War_in_D
Well-known member
I picked up an old Hickok 800 tube tester late last year/early this year and along with the tester, there were a ton of old used and NOS tubes. Mainly radio and TV type tubes, but there were a few RCA 12ax7's, at7's and au7's. A couple of GE 12ax7's and even a Motorola 12ax7 (never even knew they made or branded tubes). There were several RCA 6V6's too... For what I paid, I feel like I came out alright. I tested them all, and labeled them, etc. and then they just sat there.
Last week while I had the Splawn Nitro out of the headshell messing around with it, I decided to roll some of these old/NOS tubes through it and see if the hype was real. Holy cow! I never knew what I was missing! Today, I pulled the chassis on the Bogner 101B and decided to roll some tubes though it as well. Wow!! As I have stated before, I'm absolutely no good at describing what I hear but I'll give it a shot. After trying these old/NOS tubes the new production stuff just sounded sterile to me, for lack of a better word. Sure, I thought they sounded good (before I knew any better), but these vintage tubes had so much more "depth" to them. I think I understand now what people mean when they say something sounds 3D. Call me crazy, but I swear I could hear these harmonics and over/undertones that weren't there with the new production tubes. They have a warmth and musicality to them that I never knew was lacking from the current production tubes. I feel like my eyes (and ears) have been opened.
I know, right now is not the time to be discovering that I like vintage/NOS tubes.. but I've been bitten by the bug. There's no going back now. LOL
Last week while I had the Splawn Nitro out of the headshell messing around with it, I decided to roll some of these old/NOS tubes through it and see if the hype was real. Holy cow! I never knew what I was missing! Today, I pulled the chassis on the Bogner 101B and decided to roll some tubes though it as well. Wow!! As I have stated before, I'm absolutely no good at describing what I hear but I'll give it a shot. After trying these old/NOS tubes the new production stuff just sounded sterile to me, for lack of a better word. Sure, I thought they sounded good (before I knew any better), but these vintage tubes had so much more "depth" to them. I think I understand now what people mean when they say something sounds 3D. Call me crazy, but I swear I could hear these harmonics and over/undertones that weren't there with the new production tubes. They have a warmth and musicality to them that I never knew was lacking from the current production tubes. I feel like my eyes (and ears) have been opened.
I know, right now is not the time to be discovering that I like vintage/NOS tubes.. but I've been bitten by the bug. There's no going back now. LOL