the feeling that I could get something better with differrent tubes.
Anyone have experiences they can share? A good reasonable preamo tube?
Thanks
Bruce

 

[Jim McShane]

I recommend the Tung-Sol reissue 12AX7. It's a VERY good tube and it's very reasonably priced. I have a lot of customers who use them and the feedback has been really positive. It's quiet, low microphonics, and well made. It's a great value in a 12AX7, no doubt about it.

 

[bruce ferrara]

12 ax7s

Jim,
Thanks
I have some phillips tubes as well as some old tungsrams.
I have seem that ei makes a tube that seems ok and groove tubes mullard copy...You feel that the tung sols are better?
The phillips that I have is a little grainy on the highs and the tungsram is warmer..but I hope to find something more open.
thanks..and it seems that you could reccomend a place to buy them?
Thanks
B

 

[Jim McShane]

First off, Ei is shut down, so finding an Ei ECC83/12AX7 is tough. And many were noisy or microphonic - the quality really slipped badly in the last of the production runs.

The GT "Mullard clone" can be a VERY nice tube as well. But the quality issues have darn near killed it. I stopped carrying them because the reject rate was over 80%! The GT is a warmer tube than the Tung-Sol, but the Tung-Sol has a very nice top end. One is not better than the other, they are just different. If you want more open sound the Tung-Sol is more likely to work for you than the GT.

I hope it's okay to say I have the Tung-Sols in stock since you asked.