Good 12ax7

[GeneZ]

Must have been asked here many times.

Can you name some good online tube retailers?

Looking for some 12ax7's.


Thanks, Gene

[SY]

SND, Tubes and More, Jim McShane, AES, Frag Jan Zuerst...

The sleeper is JJ. Really excellent ECC83 at very reasonable price.

[dovla]

ESRC lists EI 12AX7 for $10 - those were very good while still in production but in later years quality may have slipped dramatically

[Gobble]

Originally Posted by SY

SND, Tubes and More, Jim McShane, AES, Frag Jan Zuerst...

The sleeper is JJ. Really excellent ECC83 at very reasonable price.

I don't like the JJ 12AU7s. Kinda bloomy and not dead quiet. I also have Telefunken's, Mullard, Shugangs, and FunkWerks and BEL in my collection. JJ wasn't the worst though.

Going by my experience with 12AU7s I would not naturally buy 12AX7s from JJ. The general question I have is can one series of tubes by a brand be vastly different from another series from the same maker? I would assume the quality of tooling in the plant to be similar overall across all tube types and production lines. Or am I wrong?

Unless gain is very important - people seem to think that a lower gain 5751 sounds more natural than a 12Ax7. A Jan-Philips 5751 would be a good choice .

HTH
--G

[SY]

There are no good 12AU7/ECC82 for hifi. JJ is no exception. Their ECC81 and ECC83 are exceptionally good- I've tested and used at least two dozen of each.

[Panicos K]

When I decided that I will stay with my current amplifier for good,I have tried almost any ECC83 there is and was.I ended up prefering buying used Mullards and/or RCA's than any new production ECC83.My decision was of cource based on listening,according to my subjective taste and in my system.Try the chinese TJ too,the best new production ECC83 for me,but be aware of grade B's etc........there are lots of them out there.Stay away.

[TheGimp]

I retubed a Peavey Penta with KT77s for a friend and replaced the original 'Mesa Boogie' labeled 12AX7s with JJ Spiral 12AX7s.

He was very pleased with the results and described the tone as "rich and creamy" compared with the previous Mesa Boogie tubes which he described as having a harsh breakup.

[DF96]

Is this for hi-fi or a guitar amp?

I use NOS Brimar ECC83 bought cheaply off ebay for the LTP phase splitter in my 5-20.

[GeneZ]

Originally Posted by DF96

Is this for hi-fi or a guitar amp?

I use NOS Brimar ECC83 bought cheaply off ebay for the LTP phase splitter in my 5-20.

Hi-fi. I play drums.

[GeneZ]

Originally Posted by SY

SND, Tubes and More, Jim McShane, AES, Frag Jan Zuerst...

The sleeper is JJ. Really excellent ECC83 at very reasonable price.

I saw JJ on Amazon the other night The only review was for a Marshall amp. So, I had no idea before you mentioned it. Does it make any difference if you go with gold pins?

Just ordered a small Jolida hybrid for my desktop. Two 12ax7's. Figured it would not hurt to stock up now. Thanks.

But, just located this: http://www.jacmusic.com/tesla/tesla-jj.html

What to believe?

.