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Post subject: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:52 pm
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Found this on another forum and thought it was pretty interesting:

http://www.tubesandmore.com/sites/defau ... _tubes.pdf

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 10:19 pm
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Bluesky, very interesting. I like the RI Mullards. With one caveat. Long plates. Means a more likely to go microphonic. These are good tubes to buy from a vendor that weeds out the noisy ones.

I feel of all the current crop of tubes the Mullard and the Genalex ECC83/B759 have tone closer to vintage RCA and Philips-types (European).



http://www.thetubestore.com/Tubes/12AX7 ... ECC83-B759


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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2013 11:49 pm
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Yes, it is interesting and I've looked at that chart for some time and not quite sure what to make of it exactly, but I think I get it. For example, it looks to me as if the Mullard 12AX7 has a gain rating of 10 and the JJ 12AX7 Gold Pin has a gain rating of 7.7, which isn't much higher than the JJ 5751 gain rating of 7.3, and the frequency responses of the JJ 12AX7 and JJ 5751 are nearly identical. Not quite what I would expect. :?:

BMW2002Ti,

That's high praise for those tubes........made in my favorite tube factory. :D

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:27 am
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thanks for posting this bluesky. i have to get some new tubes for my vox ac30c2 and this helps with my preamp tube choice. i think that a lot of people get "gain" and "distortion" mixed up. "gain" being volume and "distortion" being the clipping of the signal when the volume "gain" is turned up. that leads to the "headroom" issue. how loud you can turn up the amp before "distortion" of the signal starts. sooooo many people get it confused. the graph for each tube is showing the frequency strength not distortion. the mullard, tung sol and jj are the best in my opinion. i'm thinking of going with the mullards and the jj for my ac30c2 so i can swap out when the situation calls for it. nos just cost too much for me.


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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 11:00 am
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I'm not sure what to make of the "Gain Rating" charts. if you look at the voltage gain vs frequency graph near the bottom, there only appears to be about a 1.5 dB (V) difference in gain between tubes across the measured frequency range (the vertical scale is 0.4 dB per division).

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 7:03 pm
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sometimes charts can be misleading. your right there's not a big difference there. i have always understood that the tube in V1 determines the "voice" of the amp and a balanced frequency tube gives you something to work with when it comes to eq settings. am i right?


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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:26 pm
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I've been playing around with some V1 tubes lately. I had an Excelsior briefly. Man that thing was loud, relatively speaking. I put a JJ 5751 in V1 and it mellowed it out in a pleasing way. Tried a Tung-Sol, which sounded very nice also, but too loud too soon. However, the Groove Tube 12ax7 I had pulled out of my SCX2 amp (put in a tung sol, which sounded much better) sounded great in the excelsior. The best IMO. If I had kept it, it would have been my gigging tube. (If I had a gig :lol: ) Tried a Tung Sol in my Bugera V5 and it did not sound as good as the Groove tube I pulled out of the SCX2. I now have a Preferred Series 7025 tube in the Bugs V1 and it sounds beautiful. I matched it with a PS 7189 EL84 tube and it really works well with it.

For me, although all of the info provided by various testers is valid and useful, I find the amp and personal taste is everything. I was surprised to find that I might use one V1 tube for my home/tent ( I have lived in a tent for 6 months a year for the last 4 years) situation and then, possibly, consider another tube when playing out.

Good thread.

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 9:23 pm
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With the exception of a NOS JAN GE 12AY7 in V1 of my Bluesman (5F6A clone) and my BDRI, I use JJ 12AX7s in all my amps. I use the gold pin JJs in my Wrecking Ball (Trainwreck Express clone) as they sound smoother than the regular JJs.

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:02 pm
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I just tried the JJ 5751 in a couple of amps and I like it. It has a bit more clarity and seemingly a little more gain than most other 5751s that I've tried.

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:08 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
With the exception of a NOS JAN GE 12AY7 in V1 of my Bluesman (5F6A clone) and my BDRI, I use JJ 12AX7s in all my amps. I use the gold pin JJs in my Wrecking Ball (Trainwreck Express clone) as they sound smoother than the regular JJs.


So, would you say that you use JJ 12AX7's (Non-gold pin) in all of your amps, except for the ones you don't? :lol: :shock: :D

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:11 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
I just tried the JJ 5751 in a couple of amps and I like it. It has a bit more clarity and seemingly a little more gain than most other 5751s that I've tried.


I was expecting a little more gain cut than I got from the JJ 5751. However, I was happy to get any and the clarity was very good.

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:04 am
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That's what I thought, not as much cut as I expected.

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:50 am
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modwiz wrote:
bluesky636 wrote:
With the exception of a NOS JAN GE 12AY7 in V1 of my Bluesman (5F6A clone) and my BDRI, I use JJ 12AX7s in all my amps. I use the gold pin JJs in my Wrecking Ball (Trainwreck Express clone) as they sound smoother than the regular JJs.


So, would you say that you use JJ 12AX7's (Non-gold pin) in all of your amps, except for the ones you don't? :lol: :shock: :D


You could. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:57 pm
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I use a Gold lion v1,(v2,v3) Baldwin Slyvania old stock, works awesome!


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Post subject: Re: Current 12AX7 Comparison
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 6:02 pm
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Sylvania built some pretty righteous bottles. I still have several dozen NOS JAN's from 1986 and 1987. Westinghouse's from that era are also great tubes.

Arjay

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