Seeking a Warm 12AX7 Tube for Preamp

Mullard is the gold standard of unabashedly warm 12AX7 (and EL34, and...). Even the reissues are warm, but (in my experience) vintage British short-plates are probably the warmest & thickest sounding of all. Long-plate British Mullards are still vey warm, but a little more balanced and articulate than their later short-plates.

Brent Jessee has Matsushita made 12ax7 that are very similar to Mullard construction for $110 matched pair. They are listed as: “12AX7 / 7025 Selected Dynascan, Allied industrial or Red Tip Low Noise Japanese made” on his website.

Otherwise, Mullard reissue should work for you.

~15 years ago I had a pair of Japanese 12AX7 with a very sharply angled (45 degrees) top getter & flashing. It's a very striking feature - can't miss it. I think (pretty sure) they were Matsushita. The plates may look like Mullard and be made with that tooling, but the sonic balance of these tubes was VERY bright. I used them specifically to counter an Eico HF87 tube amp that was otherwise too warm when used with vintage Mullard EL34. They might be the brightest 12AX7 I’ve had, though they sounded very good in this one context, to "balance the see-saw".

OK. So I have to come clean... I made an impulse purchase. I’ve been enjoying THC edibles. And a few weeks ago I got an email about a Chi-Fi option. It is one of those "clones" that’s based on a venerable old model who’s patent has long since expired. So I bought a unit that is modeled on an old Matisse tube pre. It uses (2) 12AT7 and (2) 12AX7. I bought some new Mullard Reissues (12AT7), and I got a deal on the 12AX7 (new JJ). All from Viva Tubes.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224885709348?var=523754766478

The preamp is shockingly well built. And sonically it is doing some very nice things. Very quiet noise floor, great open sound stage, and wonderful detail. But tonally, the balance is a bit thin, and the upper mids and higher frequencies are "shouty." So I’m looking for something a little more warm on the top.

On a Rogue Audio group I co-admin, I always joke that "JJ tubes go right into the trash" (Rogue ships JJs as stock for most small tubes). But even with those JJs, the Mullard reissues should lend some warmth. I don’t normally audition Chinese tube gear, but a few times I have and was surprised to hear a bright/lean tonal balance - sometimes even with warm vintage/NOS tubes. Like that "Darkvoice" tube headphone amplifier which has been popular for almost 20 years (!!) - I did not like it.

If your new component is just inherently a bit "thin" sounding, it could be hard to counteract. But if something is going to reverse it, short-plate British Mullard 12AX7 are it. Mine were Bogen branded short gray plates with either I61 or I63 date codes (I forget exactly which, now but they should be similar enough) - VERY warm and thick.

Buy a used Mullard that test as new, you can pick up one for under $100. RCA’s are fun and sound good, kind of in the middle between Mullard and Telefunkens. RCA’s are more of a guitar tube and sounds like it but still a nice tube. Telefunkens are very detailed, refined, either you like them or you don’t. The Gold Lion gold pin sound like they tried to copy the Telefunkens character. If you need a place to buy a used Tele pm me,

I agree with all this, pretty much :)
Used-tests-strong tubes, from smaller tube sellers with good feedback, is THE way to get good value for your money. If you go to big tube dealers, they’ll charge a huge premium, and their tubes aren’t always better. Some of these 12AX7's still have such large populations (most Teles, RCAs, Mullards), it’s crazy to pay big for ’em. A dud happens here and there, but a small tube like this won’t blow up your amp and speakers without LOTS of help from bad engineering elsewhere.

I’d say that reissue Gold Lions remind me more of Amperex (Holland) than Teles, but not far off either way (especially if you mean smooth plates).