best current production 12ax7s?

ive hoarded these things for years, but mark v1s, i find, are kinda primadonnas and a lot of mine are long plates and just do NOT like the working conditions in there :LOL: well, i tried a philips and its noisy if i tap it but it sounds amazing, so until im playing loud enough, its staying.

i am gonna order in one of the TAD 'mullard' 7025s cause it seems like a shortish plate that gets noise and microphonic tested by germans. :D i kid, sorta.. but i had many good years of TAD service in my carmen ghia and my studio .22.

will report back.. maybe we should keep this thread up or make a new one with a format for review- conditions of use, kinda amp, etc so we can keep a running tally on NON shit tubes cause theres not a genuine boots on the ground repository for that kinda thing.
 
Sovetk 12AX7 LPS is a close second and I usually put one of those or a 12AX7B in V2 and put a Tung Sol 12ax7 current production in V1 and V3 for British style amps ^_^
 
For American style amps like from Fender Reissues I really feel you can't do better than the rebranded Groove Tube OEM tubes they come with or Sovtek/JJ current production direct equivalent in the preamp and power amp section....



You can get away with running say JJ or other 6V6/6L6 variants or other Sovtek variant power tubes even but IME the preamp have got to be the OEM Grove Tubes or current production direct replacement from Sovtek or JJ to get the best results and performance from them



For best results it's best to use OEM Grove Tube preamps and power tubes they come with or direct replacement from current production JJ/Sovtek or whatever Groove Tube uses and rebrands.
 
Anything not microphonic is all you need in most modern amps. Don’t buy reissues because they’re nothing like the originals they can’t be because of the rohs regulations. Try them against originals in a vintage amp and you will see what I mean. Nos tubes are a lottery and usually not going to make much difference in modern amps that are built to take the stuff made now. I have a stash of vintage tubes but l got them in the 80s new and they last forever mostly for me.
 
Eagle said:
Anything not microphonic is all you need in most modern amps. Don’t buy reissues because they’re nothing like the originals they can’t be because of the rohs regulations. Try them against originals in a vintage amp and you will see what I mean. Nos tubes are a lottery and usually not going to make much difference in modern amps that are built to take the stuff made now. I have a stash of vintage tubes but l got them in the 80s new and they last forever mostly for me.
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ive found more or less the same- though i have found some of the modern short platers ive tried sounded pretty bad in v1. thats the one that seems to set the stage for this particular amp anyhow, and really the only one im concerned about cause the rest got jjs :LOL:

but even my stash is runnin down over the years, and ive got piles of microphonic tubes lying around.. so down to cast offs and questionables for combos!

so for 80% of my needs, im with ya. but 20% id still like to figure that one out :D
 
newholland said:
yeah.. i have a bunch of NOS.. but in v1, ive had em howl badly. i havent tried all of mine, but they also tend to be long plates and theyll go microphonic, which sucks cause in lower gain amps, im 200% with ya. i had a SPAX in my amp previously, and it was okay ! just tryna see what else works.
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Some older 12ax7’s don’t do well in high gain distortion type of circuits. I think the newer Russian and Chinese tubes can sound better in those circuits anyway. Now in a vintage Marshall, Vox, or Fender, give me some Mullard, Tele, RCA, or Bugle Boy’s every day. Even the Philips NOS sound great in older Marshall circuits. That is all I used back in the day in m6 Marshall’s but I have had them go bad a lot of the time so I only use them in the downstream slots in certain amps nowadays.
 
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