Ventura
Well-known member
Hey no sweat guys... Ya, I know all about the other thread - just came from there. All I know is what I've been told, and what I hear with my ears. I know there are a slew of TAD's that are made in China. I also know that there was a varietal of TAD7025S that were made in Germany. As for the preferred series, I have no idea where they're made other than the fact there's reference to "german metal" being imported. They sound hella different than the TAD7025S - brighter and chewier. Not as gainy. And they sound hella different than the Chinese/Shuguang A, B and C. I have no problem with glass, I ain't a cork sniffer as anyone who follows my threads knows - I've always said ya can't beat Chinese HG 12AX7's - best bang for the buck.
As for the JAN Philips, yep, killer killer clean. And the Gold Lions are bloody expensive, $50 a pop, but they sounded amazing in every socket I tried them in. Tung Sols are decent too, good tones, and also killer gains - and they're not overly expensive. I wasn't trying to equate cost to quality, I've been duped before and it's irrelevant. I dig cheap Chinese. But for the Mak4, I wanted to experiment. I'm pretty stoked with the tone now - unfortunately a lot of the clips I made during the process were clipping - I set the mic up and earlgoggled it for the first bit, then dropped the cans and started jamming with all the new tube combinations. DAMN!! It's alright, I'll post what I've got that sounds relevant and decent.
It's a whole strange game this tubes thing, but so it goes. I've used tubes and listened to them, and heard them again and again, always with the same results. So where they're made is of less importance to me than how they sound. I think TAD's are Chinese, and I'm almost certain they're just varying degrees of the same tube - the preferred and the TAD7025S are identical when looked at closely. I've got some Chinese B and C's handy too, and they don't look a thing like these TAD/preferreds do, but that's not to say they're not Chinese. They do sound different though, so explaining that puts me in a pickle
Peace Y'All, I'm punched...
Mo
As for the JAN Philips, yep, killer killer clean. And the Gold Lions are bloody expensive, $50 a pop, but they sounded amazing in every socket I tried them in. Tung Sols are decent too, good tones, and also killer gains - and they're not overly expensive. I wasn't trying to equate cost to quality, I've been duped before and it's irrelevant. I dig cheap Chinese. But for the Mak4, I wanted to experiment. I'm pretty stoked with the tone now - unfortunately a lot of the clips I made during the process were clipping - I set the mic up and earlgoggled it for the first bit, then dropped the cans and started jamming with all the new tube combinations. DAMN!! It's alright, I'll post what I've got that sounds relevant and decent.
It's a whole strange game this tubes thing, but so it goes. I've used tubes and listened to them, and heard them again and again, always with the same results. So where they're made is of less importance to me than how they sound. I think TAD's are Chinese, and I'm almost certain they're just varying degrees of the same tube - the preferred and the TAD7025S are identical when looked at closely. I've got some Chinese B and C's handy too, and they don't look a thing like these TAD/preferreds do, but that's not to say they're not Chinese. They do sound different though, so explaining that puts me in a pickle
Peace Y'All, I'm punched...
Mo
