kylendm
Active member
I'm looking for some tubes for a few amps and i'm not looking to spend too much since I need like 10-15 12ax7s. Any suggestions?
LP Freak
Well-known member
Tungsols always seem to work great
Ventura
Well-known member
Tung Sol - decent Russian tubes but high gain and sometimes bright or dark (weird, I know) depending on the circuit. Not good for high voltage cathode follower positions.
Svetlana - made by New Sensor as well - warm, smooth, low noise floor, better heater/cathode threshold than TS, not as aggressive, but very nice.
JJ - not bad for the price, independently manufactured, high tolerances to abuse.
TAD 7025 S - basically a rebrand but excellent selection process
Talk to Jon at http://www.thetubestore.com and let him know the quantity you're seeking and what sonic qualities you wish for - he may point you in the right direction and also give a break on price due to volume of order; but don't quote me on that. He's a solid guy and their business is kickass for all things "tubes".
Let him know Mo sent ya....might help
Svetlana - made by New Sensor as well - warm, smooth, low noise floor, better heater/cathode threshold than TS, not as aggressive, but very nice.
JJ - not bad for the price, independently manufactured, high tolerances to abuse.
TAD 7025 S - basically a rebrand but excellent selection process
Talk to Jon at http://www.thetubestore.com and let him know the quantity you're seeking and what sonic qualities you wish for - he may point you in the right direction and also give a break on price due to volume of order; but don't quote me on that. He's a solid guy and their business is kickass for all things "tubes".
Let him know Mo sent ya....might help
fusedbrain
Well-known member
+1 on the TubeStore!
Chinese 12ax7-B'S
One of the cheapest 12ax7 they sell.
They sound great in almost everything.
Depending on the amps, I'd probably order a few JJ's in case the Chinese B's end up being too bright in one or 2 of the amps.
Cheap and cheerful
Edited for spelling
Chinese 12ax7-B'S
One of the cheapest 12ax7 they sell.
They sound great in almost everything.
Depending on the amps, I'd probably order a few JJ's in case the Chinese B's end up being too bright in one or 2 of the amps.
Cheap and cheerful
Edited for spelling
skullfxr
Well-known member
JJ's are $10 at tube depot. A while ago I bought 50 @$8 a pop. They are a goto for me.
Rex Rocker
Well-known member
I'd also go for a few Shuguang 12AX7B's and a few JJ ECC83S's.
JMP2203
Active member
blackba
Well-known member
big fan of the Beijing 12AX7 and you can get them here for about the same price as the typical New Sensor offerings
https://nesstone.com/product/unused-oem ... eamp-tube/
https://nesstone.com/product/unused-oem ... eamp-tube/
RedB4Black
Well-known member
blackba":3e4wiyg2 said:
Have you bought from them before? How is their matching. I just bought some tubes last week and the they're selling the same ones for significantly less than I paid
maddnotez
Banned
Well-known member
China 12AX7-B is what I liked in my last couple of amps if I was not going "NOS".
blackba
Well-known member
mhenson42":7a6lnnbb said:blackba":7a6lnnbb said:
Have you bought from them before? How is their matching. I just bought some tubes last week and the they're selling the same ones for significantly less than I paid
I have had very good luck with their preamp tubes, ordered about a dozen or so and they have been good.
I did have a bad set of Mesa labeled EL84's, they sent a replacement free of charge and those were bad too. Ordered a set of JJ EL84's for the same amp and they were great. Now in fairness the amp was a Mesa F30 and stock the bias was about 17W, which is a ton on a 12W tube, especially for fixed bias. So neither set of EL84's I got from Ness tone could handle that. I was just checking things out before I did the bias mod too. The stock tubes did work, but they were worn. After the bias mod, its down to the ~9W, which is the typical 70% bias value.
I just ordered a set of Ruby 6L6GCs for a '65 bandmaster from the, will see how they are.
Customer support from Nesstone on the EL84's was good, I just think the Mesa labeled tubes couldn't handle the high bias of the Mesa F30. Considering that the mesa tubes are supposed to be plug and play, this was not the case with the F30. Contacted Mesa on the high bias and they said it was fine.
V2a
Active member
Ruby 12AX7AC5 HG+. Same Sino tube as the TAD mentioned above.
JJ ECC83 (pay for burn in)
JJ ECC83 (pay for burn in)
E
ewill52
Well-known member
Are gold pin's worth the extra cash? For example, gold pin JJ 12AX7's. Is the difference noticeable?
Ventura
Well-known member
No.ewill52":13ahdvnz said:
They're prettier, they're more expensive, but as soon as they make contact with the slots, the rest of the circuit is same/same. Only time gold works is if the entire circuit is gold plated and relayed. Longer response is needed to explain, but the short answer is no.
E
ewill52
Well-known member
Ventura":235zdl2m said:
thanks!
Ventura
Well-known member
Pleasure. Truth be told, gold should only be marketed as a reason/treatment for anti-oxidation, NOT conductivity. Compared to silver, copper and even aluminium/aluminum - gold is lower on the totem pole for "conductivity". But some of the higher conductive metals are also prone to oxidation, and once oxidation surfaces the contacts, the conductivity drops considerably (sometimes to inoperable). Gold is a trade-off, putting aesthetics aside, if an entire circuit is gold plated (Voodoo Labs I believe touts a lot of their internals to be all gold plated) then we know we've got the oxidation bit sorted out, but that's about it. Silver would be awesome, but it oxidizes too easily unless combined with another metal thereby becoming an alloy of sorts, and due to that alchemy, the initial conductivity of silver lessens as well. And for the most part, unless it's pure-to-pure, it's the internal conductor that makes the difference - not the coating - so theoretically you could have this pimpass custom circuit made with pure silver in an anti-oxidized sealant and hang your balls out knowing you've got the bestestest... But as soon as ya jam your typical or even booteek guitar cable into the jack, or a "gold pinned" set of tubes into the silver sockets, the integrity of the circuit immediately gets compromised RIGHT at that point of contact.ewill52":1kpghttw said:
I still laugh at those "24K Gold Strings" for guitars...
I think their marketing line is "...probably the finest strings in the world" or it may be "possibly", whatever. Point is - gold isn't magnetic - at all - soooooooooooo..... I guess they're the finest at not oxidizing??
Whatever.
Peace & Powerchords Braddah
