Ragnar-BY
1000+ Head-Fier
Bugle Boys are nice tubes. I know that many people will not agree on this, but I like them more than Mullard. Amperex 12AU7 is still in “tubey tubes” camp, but feels more vibrant to me.
12AU7 Rolling in 2022- please feel free to comment on your 12au7 or equivalents
- Thread starter John Massaria
- Start date
LanceSaintPaul
100+ Head-Fier
Miguel:
1st let me say it's been nearly 10 years since I was using that preamp (EAR 834L). Right now it's waiting for me to re-cap it's power supply - some day I'll get to it (maybe this Winter).
What I do recall is that the Brimar 13D5 seemed to have a nice wide bandwidth with extended treble response. I think from your description it may be what you are looking for. Certainly not dry. It seemed detailed and musical. A Mullard seemed dull by comparison.
But do keep in mind that that is what I heard in this particular circuit, in my particular system. That doesn't necessarily mean that will translate to the same effect in another circuit, although I would expect it will tend to....
An RCA Clear Top might be worth a trial as well.
Good luck,
Lance
1st let me say it's been nearly 10 years since I was using that preamp (EAR 834L). Right now it's waiting for me to re-cap it's power supply - some day I'll get to it (maybe this Winter).
What I do recall is that the Brimar 13D5 seemed to have a nice wide bandwidth with extended treble response. I think from your description it may be what you are looking for. Certainly not dry. It seemed detailed and musical. A Mullard seemed dull by comparison.
But do keep in mind that that is what I heard in this particular circuit, in my particular system. That doesn't necessarily mean that will translate to the same effect in another circuit, although I would expect it will tend to....
An RCA Clear Top might be worth a trial as well.
Good luck,
Lance
Ranger Ron
100+ Head-Fier
Hello, expensive but the long plate Mullard with the dual supports square getter have the qualities you are looking for. Also the KenRad with long silvery plates are a great choice, and much cheaper than the Mullard.
Tung-sol 12au7w is one of the best linear sounding with good instrument separation and 3D
Ranger Ron
100+ Head-Fier
I really enjoy the black glass tungsol 12AU7, I’ll have to dig around for a W version.
what is black glass? im use modern tungsols in my xduoo ta-22 dac/amp. sound is simply phenomenal with combo. tried only rft,tad,telefunken tubes and tungsols way better for them all.
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Ranger Ron
100+ Head-Fier
Nice! I use the old American made tungsol. Black glass is one of the first 12AU7 they made back in the early 1950’s I believe. If you’re ever looking they can still be found online for $50 or so. I’d be happy to send you an old TungSol 12AU7 clear glass , you can listen and give me your impressions. PM me if you’re interested.
no, thanks. as i know vintage tubes mostly made for military or etc equipment and not for music dacs as made modern tubes,wish modern way better doing work on dac and amps i think. i have neutral sounding headphones for listen music what songs artists without defektive bottom,mids or highs frequencies,without changing tibre and tone ,so i like tungsol tubes . tried some other tubes and they has V shaped ,u shaped or simply gain mids. maybe they works for different headphones /amps combos.
In my experience vintage tubes are usually much better sounding then newer production tubes. Of course there are some newer production tubes that sound just as good as vintage tubes (the new production Tung Sol 7581a comes to mind) but they are the exception and not the norm.
I'm not trying to sound like a know it all but I've used mostly tube based equipment for the last 25 years and have literally 1000s of tubes stock piled. Its rare that a newer production tube will sound better than their vintage counterparts. If you don't want to use vintage tubes due to price and availability I totally get it, but from a pure sound quality perspective you are selling yourself short not trying vintage tubes. Just my two cents.
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AudioDuck
Headphoneus Supremus
What @Dawgfish said- also, to add as I just discovered this excellent string- and apologies if this is redundant:
- Brimar 12AT7/CV455s (1956 Footscray production) are incredible for the money. Langrex in the UK has them for about $100/matched pair plus shipping, and they are an excellent dealer.
- Brimar CV4033s (modified flying lead, 12AU7s I think) units are excellent, more expensive and harder to find. Pulse Tube Store has them at times- I really like the 50s Footscray production versions in that case, too.
- CBS-Hytron NOS JHY-5751s (military issue) are quite good, but more fast/slamming than the Brimars above and more headphone- dependent.
The thing to keep in mind is that tube sound and performance is VERY amp- based, too- so when you can, seek info on the performance in your specific amp.
(Goes off to see if his post is purely redundant…)
Great point about tubes being amp or circuit based.What @Dawgfish said- also, to add as I just discovered this excellent string- and apologies if this is redundant:
- Brimar 12AT7/CV455s (1956 Footscray production) are incredible for the money. Langrex in the UK has them for about $100/matched pair plus shipping, and they are an excellent dealer.
- Brimar CV4033s (modified flying lead, 12AU7s I think) units are excellent, more expensive and harder to find. Pulse Tube Store has them at times- I really like the 50s Footscray production versions in that case, too.
- CBS-Hytron NOS JHY-5751s (military issue) are quite good, but more fast/slamming than the Brimars above and more headphone- dependent.
The thing to keep in mind is that tube sound and performance is VERY amp- based, too- so when you can, seek info on the performance in your specific amp.
(Goes off to see if his post is purely redundant…)
@leonasj obviously the new production Tung Sols sound good to your ears and with your setup. In the end that's all that matters. My point was don't necessarily discount vintage tubes because they may sound even better to your ears after trying some different ones than you have already tried. If you are satisfied with the Tung Sols though there's certainly nothing wrong with that.
AudioDuck
Headphoneus Supremus
I forgot to mention in my earlier post that my last input tube purchase (until something fails) was a matched pair of NOS Mullard 12AX7s (medical-grade/red tips from Grass Valley Instruments) from Brent Jessee Recordings- highly recommend Brent both by reputation and his great help when I reached out to him about “end game” input tubes…
I was originally thinking of NOS Telefunkens, but as I am a fan of the warmer “British sound” he recommended the Mullards. I hope to receive them next week and see how they surpass the aforementioned Brimar CV455s and complement the Brimar CV4033s. If they are significantly better than the latter I will be very happy indeed.
There are certainly some other great threads in this forum on CV4024s, 5751s, 802S/803S Telefunkens and so on.
I would recommend that when you are happy with the sound you’re getting, SIT BACK AND ENJOY. Hunting “the ultimate tubes” is a costly sub-hobby of head-fi that can take away from the joy of the music itself. Unless the hunting/comparison/discovery is what you are after specifically (and if so, that’s fine!), it is possible to lose sight of the end goal… enjoying the music. I speak from experience, and of course YMMV.
[Gets off soap box and loudly drags it away into the shadows. Shortly thereafter, tubes light up in the murk, and musical humming and foot-tapping ensues.]
I’m sure this has been mentioned above, but it is very important to note that for some amps 12at7, 12ax7, and their variants are NOT drop in equivalents for the 12au7. One example would be the Bottlehead amps.
Since this is the 12au7 thread I want to make sure that’s stated, so someone doesn’t damage their amp. Other amps that self bias such as ampsandsound gear it is fine, and you can roll tubes with the same pin out.
Since this is the 12au7 thread I want to make sure that’s stated, so someone doesn’t damage their amp. Other amps that self bias such as ampsandsound gear it is fine, and you can roll tubes with the same pin out.
im tried telefunken 1960 made and rft 1960 made. new TAD 12au7w is way better sounding,more airy not foggy as vintage. new tungsol way better sounds vs TAD.
I hear you but that is just a small example of vintage tubes. Again in the end if your happy with the new production Tung Sols that's all that counts.
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