Mullard cv4003 & 12au7 Blackburn

Thanks Matt, I will do that!

Thanks for all the info,Lowrider!

Because of this thread I called Andy and my order got a little out of hand!

I found him straight to the point and his reputation is that he can be very trusted. After chatting with him and asking opinions and such, this seems to be the case. Also from reading around here (and elsewhere) it might be awhile until I get the tubes but can hope sooner or later. I know he tests everything quite thoroughly, matches and the order I have is quite large.

Prices on his website need to be updated though.

Ended up with:
2 NOS Mullard rectifiers
6 NOS Mullard 12AU7/1960s (1950s too much for me)
6 NOS RCA Cleartops 12AU7

Shipping was pretty reasonable to Canada. Will report back once I've played around with them for awhile.

I'm using the Primaluna Dialogue Premium preamp.

This only has 4/6 gain tubes so I should of stopped there. But I asked him what he thought if the cathode followers were worthwhile to change out. He didn't know what the Primaluna stock brand tubes were but guessed they were modern-issues from Russia, China or Czech Republic. I don't know if anyone knows what PL's rebranded stock tubes actually are. His opinion, very boldly so, was that they're all crap in comparison to the older ones and won't last as long either. I kinda took this with a grain of salt but decided to go for it anyways because I'd wonder. In the end if the cathode follower tubes don't change anything, it wasn't a huge expense and if anything they'll last quite a few years.

Regardless for my setup, the highs were too shrill and the mids a little recessed. He said the Mullards would be a good match for this as they're the darkest tonally he has with a rich and lush midrange, with the RCAs second slightly more towards neutral. The Tele's Tungsols and Amperex were neutral to airier/detailed/forward.

I will mix and match between the sockets and see if there is any combo that sounds the best. Mullards have such a following that I gotta try them :)

@lowrider57 I actually forgot all about it haha. Guess it doesn't matter now. The price was way less than Upscale Audio's $110USD CV4003 and I'm sure 60's Blackburn Mullards were quality.

Mixing tubes sounds like a good way to go. Thanks gents!

It's no problem honestly. I bought these knowing full well that I might not even like them! Such as it goes in this hobby. I figure with a reptuation like Andy if I got to sell them at least people can know it wasn't from some random person. I'm not much into tinkering with sockets and such anyways. 

What I was really after were Brimar 13D5 (lots on eBay from India!). Apparently Brimar CV4043 are the better version according to a seller on eBay, which might be true, but I actually looked through various documentation available for CV4003 and CV4043 and nothing came back that they were compatible, even trying to decipher datasheets. I'm a complete amateur so I might be out of line but something just didn't seem right.

In the event someone comes along looking for 13D5 info, I asked Brent from Brent Jessee Recordings about this and his thorough, gracious answer was:

"The 13D5 is one of the best British 12AU7 tubes ever made. It was designed from the ground up to be low noise, uniform output, and long life. The CV4043 is a military version of the industrial 6061, which is not compatible with the 12AU7 and is not a recommended substitute.

 

CV tubes are British military spec tubes. They are not designed for audio use but often are very good tubes because they were built to withstand impact and vibration. The 13D5 is still a superior tube. We have them in stock. They are listed on our 12AU7 page if you are interested in singles or pairs."

Even for just four I think they're beyond my budget for such a thing but they could be the best for anyone else looking.