[Audio Al]

I posted this question in an earlier thread that went dead so I'm asking again.  I would also like to hear from anyone who has compared current production 12AX7 tubes as the "house sound" may be similar in these tubes.
My question is regarding 12AU7 tubes. I have two tubes in my preamp and I'm looking for a good "tubey" sounding current production tube. The original Sylvania tubes that came with my preamp rang like a bell so I purchased some HP's from Rogue which were not much better. I then got some French    (those bastards) NOS Radio Technique tubes that got very noisey after a few months...waste of money. I now have the Electro-harmonix installed. These tubes are low noise but they sound more like SS than tubes.
Has anyone compared the JJ/Teslas, Yugo EI's/or gold pins, Svetlana etc to EH? I want a tubey 12AU7 and don't want to spend NOS prices again.
I appreciate your advice

[Pez]

Al,
   I have compared the Sovteks and the JJ's in my pre-amp. While the JJ's have a "Tubeyer" sound they lack accuracy and transcients.  I actually have a combo of JJ's and Sovteks.  I am not 100% familiar with how my pre-amp works and off the top of my head I can't remember which tubes go where   but I do know I have a combo of 12AX7's and 12AU7s.  I will look when I get home tonight.  

[markC]

This probably won't help a great deal, but I will try... My experience relates to 12ax7 not 12au7. Also it relates to a cdp not a pre,(although I am running a tubed pre). The CDP in question is a QDS-15,(Norh CD-1), which came with chinese 12ax7's. I changed out the china 12's for Svetlana 12's and this was a great improvement in warmth. After that I tried  electro harmonics, (really bad- in your face and brash sounding). Then it was GE 5751 JAN - better-much smoother, but a bit masked. After that was Raytheon 5751- this is good! Really rich sound and none of that sharp edge like the 12ax7's. Problem is; it's NOS and what you don't want to hear and what I can't find reasonably priced. Sorry, but so far NOS is it. By the way the tubes that I'm running currently are circa 1962. Anyone with a line on the Raytheon 5751's? Of coarse it's only my ears creating these comments. Bottom line in my opinion - anything that runs a 12ax7 will sound better with a 5751.

[Thatch_Ear]

Not needing 12AU7s in most of my gear and having a good supply of old ones laying around, I turned a friend on to tube rolling in his Foreplay and he has for the moment settled on EIs.
Also many tube dealers will have a good stock of used tubes around and 12AU7s are quite common so you might email and get an assortment for around the price of a pair of NOS.
I am partial to the Raytheon black plates myself. They are a tad rolled off on the top but are clear and clean with very strong and great sounding mids. I used to have bags of 12AU7s but have given most away over the years as they cost me next to nothing. I used to buy trashed electric organs for $5 ea at action and a few brands often had up to 50 12AU7s one of which was full of the Raytheons, most often RCAs.
                         David Thatcher

[calsaint]

If you're looking for 12au7s you'll get alot of hits off a search at the Bottlehead forum. Out of the 12au7s and 5963s I've tried in my Foreplay, I think the 'tubiest' of the bunch would be Holland/Amperex.

[rob]

audio al
i am suprized you had rt and syl's go bad on you. i have tried alot of ecc82's and 12au7's new and nos i prefer nos. the new production dont seem to have that 'tube' sound - transparent,clean with harmonic warmth - if you dare go nos try the rca clear tops or mullard long plates. of the newer ones..only the svt's get close.

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/scripts/d.pl?audio/faq/joes-tubes.html
 
try above link to see if this helps

rob

[Audio Al]

Thanks for your help guys, I appreciate the responses.  I guess if I want to stick with current production I will try the Svets or EIs next.  
I just don't understand why factories today with more modern engineering, production and QA techniques can not build as good if not better sounding tube than those made in the 50s and 60s!
If anyone has done a direct comparison or shootout of all the popular current tubes I'd still like to hear your evaluation of them.
Thanks again, and Teddy the audiophile feline sends his regards.

[MaxCast]

I have some RCA 5963's in my foreplay that are very microphonic.  I like the sound but would like to imporve.  Any sugestions?

From my limited experience with tubes these sound in between SS and tube.  I would like to stay the same or slightly more to the tube end.  I don't want to spend $100 on tubes but want a "matched set" for around $40.  Any suggestions?

[markC]

Have you tried tube dampers to see if they will help kill the microphonics? I think Herbies are around $10 a pop-not a huge investment for what could be a worth while experiment.

[MaxCast]

Have you tried tube dampers to see if they will help kill the microphonics? I think Herbies are around $10 a pop-not a huge investment for what could be a worth while experiment.

Yep!  I have a pair of dampers and have the box on three isolation things.

[Mathew_M]

Unfortunately a lot of people have read Joe's Tube Lore faq over on Audio Asylum because the low noise 12ax7's such as RCA 7025's and early GE black plates are starting to go for crazy Telefunken prices.  I have a pair of GE 7025's on their way from an ebay auction I won for 20 bucks.  I agree that the current sovtek's are too sharp.  A friend gave me a couple of old RCA 12ax7's that are definately tubey but are microphonic.  He also gave me a pair of Raytheon's that just plain sucked.  I'm starting to realize why some people go back to solid state though tube rolling is kinda fun.