CJ PV-11L

mullards

I play around some with a PV-11 a year ago and found the CJ supplied tubes were the best (they were new). Well balanced overall. Did not try Mullards.

beg to differ but cj supplies the east german rft types which dick olsher if fi magazine declared stands head and shoulders above the rest. I have tried these in several itterations namely cj, gold aero and from cj again and they sounded thin Grainy and bright in my system.

I agree the RFT is not my fav sound wise. But they hold up. I would tell you that you either go with the cheapest tubes you can and swap them after they go microphonic or go with something really nice. About 15% of the Mullard CV4003 will hang together in that preamp. They have to be perfect going in.....then they seem to make it. From our standpoint as a dealer of gear and tubes it has been a bit frustrating.

I dont know what the frustration is considering you sold a friend of mine tubes for his pv11 and he has been perfectly happy with them. As with any other tube preamp if you hear a whistling or tube rush if you turn the preamp on and off it usualy eliminates the problem (very much like rebooting a computer).