Smallbox Preamp Tubes?
- Thread starter John 14:6
- Start date
marshall2553
Member
I bought my Smallbox fairly recently, I think it came with ARS labeled Chinese preamp tubes.
RACKSYSTEMS
Well-known member
No pre amp tubes are from ARS electronics. jj in the first slot and Chinese in the rest. Power tubes are the TAD el34bstr. All amps are the same except BE,jj and Ss have 2 jj tubes in the first 2 slots.
Dave Friedman
Dave Friedman
eddiespaghetty
New member
Dave,
can you explain the preamp-tube layout of the Smallbox, please? V1 for plexi-channel, V2 for BE ...???
Thanks!
can you explain the preamp-tube layout of the Smallbox, please? V1 for plexi-channel, V2 for BE ...???
Thanks!
QOTSA_Lover
New member
Dave, why you switched to JJ in the V1 position? As far as I know you have used Tung Sols there for a log time.
RACKSYSTEMS
Well-known member
Easy, no other preamp tube on the market is as low in microphonics. In large production you just need something that is consistent. Jj preamp tubes Are not less gain at all, in fact testing them,they have more gain the most. A bit flatter sounding though.
"Easy, no other preamp tube on the market is as low in microphonics. In large production you just need something that is consistent. Jj preamp tubes Are not less gain at all, in fact testing them,they have more gain the most. A bit flatter sounding though."
There are different gain levels as well as frequency responses for every variety and manufacturer of tube. Even within say a JJ 12AX7, you could have gold pin, non-gold pin, long tubes, short tubes.
In generally and we both agree, JJ's are flat. Personally, between that and gain level, I don't like them and prefer other varieties. You can get away from bad tubes and microphonic tubes as owners of amps by having them "hand picked" or "hand selected", that is pay a little more to have them put on the testers and attributes tested and pay a small premium for them IMHO.
Here's some information for those that like to research. In all, let your ears decide.
https://www.tubesandmore.com/tech_corne ... made_tubes
https://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/atta ... 99&thumb=1
There are different gain levels as well as frequency responses for every variety and manufacturer of tube. Even within say a JJ 12AX7, you could have gold pin, non-gold pin, long tubes, short tubes.
In generally and we both agree, JJ's are flat. Personally, between that and gain level, I don't like them and prefer other varieties. You can get away from bad tubes and microphonic tubes as owners of amps by having them "hand picked" or "hand selected", that is pay a little more to have them put on the testers and attributes tested and pay a small premium for them IMHO.
Here's some information for those that like to research. In all, let your ears decide.
https://www.tubesandmore.com/tech_corne ... made_tubes
https://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/atta ... 99&thumb=1
RACKSYSTEMS
Well-known member
Yeah good luck with that in production. If you are shipping 120 amps a month you can not get that many good non microphonic tubes. Let say a box of 100 tungsols, you might have 20 usable non microphonic tubes. Not good. Chinese is more like 6 usable ones. I need around 150 usable 1st slot tubes a month... This is why I use the jj tube in the first slot...
mniel8195
Active member
RACKSYSTEMS":1qc7o7cc said:
This makes sense. I see so many people going crazy over tubes. You have to ship these amps with the best sounding/most reliable tubes available. Why on earth you would pick through 100 tubes to find one good one makes no sense at all. If you want to experiment go for it. I think the small box sounds perfect just the way it is.
southpark tube lab
New member
all the tube companys do is bay alots of tubes amd test them. but not for noise the first tube is v1 it is the gain stage. it makes all the unwanted noise, check ebay for good tubes
"Yeah good luck with that in production. If you are shipping 120 amps a month you can not get that many good non microphonic tubes. Let say a box of 100 tungsols, you might have 20 usable non microphonic tubes. Not good. Chinese is more like 6 usable ones. I need around 150 usable 1st slot tubes a month... This is why I use the jj tube in the first slot..."
ABSOLUTELY understood and understandable Dave and from a high volume production standpoint.
One thing I was just trying to communicate was 1. I don't like the JJ's personally (too flat) and with that, other tubes may have more "bite" and gain. 2. Whether you or just someone that already owns the amp should use another party to do the testing and hand sort so they sell you they 2 in 10 or 6 in 10 "good" tubes only and pay the little bit of cost-up and make their amps sound EVEN better.
While on my journey thru variations of tubes, there is SIGNIFICANT differences between them. With THE SAME AMP and going from say JJ's throughout the amp to different set of tubes, I went from an ok sounding flat tone to exactly what I was looking for. The issue wasn't the amp or amp design. It was the tubes!
My $0.02
ABSOLUTELY understood and understandable Dave and from a high volume production standpoint.
One thing I was just trying to communicate was 1. I don't like the JJ's personally (too flat) and with that, other tubes may have more "bite" and gain. 2. Whether you or just someone that already owns the amp should use another party to do the testing and hand sort so they sell you they 2 in 10 or 6 in 10 "good" tubes only and pay the little bit of cost-up and make their amps sound EVEN better.
While on my journey thru variations of tubes, there is SIGNIFICANT differences between them. With THE SAME AMP and going from say JJ's throughout the amp to different set of tubes, I went from an ok sounding flat tone to exactly what I was looking for. The issue wasn't the amp or amp design. It was the tubes!
My $0.02
