Removing dampers: The trick with dental floss seems a brilliant solution - a pity I didn't read this before removing the dampers myself. I managed to remove the dampers from the included Tungsol tubes by moistening the resin with denaturized alcohol ("Antibac" always at hand; hifi-nerds use it for cleaning signal and power plugs) and in all futility attempting to insert a piece of thin, stiff plastic between the tube and the damper. The alcohol seemed to dissolve the resin somewhat. Finally it yielded, but I spent an hour on the pair. The Tube Box is now equipped with Genalex Red Lion re-issues.
BEST tubes Pro-ject tube box SE II sumiko 12ax7
OK; Now that I have your attention...(;o). No best tubes here, just my opinions:
I have spent the last few days listening to different 12ax7 and similar tubes in the subject phono stage.
Here are my own opinions, take them with a case of salt...
Amperex: various from the 1950's and 1960's. These sounded the most "neutral" to me, but also a bit veiled and laid back. They were very nice jazz tubes providing a cool and precise sound. Most similar to good solid state.
Sylvania 3 mica grey plates 12ax7: These were the most "tube like", sort of a round smooth sound, very nice midrange, and the instruments sounded larger than the Amperex, nice imaging, good bass, a bit laid back, but not as much as the Amperex, nice for rock.
Sylvainia 5751 grey: Similar to above but a bit more detailed, quieter, somewhat better and more stable imaging. A very nice tube.
Seimens 1950's long plate smooth: This is still my favorite. The sound is a bit strident on my system, but if you can quiet that these tube have really great imaging, nice large intruments, great "air" one can really hear the concert hall, wonderful dynamics, and, for lack of a better term, very "emotional", these are my hands down favorite for classical so far, nice for instrumental jazz, very sibilant on female vocals though -- so will have to find a way to change this. I may be going with a different amp/pre so that may help.
System:
Cart; Zyx r100H I highly recommend Zxy and mehran at Sora sound, the finest cartridge out there for under $2k!!
Table: Project RM5SE with SE speedbox, and a couple of minor tweaks.
Cables/interconnects: Audioquest copperheads.
Integrated amp: Valve Audio predator
Speakers: Gallo 3.1's
I have spent the last few days listening to different 12ax7 and similar tubes in the subject phono stage.
Here are my own opinions, take them with a case of salt...
Amperex: various from the 1950's and 1960's. These sounded the most "neutral" to me, but also a bit veiled and laid back. They were very nice jazz tubes providing a cool and precise sound. Most similar to good solid state.
Sylvania 3 mica grey plates 12ax7: These were the most "tube like", sort of a round smooth sound, very nice midrange, and the instruments sounded larger than the Amperex, nice imaging, good bass, a bit laid back, but not as much as the Amperex, nice for rock.
Sylvainia 5751 grey: Similar to above but a bit more detailed, quieter, somewhat better and more stable imaging. A very nice tube.
Seimens 1950's long plate smooth: This is still my favorite. The sound is a bit strident on my system, but if you can quiet that these tube have really great imaging, nice large intruments, great "air" one can really hear the concert hall, wonderful dynamics, and, for lack of a better term, very "emotional", these are my hands down favorite for classical so far, nice for instrumental jazz, very sibilant on female vocals though -- so will have to find a way to change this. I may be going with a different amp/pre so that may help.
System:
Cart; Zyx r100H I highly recommend Zxy and mehran at Sora sound, the finest cartridge out there for under $2k!!
Table: Project RM5SE with SE speedbox, and a couple of minor tweaks.
Cables/interconnects: Audioquest copperheads.
Integrated amp: Valve Audio predator
Speakers: Gallo 3.1's
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