[weirdo]

Tube stereo pre amp, FM and CD only,

I have tried new Chinese 12ax7, Rusian (Sovtec LPS) and JJ Tesla. At this point, the LPS is sonically the best but does not sound as good as NOS American units I borrowed.    At this point, would there be any benefit in trying the Tung-Sol 12ax7? or should I just lay down the hard cash for NOS.  Your advice appreciated. If there is a better place to post, please steer me. Thanks, dk

[Jon L]

Tube stereo pre amp, FM and CD only,

I have tried new Chinese 12ax7, Rusian (Sovtec LPS) and JJ Tesla. At this point, the LPS is sonically the best but does not sound as good as NOS American units I borrowed.    At this point, would there be any benefit in trying the Tung-Sol 12ax7? or should I just lay down the hard cash for NOS.  Your advice appreciated. If there is a better place to post, please steer me. Thanks, dk

What do you want to improve upon the Sovtek 12AX7LPS?  I have NOS galore here, and if you want a very sweet, very liquid, softer type of sound, yeah, go get some NOS, but IMO Sovtek 12AX7LPS is the closest to the dead neutral with fantastic resolution and smoothness in its own way. 

You should, of course, also check out 5751's in place of 12AX7's, but Sovtek 12AX7LPS (not Sovtek 12AX7WA) doesn't give up any clarity to the best 5751's, which is their inherent strength over 12AX7's. 

[djbnh]

What do you want to improve upon the Sovtek 12AX7LPS?  I have NOS galore here, and if you want a very sweet, very liquid, softer type of sound, yeah, go get some NOS, but IMO Sovtek 12AX7LPS is the closest to the dead neutral with fantastic resolution and smoothness in its own way. 

You should, of course, also check out 5751's in place of 12AX7's, but Sovtek 12AX7LPS (not Sovtek 12AX7WA) doesn't give up any clarity to the best 5751's, which is their inherent strength over 12AX7's. 

I feel some tubes match better with various components, and recommend letting your ears be the judge. That being said, the poster's experience with the Sovtek tubes is not shared by me when used with my Jolida JD-100 (go here for tubes I've rolled in the Jolida); I note I've also not preferred NOS 12AX7 Amperex and Telefunkens in the Jolida. YMMV.

[samplesj]

I've seen a lot of buzz about the Sovtek 12AX7LPS, but I wasn't that pleased with mine.

In my HagTech Cornet2 I thought the LPS sounded a bit thin.  I actually preferred the gold pin JJs because they had more body.  I'd love to have some Mullards, but I'm happy with the JJs.

Of course it could be that the LPS is more neutral, but I liked the JJs better.

I guess it just goes to show that we all have different gear and different priorities for their sound.

[SET Man]

Hey!

    First off I've never bought any NOS 12AX7. But here is my expreience with 12AX7 from JJ, Sovtek and EI.

    My Audio Note M1 Phono pre use four 12AX7s in it phono stage and came with Sovtek 12AX7WAs as stock tube.

    Not long after I've changed to JJ and I found to be much better than the Sovtek. If my memory served me right I found the Sovtek to sounds muddy and soft on top.

    Than about almost two years in one of the JJ start to get noisy. So, I decided to change the whole set. And what when EI Elite just came out I think, basically the same as non gold pin. I got interested and ordered a set from Triodeel.

   The sound of EI set is better than JJ in my pre. With more open midrange and the top end is about right. Recalling the sound I think the JJ have a bit better bass control than EI and just a bit quieter than EI... well before one of the JJ started to go bad. EI definitely sound overall more musical to me in my Audio Note M1 pre than JJ for sure.

   The EI have been in my pre for almost 5 years now and they still perform well. Recently I've bought a Hickok tube tester and I've tested the EI set and to my surprise they still measured well after almost 5  years of use.... I think I could still get a year or two out of them, maybe even more! I've also measured the JJ set that the EI set replaced. And yup! one of the tube measure very poor, no wonder it got noisy. But strangely the other 3 JJs measured lower than the EI set even though the JJ were used less than the EI set.

    I'm very happy with the EI 12AX7 to the point where I'm no longer thinking about spending money for a set NOS 12AX7 Since I now have tube tester I might just buy couple of these EI tubes and match them myself.

   So, I'm very likely will be buying EI tubes again. And my vote for best new production 12AX7 go to EI  Well, of cause YMMV here depending on your components.

Take care,
Buddy

[weirdo]

Lay down the cash for some vintage Telefunken, Mullard or RCA 12AX7. Not only do they sound superior, but they last...unlike new production tubes. Never discount the cost of replacing tubes that go bad quickly. In the long run, you might spend the same as if you had bought the good stuff in the beginning.

[/i]
Thats the kind of "talk to me like a father" advice I guess I was looking for.
Ultimately we all need to go with what sounds best to us. I guess I answered my own question by stating that the NOS American tubes sounded good to  me. Thanks to all for honest advice. I will look around for some. Man, there are some sounds my stereo makes with the tube pre-amp that just can't be duplicated. anyway,

 I would like to go back in time and buy some mullards for 2.50. Actually the fun thing about my dad was watching him test his TV tubes at Walgreens on 55th street. It was clearly not his strength. Its where I learned the basic F word vocabulary.  peace to all