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Best tubes to use in M3A? Help

Okay, I've tried 3 different pairs of tubes from
2 different sources and they are all noisy. The 1st
2 pairs I tried were 1970's Sovteks from Upscale Audio.
The first pair were dead quiet and sounded fantastic -
for about a week!! I sent them back, and the next pair
I got were noisy from the get go.
I just received a pair of Tungsrams from an independant
guy online and they are also noisy at idle. I'm thinking
of splurging and buying some expensive Telefunkens but I'm starting to think maybe it's this preamp that
is ruining perfectly good tubes. Can this happen? If it
wasn't for that 1st set of Sovteks sounding sooo good,
I would have given up on it by now and bought myself a good
solid state pre. Can anyone who has experience with an M3A
give me some advice with this dilemma? I'm at a loss.
Thanks in advance.
trank
4 responses Add your response
kichoi's avatar
kichoi
79 posts
 
Try begging Kevin at Upscale Audio for a pair of Amperex NOS gold pin 7308's...
tnkujry
36 posts
 
As I recall, the gain on the M3A is substantial which lends itself to a higher noise floor - so this is what you are working against. The Mullards are well respected, and if Rayhall's friend has had a good experience, they are worth a try.

Good luck,

Barton
rayhall
393 posts
 
Try Mullard 6922's. A friend of mine has a Modulus 3, not the 3A. He swears by these tubes in that preamp and they have lasted him a good two years and are still going strong. Certainly no noise unless you put your ear up to the tweeter. His system also has great bass and great dynamics with these tubes. I think this would be a better match than the Telefunken 6922 in this particular preamp.
sstark
63 posts
 
I don't think it will ever be truly silent-no noise at all. That's just the nature of tubes. Rather judge it on how it plays the sounds not the silence. I have used many different tubes in AI - it does eat them- and none were absolutely quiet including brand new expensive Telefunken's. I have used Upscale's Russian tubes particularly his 6H23's ($25@)and they sounded very nice. I haved also used Tungsram's they sounded a bit better. Note as the tube's age, and they age prematurely in the AI, they will become noisier--you hear a rush. Check the AI web site it's finally up now and note their detailed discussion of tubes.
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