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Rolled some 12ax7's recently...

Hi All,
I went through my supply of 12ax7's recently and found some goodies.
I recently compared Bugle Boys to Telefunkens in the phono stage of my pre-amp. Interesting (to me, at least). I found the Telefunkens to be nice sounding; very clean and clear, very nice detail, over all a very nice sounding tube. The Bugle Boys, however, were magical! WOW! Timbre was so much more apparent. The soundstage depth and width increased; especially the depth. The music seemed to come alive and glow. It was much more captivating.
I found such a dramatic difference between two high quality tubes very interesting.
I have yet to try 10m's, and 70's Mullards that I found. I will report when I do...
By the way, NOS Sylvania's sound nice in the line-level stage. All tubes reported are vintage NOS. I match them with my tube tester. And, I do not change the volume setting between tube brands tested.
Any comments are more than welcomed! I appreciate any information on your experiences with 12ax7's. The price of some of these NOS is incredible; I am glad to have these nice examples in my collection!
Cheers.
bicycle_man

Showing 2 responses by magnumpi205

magnumpi205
504 posts
 
Prefer the Orange Amperex's to the Bugle Boy's. Maybe because they hold up really well.
In 35 years of using 12ax7's, Amperexs seem to hold up better. Some of the commercial derivatives are tougher but just don't have the magic.
Just because they are of military contruction doesn't mean that they will sound better, but will hold up better in a military environement.
Just hope we don't have to test that application.
magnumpi205
504 posts
 
Ruggedized means stronger not better. All tubes should be checked for microphonics on an individual basis.
That would be like saying Queen Latifah is a better singer than Beyonce because she outways her by 100lbs.
Rugged makes a Marine not an opera singer.
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