[raymondlin]

I got the X-can v2 a couple months back and since they have been discontiued so I ordered a pair of Jan/Phillips tubes for spare from Muiscal Fidelity and a pair of Mullard tubes from Trode Electronic online so I can upgrade when the ones inside goes.

So, I recieved the Mullard tubes today in the post and got the spare Jan/phillips tubes out of the cupboard for a simple visual comparison.

Just by looking at them, the differences are minimal.

1. The pin itself, the Mullard begin Gold plated and Jan/Phillips aren't.

2. Size the mullard tubes are silghtly smaller in diameter.

3. The "plate" at the top of the tube inside is different shape

But other then that, they are exactly the same. Construction wise they are identical, same parts and everything. So i am asking, are the Mullard tubes really worth that much?

Price.

Mullard $34.95 EACH

Jan/Phillips $15.90 Matched Pair

That's 440% price difference! So, does the gold plated pins, smaller glass tube and different shape plate really worth that much?

 

[davidcotton]

Hi Raymond

Could you put the website address of the place you got the other tubes from please, as the amount of comments it was getting I was curious about this tweak myself!

 

[raymondlin]

David, try here -

http://store.yahoo.com/triodeel/6dec69e8.html

Remeber, the Mullard tubes are $34.95 EACH, you'll need 2. So that's around £50!

 

[Gemul]

It might help

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/faq...ubes.html#6DJ8

 

[mbriant]

The change in sound from tube to tube is often quite subtle. I've found that NOS tube prices seem to have more to do with how rare a particular brand/style is than actual sound quality.

I spent $150 on 3 "rare" 12AX7 tubes for my MG Head only to find an RCA I already had, and which cost me $15 was my favourite.

You really have to try them to see if they are worth it to you. Unfortunately that usually means you have to buy them first.

You can't really go by visually looking at the tube. Some are built to higher specs than others.

 

[BenG]

I'm in the process of getting some NOS Amperexes to compare with the Siemens I'm currently using. Hopefully I'll have a review some time.

 

[raymondlin]

What do you mean by NOS tubes?

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by raymondlin What do you mean by NOS tubes?

raymondlin,

NOS means New Old Stock.

That means old tubes (often antiques) that have never been used. In my rather extensive testing of different tubes for the MG Head DT, there were very significant differences between different sets.

 

[mbriant]

mbriant wrote:

"The change in sound from tube to tube is often quite subtle."

jude wrote:

"In my rather extensive testing of different tubes for the MG Head DT, there were very significant differences between different sets."

I stand corrected.

I guess differences between NOS tubes would be considered "very significant" if your point of reference for changes in sound are the differences between things like cables, vibration dampeners, power cords, and wall sockets.

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by mbriant mbriant wrote: "The change in sound from tube to tube is often quite subtle." jude wrote: "In my rather extensive testing of different tubes for the MG Head DT, there were very significant differences between different sets." I stand corrected. I guess differences between NOS tubes would be considered "very significant" if your point of reference for changes in sound are the differences between things like cables, vibration dampeners, power cords, and wall sockets.

Smartaleck!

Hey, man, admittedly I don't have (nor have I tried) the X-Cans, so I can't comment on the differences in tube swaps with those. But with the MG Heads the sound really was quite different depending on how you mixed and matched the tubes. It might be because of the types of amp each is -- given the MG Heads are an "all tube" design, and the X-Cans are a hybrid (solid state/tube) design if I'm not mistaken.

EDIT: Ah, I see you also have/had a MG Head DT. Yes, tube changes can be subtle. But they can also be fairly dramatic, the greatest differences as you switch around different NOS tubes (Bugle Boys, Telefunkens, etc.). I also got a pretty noticeable difference when replacing the stock Sovtek EL-84's with Ei's.

 

[mbriant]

Actually, Jude is correct. There can be very noticable changes between tubes. Notice I said "often subtle".

I think the point I was trying to make ( besides taking yet another shot at Jude's tweakaholicism

) is that you don't have to be overly concerned about changing tubes....unless you've got a bad one of course. They all do their job, including the cheaper stock tubes. Tube rolling is for tweaking and fine tuning the component based on your likes/dislikes.

There are only 3 or 4 tube manufacturers left in the world today, located in China, Russia, and Yugoslavia. These manufacturers are often criticized for producing bad sounding product. Sometimes this is justified and sometimes it isn't. It's my understanding that at least one of these manufacturers uses equipment purchased from former "NOS" manufacturers and produces pretty much the identical product. What they do have a problem with is quality control....shipping out a high percentage of defective product. The non-defective product however is often quite good.

"NOS" refers to any and all of the Asian, western European, and North American manufacturers who got out of the business over 2 decades ago when solid state technology replaced tubes in Hi-Fi, Video, military, and computer equipment.

Because these brands like RCA, Sylvannia, Telefunken, Mullard, Mazda, and dozens of others have not been made in years, their stock is ever-decreasing. Some are rarer than others. Many people believe that a $75 NOS tube must sound better than a $25 NOS tube, when in fact, the price difference often has less to do with sound quality and more to do with rarity.

Supply and Demand.

 

[raymondlin]

My dealer told me today he has a box full of old Mullard tubes in his loft! might buy soem of those from him!

 

[Hamsta]

Quote:

Originally posted by raymondlin What do you mean by NOS tubes?

Ha, ha! Yes it is New Old Stock, but in medicine NOS in diagnosis stands for Not Otherwise Specified, which in REAL terms means "We don't know WHAT the heck is going on!!!"

Hamsta