Your favorite 5687 tube in the Modwright 9.0 SE?

What about the Sylvania 5687? Both Gold Brand with gold pins and Gold Brand with steel pins?

I am a big Raytheon 5687 fan. When I had the SWL 9.0 I had some 1955's that were just fantastic as well as some versions from the 60's.

I am also a fan of the Philips production (dutch made)metal base GZ-34/5AR4. I have early fat base (f-31) as well as older versions of the Mullard (UK made) GZ-34/5AR4 and they are pretty good as well. I just prefer the Philips metal base. (Philips, Mini Watt, and others)

You can't go wrong with the Tung Sol 5687.......not as nice as the Ratheon's ,IMO, but it is a great 5687. (They invented the tube)

Mofimadness, Which Mullard 5AR4? F31? F32? Metal base? Brown base? Etc. Does it make a difference?

7119 with steel or gold pins?

Mofimadness has said it all. Same tubes I use for the same reasons.

Second Raytheon red label tubes. organic sound to my ears.

When I had my Modwright 9.0, I used the Jan Philips tubes because they sound neutral, linear and smooth. I tried several and for the price, you can't beat it. I also agree that the nos Mullard rectifier tube sounded superb in the power supply.

If you want to tweak further, don't forget to get a nice power cord and I also found that it was very responsive to isolation footers. I liked the Vibrapod cones on the pre. They added more clarity and resolution. YMMV.

What is a good, reliable source for the Mullard 5AR4's?

I agree with Jazzcourier about the Bendix 6900, but the only pair I could find was over $600, so I passed. They are mega-rare and mega-expensive.

I did a MASSIVE amount of research before, during and after I bought my 9.0 Sig and found alot of info about tubes. Dan Wright told me that I hadn't really heard the preamp until I heard it with the Mullard 5AR4, so that recommendation came straight from the designer. The Mullard has a deeper, richer tonality than the Sovtek and just sounds "right" to me.

The 5687 tube is pretty linear, (just like the 6H30 tube), which means it has more solid state characteristics to it. The Amperex 7119 was smoother, more open and threw a wider and deeper soundstage. It sounded more "tubey" to me, which is what I was looking for.

My advice to to try some different tubes since they are really not that expensive, (except for the 6900). No one can tell you what YOU like. Everyone's system and room are different.

I would do some more research and try to narrow down what type of sound you are looking for. There is a bunch of information on this preamp out there.

The tubes that will work are the 5687, 7044 and the 7119.

Mofimadness, But what did you like about the Amperex 7719 that you did't get with other 5687s? And why the Mullard 5AR4 as opposed to, say, Sovtek, or other brands?

I substitute a pair of Bendix Red Bank 6900 tubes for the 5687 tubes in the Modwright Phono amp.The tubes are expensive and not easy to find, but the results are a greater depth,presence and read very deep into vinyl reproduction.I would imagine the results might be similar for this amp.I would always check with Dan Wright first.I also use the same type of tubes in a Modwright Sony cd player and that has been a very positive experience.
For example,price wise,NOS pair on Ebay right now at 400.00 with 8 days to go.That is around what i paid for my tubes.Serious tubes-serious money.

I tried almost every make and model, (and equivalents) when I had my SWL9.0SE Sig and found that I liked the Amperex Holland 7119 the best. I also liked the Raytheon Red/Orange label 5687. The Tungsols were very good also.

Make sure you use a Mullard (Great Britian) 5AR4 as the rectifier tube.