Tube rolling suggestions

Sgunther:

According to Mark O'Brien at Rogue, the input tubes have the greatest effect on the sonic characteristics of the amps.

Having owned the 150's since last August, I've done a lot of experimenting with those tubes. Basically, what I was trying to do was decrease what I considered to be too much "high energy" in my system....the highs were very strident and nerve-wracking.

When I spoke to Mark about his, he recommend RCA 12AX7 long blackplates. I tried a pair and they certainly calmed down that energy. I then wanted to try some 5751 triple mica tubes (vintage variety) and rolled GE's, RCA's and a pair of Raytheon's 2 mica with the windmill getters. They all sounded fine, but I kept returning to the RCA triple mica's which I'm currently using.

It seems as if the Rogues are made for the RCA's....either the 12AX7's or the 5751's. They have very good bass, a detailed mid-range, and best of all, a smooth yet detailed high end. If you decide to try them, I recommend those of late 1950's vintage.

Hope this helps.

You are fortunate that the input tube is the tube that matters most according to J..128 for the Rougue. There are so many option available, I have tried a bunch of 12AX7 tubes each has its own characteristics. I would try as many as you can afford to find the one you like best. I use Telefunkens and Mullards most of the time. The telefunken is very clean sounding while the Mullard is "Polite". The drivers are reportedly very important again there is a plethora of 12AU7s to try and they are relatively inexpensive. I have found it to be fun trying different tubes and I like the variety of sound I can achieve using different tubes. The only problem is that it can become addictive.

I have had a Rogue Amp for a few years, and have done extensive tube rolling. I like the Mullards for the input tubes and I love the winged "C" Svetlana KT88's for the output stage.

Thanks for the great responses, I have recently read Joe's Tube Lore and definitely want to try the 5751 input tube. There sure seems to be a big difference in price. I know it is all subjective but is there that much difference between the 5751 JAN GE for $18/each at Tube Depot compared to the RCA Black Plate listed here on Agon for $50/each.

FWIW. I got more satisfaction out of fiddling with interconnects between my Zeus and pre-amp than I did out of tube swapping. As the 12ax7's are long lived, cost of replacing your favorite NOS is no big deal I reckon, but I liked the idea of finding a cable that worked well with the relatively cheap current production tubes and found contentment that way. The limited amount of tube swapping I did always got me 'different and better than the other in some ways on some source material' but never 'just plain better'. Good luck!

Sgunther:

The GE 5751 on Tube Depot is a "standard" 2-mica grayplate. Am not familiar with it, but the 3-mica blackplate is the one usually considered the tube of choice, at least according to Joe's Tube Lore. They sound very nice but are much more expensive.

The $50.00 RCA's are the 3-mica blackplates, probably of late 50's vintage. This is the type I keep coming back to in my Rogues. A good, strong pair should last quite a while. They can also be found on e-bay often enough and if bid at the right time, can be had for between $50.00 and $80.00 per pair.

Ive found on a transparent system the 12au7's make a large diffrence on the zeus. to me the RCA Long Black plates are just endlessly listenable, while not ruler flat in responce the width, depth, is just staggering.The rca clear tops are fine on some material but seem too colored.
On My old 120's I found the tunsgram 12ax7 was nice though i didnt have many to roll. I had a NOS Pair USAF 5751 Black plate triple sylvania's that just put everything over the top. The guy with the hot highs on the 150's harness that sound and enjoy you will miss it if you every switch.

Thanks for everyone's input. I purchased a pair of NOS RCA 5751 3 mica black plate tubes from Jeff and they really made a positive difference, primarily better imaging and tighter base.