There are a handful of us with Alpha's that enjoy the sound of the low cost Yugo tubes and they allow you to afford other recommended tubes at the same time.Happy listening.
I was considering selling my Alpha until I tried a pair of Mullard CV4004s. These are the tubes that Upscale Audio recommended to me. I was surprised how this little DAC came alive after they had time to break in. A substantial upgrade over the stock tubes...
I loved JJ Tesla 12AX7s on my Alpha. The stock Chinese tubes were a little faster, the Teslas richer. I also tried GE 5751s and was not impressed -- to slow, too golden sounding. I found myself longing for the fast Chinese tubes.
While the 5751 is not always a good substitute for the 12AX7, it does very well in CAL DACs. An inexpensive and well-regarded 5751 is the Raytheon. These can be had for around $20 each at places like Tube World and I prefer them over GE JAN grey plates. 5751s have less gain than the AX7s.
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