What 6v6 & 12ax7/ECC83 are you using???

Oldschooltone · Post by **Oldschooltone** » Mon 10/29/07 2:29 am

I've been using JJ's for the last few years and wanted to know if there are better tubes on the market other than NOS?

Has anyone tried Philco tubes?

LooseChange · Post by **LooseChange** » Mon 10/29/07 5:39 am

For poweramp stuff JJ's are great. For preamp stuff, try the really inexpensive chinese 12AX7B. It's a great sounding tube!!

sub · Post by **sub** » Mon 10/29/07 11:19 am

JJ powertubes are great! (especially 6V6, El84)
For pretubes i very like the TungSol (reissue), best newprod. tubes IMHO.

pylet2000 · Post by **pylet2000** » Mon 10/29/07 12:07 pm

+1 on JJ power tubes. About the best you can buy in the new production arena.

I like the "re-issue" Tung Sol 12AX7 quite a bit, although it's really unfair to call it a reissue. It is among the best sounding new productions. I also like the JJ ECC803S, the long plate one. Very musical tube. The others JJ pre's sound kinda cheesy to me.

I've also really enjoyed the EI 12AX7, it's a copy of the Telefunken smooth plate. Being lucky enough to own a real smooth plate Telefunken, I can say that the EI comes VERY close tonally although the durability isn't as good. They are hard to find right now because Western electric bought the factory and 'temporarily' stopped production. If and when they come back online, the reliability should improve with better quality control in place. Here's hoping...

The Sovtek 12AX7LPS gets a "honorable mention" for being a good sounding tube with great durability. The tone isn't as good as the Tung Sol or the EI, but it's better than the rest.

I've been disappointed with the Mullard "reissue" tubes, they don't capture much of anything worthwhile, IMHO.

Post by **rjgtr** » Mon 10/29/07 4:37 pm

pylet2000 wrote:I've been disappointed with the Mullard "reissue" tubes, they don't capture much of anything worthwhile, IMHO.

I'm curious - which "Mullards", the New Sensor or the Groove Tubes reissues? I actually like the sound of the GT 'M' tubes, but their reliability has been a little spotty.

pylet2000 · Post by **pylet2000** » Mon 10/29/07 6:11 pm

rjgtr wrote:
pylet2000 wrote:I've been disappointed with the Mullard "reissue" tubes, they don't capture much of anything worthwhile, IMHO.
I'm curious - which "Mullards", the New Sensor or the Groove Tubes reissues? I actually like the sound of the GT 'M' tubes, but their reliability has been a little spotty.

New Sensor. I've not tried the GT's, because of the inflated price. Are they Chinese?

morcey2 · Post by **morcey2** » Mon 10/29/07 7:14 pm

for 6V6 and EL84, I use JJs, unless the amp came with something "older" that still works. For pre's most are JJs, either ecc83s but a couple of ecc803 thrown in for good measure. I have a couple of the new tung-sol 12ax7s and really like them also. I need to get a pair of EH 6V6s and see how they sound.

Matt.

bigbeck · Post by **bigbeck** » Mon 10/29/07 7:46 pm

LooseChange wrote:For poweramp stuff JJ's are great. For preamp stuff, try the really inexpensive chinese 12AX7B. It's a great sounding tube!!

I have to agree with you on that. You're talking about the tubes that have no brand name on them, right? They just say China. I don't like the JJ 12ax7, but I've only tried one of them - could have been bad. I have the long plate 803s on order along with a Tung-sol.

The Sovtek 12ax7LPS sound nice too. Much different than the WA,WB or WC.

Oldschooltone · Post by **Oldschooltone** » Mon 10/29/07 8:00 pm

I think I'm going to check out the "re-issue" Tung Sols, I love the way it sounds, .......................tung sol............................ makes me think about the tongue of my amp wrapping around my soul as I melt away playing some blues.........yeah

The JJ 803's are nice just a little to much high end for me,

"bigbeck" try the High gain JJ ECC83's, worth the extra.

Post by **rjgtr** » Mon 10/29/07 8:07 pm

pylet2000 wrote:
rjgtr wrote:
pylet2000 wrote:I've been disappointed with the Mullard "reissue" tubes, they don't capture much of anything worthwhile, IMHO.
I'm curious - which "Mullards", the New Sensor or the Groove Tubes reissues? I actually like the sound of the GT 'M' tubes, but their reliability has been a little spotty.
New Sensor. I've not tried the GT's, because of the inflated price. Are they Chinese?

I do believe the GTs are made in China. Chinese 12ax7s have been some of the better new production tubes for some time now. The power tubes are also very good now. In the past Chinese power tubes weren't so great, but between GT and TAD, they've improved a lot. The Chinese KT-66s is the best made. I've also used the 5881s and really liked them. I haven't tried Chinese EL84s because I like JJ and Ei enough.

dartanion · Post by **dartanion** » Tue 10/30/07 12:56 am

I have been using the New Sensor Mullard ECC83 and EL84s and so far have been really pleased. The ECC83s are long plates unlike the Tung Sols, which look more like a Sovtek. They don't look exactly like a true Mullard in plate structure, but the tone seems to be smoother and more complex than other new prod 12AX7s. The EL84s are black plates and not super similar in plate structure either, but have a nice smooth tone also. Brighter and more sparkly than Sovteks, which I think are a little dark anyway. They don't match up to my real Mullards, but not much does. I have been really impressed with the Sovtek EL84M which are great for anyone looking for an agressive distorted tone. I just put a set in my EF86 lite and I was pretty blown away. I didn't expect them to sound that good.

I haven't tried the GT Mullards yet, anyone want to trade some tubes?

laterider · Post by **laterider** » Tue 12/18/07 1:41 pm

bigbeck wrote:
LooseChange wrote: The Sovtek 12ax7LPS sound nice too. Much different than the WA,WB or WC.

I agree with you big, a lot of people dismiss soveks for pre's, but the 12AX7LPS are nice sounding tubes, I'm not sure if I like them more than the new Mullards, but even prefer both of these over tung sol 12AX7s.
Need a pic, but aren't the plates very similiar between the 12AX7LPS and new sensor mullard? Maybe we should keep the LPS secret, so they stay cheap.

Oldschooltone · Post by **Oldschooltone** » Tue 12/18/07 3:15 pm

Then what would you say is the plus of the Sovtek 12AX7LPS's for pre's tone wise?

I have been using the Highgain ECC83 JJ's

Oldschooltone · Post by **Oldschooltone** » Tue 12/18/07 3:33 pm

Are you talking about the "BLACK SABLE" Sovtek 12AX7LPS or just the standard?

pylet2000 · Post by **pylet2000** » Tue 12/18/07 4:52 pm

Oldschooltone wrote:Then what would you say is the plus of the Sovtek 12AX7LPS's for pre's tone wise?

I have been using the Highgain ECC83 JJ's

It's all so subjective.

I like the 12AX7LPS over the JJ ECC83 for it's increased bandwidth and less gritty/snarly tone when driven. The LPS definately pushes the clarity outward on both the low and high end without being spiky or boomy. I think they are darker and less defined than some of the other nice sounding new tubes out there, and could work better in otherwise trebly/thin circuits.

I was never too impressed with the JJ pre's until the ECC803 long plate. That's a completely useable tube with a great full response and nice harmonics. Microphonics become a concern with the long plates...

I've had good results with the Ei 12AX7, but I can't really find them any more. Hopefully that factory comes back online soon. Nice tube that comes the closest to a NOS, IMHO... Little thinner on the low end, but so is the smooth plate Telefunken it's copying. Quality is dicey on these, hopefully the Western Electric buyout improves that a bit.

Great for dark/bassy amps.

I still say my overall favorite has been the Tung Sol. I've got 6 of them (one of them was DOA

) and they sound consistently good. I tend to like RCA 12AX7's, and I think the Tung Sol comes the closest to that sound. Not quite Mullard territory, but certainly among the best available at common prices. Again, IMHO.

A sleeper in the NOS category if you can turn them up is the Raytheon black plate 12AX7. These go for relatively cheap, almost cheap enough to consider when looking at new production tubes, and they will blow the doors off any of the new releases.

betawi-bule · Post by **betawi-bule** » Wed 12/19/07 12:54 am

My 2 rupiahs...

Tungsol 12AX7s are great and I concur with the best current production - nice definition, good treble emphasis and well rounded response. Interestingly I bought a couple of the Tungsol gold pin ECC803S and frankly my old ears hear no difference between these and the 12AX7s - visually they are identical with the exception of the gold pins. Maybe they'll last longer

I've used the Svetlana Winged-C ECC83s but they are a bit heavy on the mid to low end but very nice definition. Great V2 tube to smooth out an amp with too much high end.

I've had bad luck with the Sovtek LPS - had 100% failure rate with these...I have several LPSs with only one working triode.

For 6V6 the Tungsol has a sweet new production tube which I prefer over the EH. The Tungsol is very close sonically to my RCA nos with great definition whereas the EH seems to be lacking.

Donations

Links

Welcome

What 6v6 & 12ax7/ECC83 are you using???

What 6v6 & 12ax7/ECC83 are you using???