Best sounding vintage tubes for audio..

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Steve Hoffman, Dec 19, 2005.

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  1. Joel Cairo

    Joel Cairo Video Gort / Paiute Warrior Staff

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    And here we thought you were just glad to see us... :D

    Sorry-- couldn't resist **that** straight line, though.

    -Kevin
     
  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Tube STASH not Tube STEAK.
     
  3. audio

    audio New Member

    Location:
    guyana

    All of my Telefunkens were either pulled from vintage amps by me personally....most of which had been untouched by the original owners....or purchased as part of a HUGE tube lot that I bought from a friend a couple years ago that originated long before the Chinese would have had reason to make bootlegs. Not a single tube in my collection, other than my 85 tubes, was purchased on ebay or from spurious dealers. Thus said, I can be fairly confident that all of my diamonds are forever.
     
  4. audio

    audio New Member

    Location:
    guyana
    Boy was Steve dead on about the Mullard 12AU7. Dead on. This has changed everything. I also grabbed another pair of Telefunken 12AX7s which sound like they're supposed to. This is the best tube compliment I've tried thus far...beats the Bugle Boy set. Steve is correct again, big surprise.
     
  5. reb

    reb Money Beats Soul

    Location:
    Long Island
    The question would be much easier to answer if you were seeking out a 12AU7 family tube that was detailed/transparent/highly resolving That list is VERY short. This family of tubes is for the most part warm, laid back, lacking detail and highly coloured. Anyway, try a pair of 3 Mica RCA Blackplate 5814A for a smooth phono ride.
     
  6. MisterBritt

    MisterBritt Senior Member

    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM, USA
    I was corresponding via email with a super nice guy who has a real "candy store" of tubes so I thought I'd post a link to what I found interesting:

    www.audiotubes.com

    He's got the vintage Mullard and RCA 12au7 tubes a lot of the folks on this thread were asking about. Just an FYI.
     
  7. Steve, (and all other forum members and lurkers curious about those tubes)

    You've probably figured this out by now or been told this by Bob Lovely: "Balanced Life" is some guy that was banned in the past and instead of going through appropriate channels to get reinstated, he created a new username and rejoined, seemingly with the purpose to stir up trouble and annoy people. I see he has been banned again. My guess is that he was making up those fictional tube types. I guess somehow he gets a kick out of misleading people. Sad.

    Back to our regularly scheduled program!
     
  8. audio

    audio New Member

    Location:
    guyana
  9. reb

    reb Money Beats Soul

    Location:
    Long Island
    All factual tube info from Balanced Life.
     
  10. Fair enough. Still, check out his posts on other threads. He was definitely trolling.
     
  11. PakProtector

    PakProtector New Member

    Location:
    Dearborn, MI
    Who ever this guy is, trolling or not, the 12AU7 is a second rate, cheap tube. Some may be costly, but there are *MANY* better sounding alternatives. If you can't get past the need for a 12AU7 socket and pin-out, you are indeed stuck with them. I'll suggest arranging a means to listen to one of the alternatives back to back and in the same circuit, the results are a bit less equivocal at least...:)
    cheers,
    Douglas
     
  12. Allan Songer

    Allan Songer New Member

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA

    If you want your MC30s to really sing, scare up a quad of Western Electric 350B output tubes--they are sweet and clean and will really tighten up the bottom end. Expensive--but a nice quad might well last forever in a pair of MC30s.

    Then you'll need a pair of GEC U52 or WE 274 rectifiers. SWEET!

    Telefunken smooth plates are fine for the 12AX7--no need to get any more exotic that that. My favorite 12AU7 for the MC30 is the French Cifte brand and for the 12H7, just get the oldest RCA black plates you can find.

    I've been rolling tubes and messing with MC30s for a long, LONG time and have been stuck on this combonation for about 5-6 years.
     
  13. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Exactly. An excellent 45 analysis too. Perhaps the Gorts can extend the olive branch and get him back into the fold.
     
  14. MisterBritt

    MisterBritt Senior Member

    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM, USA
    Just wanted to give you a quick shout-out and applaud your post. I've got a pair of Mc-30s in storage (not for much longer I hope) and have secured the WE 274s and 350Bs, the Telefunkens (ECC803 and ECC802s), along with the RCA black plate 12h7 just as you suggest. The Telefunken ECC803s in the last position might be overkill -- or gilding the lilly, as the expression goes -- but so be it.

    I'm encouraged by your recommendations. That's what I think should sound best but I just haven't been able to plug and play. At any rate, I'm on the same page in your play book. Thanks for your input.
     
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