2. amps-preamps
  3. 1264690151

How are Mullards supposed to sound?

System: Rogers Studio 7, Prima Luna Prologue One, Marantz SA-8003

The stock (Chinese?) tubes in my Prima Luna Prologue One finally wore out after two years. The stock tubes sounded really excellent.

I decided to "upgrade." First to Electro-Harmonix tubes, which sounded decent but not as good as the stock tubes, and now to Mullards.

I know that tubes take a little while to "burn-in" but these Mullards sound awful.

They have a hard, clangy, echoing (microphonic) quality that none of the other tubes ever had. The soundstage seems to have receded backwards by a hundred feet. Everything sounds small and far away.

Is this how Mullards sound? I thought they were supposed to sound romantic. Is this all part of the "burn-in" process?
layman

Showing 3 responses by layman

layman OP
34 posts
 
Thanks for the responses everyone.

Just to clarify...I changed all the tubes to Mullards.

The El-34's and 12AX-7's are the new Svetlana Mullard reissues and the 12AT7s are NOS.

I suspect (though I could be wrong) that it's the NOS tubes that are not to my liking, so I think I will replace them with the Electro-Harmonix.

As for Kevin Deal...I bought the amp from him but since then he has seemed impatient on the phone and unwilling to provide advice. He always seems to either rush me off the phone or fob me off on an underling. So...I have given up on asking for his advice and have decided to experiement on my own. It's starting to cost a lot of money.
layman OP
34 posts
 
Update:

Thanks everyone. Thanks to your comments, I now realize that I goofed.

I ordered NOS Mullard 12AT7s rather than 12AU7s. That could explain the weird sound.

When I get home this evening I will replace the 12AT7s with 12AU7s and see how that goes.

Thanks a lot.
layman OP
34 posts
 
Incredible as it seems...replacing the (NOS)12AT7's with 12AU7's made no difference at all.

I have changed all the pre-amp tubes back to the EH tubes that I had before I decided to "upgrade."

So, I must therefore conclude that I don't like the sound of the Svetlana Mullard reproduction EL-34s.

I am disappointed but I guess this is all part of the "tube rolling" experience.
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