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Post by derekb on Nov 13, 2015 18:16:04 GMT
Hello,
I appreciate that replacement valves have been mentioned on the forum before, however I am now totally confused and wonder what suggestions the forums tech e3xperts might have.
My AC30 has the factory fitted Chinese valves which I want to replace, just the pre-amp ones at the moment.
Each time I consult one of the valve sellers and tell them what sound I am looking for, I get different answers.
One recommends Tungsol 12AX7 Premiums( i think these are Russian), another tells me that JJ's are best ,another says TAD RT871 are best.
As I don't want to part with my hard earned cash on buying the wrong ones for the sound, has anyone any suggestions that could help.
Thanks,
Derek B.
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Post by bazmusicman on Nov 13, 2015 22:16:53 GMT
You need to talk to Derek at Watford Valves he is the man.
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Post by bernie on Nov 14, 2015 15:06:14 GMT
Hi Derek, It depends on what tube sound you are looking for. In my opinion TAD tubes are very high-grade. They have a big choice of tubes and also offer tube sets for different amp types. Here are some for vox amps. In the thread ' Best choice of tubes' were '5751 tubes' recommended to reach more clean headroom. This is the TAD 5751 highgrade. The EL84M is a long lasting military grade EL84. I'm not sure if it is the best idea to use NOS valves if you can get a comparable - or possibly better - technology from today. Comparing durability - that remains to be seen. For me it is difficult to get tubes from 'Watford Valves' because they unfortunately accept no PayPal which I usually use. Regards, Bernie |
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Post by Cruachan on Nov 14, 2015 19:06:38 GMT
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Post by Charlie Hall on Nov 14, 2015 19:15:07 GMT
I believe Eurotubes is a US site and sells JJ valves. I have already stated elsewhere that I do not suggest JJ valves for the best sound.
I already suggested EH valves in another thread but no one seems to take my word for it.
Regards,
Charlie
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Post by Cruachan on Nov 14, 2015 23:24:25 GMT
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Post by Charlie Hall on Nov 15, 2015 0:09:33 GMT
Hi Mike,
Yes, I have found Hot Rox to be good. The EH preamp valves in your Roxlut amp sound good don't they? They were tested against JJ valves and JJ sounded distinctly lacklustre in comparison.
Regards,
Charlie
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Post by Cruachan on Nov 15, 2015 1:22:00 GMT
Hi Mike, The EH preamp valves in your Roxlut amp sound good don't they? They were tested against JJ valves and JJ sounded distinctly lacklustre in comparison. Regards, Charlie Hi Charlie, Oh yes, a huge resounding yes!! Actually, if I'm honest, I had forgotten/didn't realise these were EH valves. Regards, Mike  |
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Post by bernie on Nov 15, 2015 9:13:17 GMT
Hi Charlie,
After all, I take your word for it. Just ordered two 'EH 12AX7 tubes' and will give them a serious try in my new AC4TV. I am always grateful for all of your suggestions. I daresay you created something very incomparable - you have turned back time for many people with your 'Echoes From The Past' and everything afterwards. Thank you ever so much!
Kind regards,
Bernie
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Post by Charlie Hall on Nov 15, 2015 10:09:48 GMT
Hi Bernie,
Thank you. We should remember that there are few manufacturers of valves these days. In some ways, it makes it easier to sort through which do not sound so good and which are less reliable. Incidentally, I don't mean that JJ ECC83S are bad preamp valves, they could even be very good for HiFi. They just don't sound all that interesting in guitar amps but could be OK where the circuits are designed to keep the sound more pure (negative feedback and cathode followers), in which case such designs would cause almost any valve to sound about the same in such situations. I will be interested to know what you think of the EH valves in your AC4TV.
Regards,
Charlie
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Post by olsson on Nov 15, 2015 14:00:37 GMT
Hi Bernie
I can recomend 12AY7 insted of 12AX7 in Your AC4TV. You get a cleaner ton and more headroom.
/Bertil
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Post by Charlie Hall on Nov 15, 2015 16:51:27 GMT
I don't know how the 12AY7 performs specifically for the AC4TV but the EH12AY7 seems good.
Regards,
Charlie
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Post by bernie on Nov 15, 2015 19:49:12 GMT
Hi Bertil and Charlie,
Thank you for your suggestions. For the AC4TV I have a choice of different tubes - TAD 7025 and 5751 Highgrades and the EH 12AX7. I'll give them a try one by one in a comparison to hear the differences of their characteristical sounds and headrooms. At the end of the day I shall decide which one remains in the amp some time soon. The 12AY7 is on my list for the next tube order.
Regards,
Bernie
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Post by bernie on Nov 18, 2015 9:20:33 GMT
Hi,
Fortunately I could shift my order so that I now have a 12AX7 and 12AY7 tube here to compare it with the others. I will write about the results and what I think of it later but for now I guess this wanders off the topic of Dereks thread.
Regards,
Bernie
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Post by grip on Nov 20, 2015 22:02:48 GMT
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Post by Charlie Hall on Nov 20, 2015 23:14:58 GMT
Hi Chris,
A good find, which I found interesting reading. I haven't tried the reissue Mullards and probably won't after seeing that.
Regards,
Charlie
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2015 13:20:54 GMT
I have 3 of the Mullard ECC83 reissue valves in my Matamp C7 head and have found them to be excellent both from tone and low noise performance..I am just going off what I hear, taking the valves to bits and analysing the construction doesn't mean much to me really.....
I also have 2 good condition original Mullards and when I put them in postions V1 and V2 of the amp it still sounds the same to me.... I think that there is quite a lot of hype about valve performance these days.....
The EH range do seem pretty good and were factory fitted on my Carr Vincent combo, which is not a cheap amp, and that sounds great as well.....
and finally my New Roland Blues Cube combo hasn't got any valves at all and sounds brilliant.....
time for coffee....
Paul....
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Post by Charlie Hall on Nov 21, 2015 22:00:00 GMT
I believe there are some good sounding valves still made. The biggest issue seems to be with how long most of them last compared with originals from the old days.
Regards,
Charlie
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Post by GeorgeII on Nov 24, 2015 12:09:49 GMT
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