Brightest Sounding New Production 12ax7 tubes

[Lightning]

Your opinions brightest new production 12ax7 tubes

 

[napalmdeath]

EH 12AX7.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Tung-Sol 12AX7’s are pretty clear & bright.

 

[BrutalRob]

Tung sol is basically brighter than ehx.
Shuguang also is pretty bright.

 

[DanTravis62]

Shuguang and tungsol were the ones I was gonna mention as well

 

[PurityS.L.G]

Tung sol by a mile. EHX are more harsh than bright I would say. They do sound good in some amps though so don't completely write them off.

 

[Lightning]

Need to try some TungSol im using as we speak JJ ecc83s

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Pretty much Anything will be an upgrade over a JJ, in my opinion, Lightning

 

[Racerxrated]

Pretty much Anything will be an upgrade over a JJ, in my opinion, Lightning

Yep, I agree...in fact, almost any pre will also be brighter as the JJs IMO are typically a good bit darker.

 

[BrutalRob]

Tung sol by a mile. EHX are more harsh than bright I would say. They do sound good in some amps though so don't completely write them off.

I would not call them harsh. They are indeed darker, more low mid bark as opposed to the high mid grind of tung sol. But the high end is nice and crisp on ehx while the tung sol have smooth high end

 

[BrutalRob]

Need to try some TungSol im using as we speak JJ ecc83s

You should not use any new sensor made tube in an cathode follower position, they are known to fail there easily.
I would only change the v1 for the tung sol. And a sovtek lps in phase inverter is gold.
But tung sol in v1 and jj ecc83s in v2 and v3 is one of my favorite combos for preamp tubes

 

[Bxlxaxkxe]

Tungsol is first to come to mind for new production. But not necessarily bright in a good way - just depends on the amp I guess

 

[SpiderWars]

Tung Sol was my first thought but the JJ ECC803s (I think that’s it, not their regular one) is really bright but it’s long plate so I never use it in V1.

 

[67mike]

Tung Sol.

Fucking ice picks in v1.

 

[Rex Rocker]

It's either EHX or Tung Sol. But I agree, EHX are harsher.

But Tung Sols can certainly be harsh as well. I wouldn't call either of them smooth whatsoever.

Shuguangs can also be bright, but they're a grindy kinda bright. Kinda like a Duncan Distortion or a Vintage 30 where it's mostly high-mid cut and aggression rather than top-end detail.

 

[ners]

Do people find comparisons like this accurate?

https://www.thetubestore.com/12ax7-tube-reviews-chart

 

[VonBonfire]

Yep, I agree...in fact, almost any pre will also be brighter as the JJs IMO are typically a good bit darker.

The 803s seemed brighter to my ears but the last covid era batch I bought were microphonic so bad out of the box they were unusable at high volume. I switched to EHX after that 34.95/ea mess.

 

[LPMojoGL]

Tung Sol. My go-to before I got into older tubes.

Pretty much Anything will be an upgrade over a JJ, in my opinion, Lightning

Agreed. Always pull them.

 

[just42dave]

12ax7c

 

[dead-pan]

I have always felt modern Tung Sol were very clear and a tad brighter.

Replaced V1 in a Mesa Mark VII and couldn't believe how bright it was.