NOS Preamp Tubes in BE100

C

chachi83

Member
Hey there forum members. I recently sent my 2013 BE100 back to Dave for updating and during transit the amp must of got knocked around a bit. The NOS RCA tube I installed in the slot dedicated to the BE channel has gone scratchy and microphonic, damn fedex.
Anyway, I usually like having a NOS in V1 (V2 in be100) so I was wondering if anybody had any good recommendations. Thanks
 
I was just rolling tubes the through v2 (BE channel) in my BE100 tonight.

I used a reissue Tung Sol (Dave's recommendation), HG+ Chinese 12ax7AC5, Mullard reissue, NOS JAN Phllips 5751, and and an RFT. Also rolled a TAD 7025WA and Electroharmonix.

RFT sounds great, just a tad too dark. Tung Sols are good, with ample brightness and cut, but consequently, can be a bit harsh. Mullard is really nice, except the bass is a little overbearing and loose. JAN 5751 is decent, but again slightly dark.

I just keep coming back around to the high grade Chinese tubes. I run them in all positions and they sound amazingly good. Nice balance of brightness, gain, tight bass and lack of harshness....

One tube that sounded really good, which I run in V1 of my Soldano SLO, is a NOS GE short plate 12ax7 7025. Kills in my SLO. I'm looking for another one. May throw one in V2 of the BE.
 
I mostly use the HBE channel and I threw a Tung-Sol in there. It adds the bite that i like. I slapped a Mullard CV4004 in the BE slot (and also tried it in the HBE slot, but the TungSol was a just a touch more what i like). I found the Mullard CV to be a great balance if you think the TungSol's are too bright. They have similar thing going on, but the Mullard has less top end.

This is a quote from Laura (ValveQueen), which i found to be spot on. I was asking about Tung Sol's being generally noisy, but being my favorite tube and wanted her opinion.

I do find some with noise issues (low level hum) but in general mine have been good. They are not good for CF stages and they can be troublesome at times. I am actually hoping that the noise issue that my Recto is currently experiencing is just a TS going bad. :)

I do burn in and screen for noise so if you want to give some of mine a shot, let me know. I LOVE the new Mullard CV’s. They are warmer and less brittle but similar in character but with far fewer noise issues.

BE wise, Dave likes the TS in V1 and V2 and chinese (in my case Ruby AC5’s) in V3 and V4. I think V3 is the CF stage which is the reason he uses the Chinese in that slot (best tube for CF stages).
Click to expand...

FWIW, the Tung Sol i got from her was as quiet as any of them.

I also found the Mullard CV's to be less bassy than the regular Mullard 12ax7
 
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