Whats the best and quietest 12AX7 tube

The 12ax7s I am useing ARE Sovtek LPS which Albert recommended.Should I just forget upgrading.I called Kevin Deal,he said no guarentee his QUIETEST tube would lower the tube rush anymore. WHAT TO DO GUYS? IM fairly new to tubes so please advise. Thanfs Albert,I've read your replys elsewhere your cool!!

David, the Sovtek 12AX7 LPS is the spiral version of the LP, some people have reported that after as little as 60 days that particular tube begins the tube rush (noise) you report. The good news is that either version is very cheap (LP or LPS, maybe $7.00?) so you can afford to replace the pair three or four times a year (if absolutely necessary) for about the price of a good dinner. I know that this is not a wonderful piece of advice, but I have the same problem with my phono stage, and I use Sovtek 12AX7 LPS in the first stage, the Madza's in the second stage and Telefunken in the other stages. I find that the first tube (after the cartridge) effects the overall noise level more than stages after it. When I get the "rush" you describe, I can usually replace the first tubes and be back as quiet as possible without replacing the more expensive tubes. And, thank you for your kind words.

Albert, The LPS tubes had rush upon arrival of the Rogue 99 Why not get low noise or super low noise 12AX7s and can the LPs?? Can you help me with this also? I paid my dealer $!00.00 extra for NOS tubes for the 99 He told me Rogue sends some from the factory already equiped.Come to find out the sovteks arent NOS the other 12AX7 and 12AU7 are Philips are these NOS? The line stage has 4 penta Labs 6sn7 But they have a different number on them.I checked out their site and I think these tubes are new.Kevin D.told me they are probably Russian or Chinese.This dealer has always been the BEST in every way but I think he is assuming Im an idiot. If this were you what would you do? What tubes for 99 would you suggest? My sound is very good but the tube rush I wont tolerate.It is quite low but combined with groove rush one has to go. I just today got Prosilway MK2 for preamp to amp.They dont sound much better than my old PBJs but its only been an hour.Will they eventually trounce them? Thanks Albert!

Dave, you really need to talk to Mark O brian at Rogue Audio ,he could help with your tube noise,Also you didn`t say if you had any line conditioner on your system,I have a Rogue 66 that has the same noise you have and tried a Vanevers 85 line conditioner and the noise drop alot and these are stock tubes.The amp is a Rogue 88 with the new Pents lab kt 88 tubes ,they are just awesome,see if your dealer will let you use one of the line units to see if that helps. Albert was right as always , he a sharpe guy.he has been helpful to alot of people at this site, those tubes that Rogue sell are there NOS ,but you should talk to mark about it to get the scoop on what tubes are what. Greg

For one thing, Kevin at Upscale is not a terrific dealer guy. He may have a few buddies out there, but I know from personal experience that he doesn't know what he's talking about. David Lewis is the same way. AS FOR YOUR SILWAY MK-2: I've tried some extensively, comparing it to many others, and find that it lacks natural timbre in the upper midrange, and sounds laid back in that range; gives the music an artificially "crystalline" quality. Transient snap in the treble seems a little hyped also, however smooth it is. Bass is very dynamic. If that's what you need to get neutral sound for your system, then I doubt there's anything better out there anywhere near the price. But in my system, whether on headphones and a tube headphone amp, or on a solid state linestage with Krell power amp (and either from vinyl or CD), THE MIT 330 SHOTGUN HAS BEATEN EVERY INTERCONNECT I'VE TRIED UNDER $3000 PER METER...and this is only a $700 interconnect!! GOOD LUCK GETTING TUBES TO GO QUIETER. What solid state preamp convinced you to get into tubes? I'm open minded about tube preamps, but not all solid state ones are cut from the same cloth...All the best.