Brightest Sounding New Production 12ax7 tubes

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BrutalRob said:
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
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This. Tungsol in V1, JJ in V2 & V3, and Sovtek LPS in the PI is my typical go-to.
 
Haven't tried the EH yet but Tungsol in v1 wasn't as bright as I thought it would be in my rd45h based on comments, maybe different in another amp. More gain + smooth top end for me
 
napalmdeath said:
This. Tungsol in V1, JJ in V2 & V3, and Sovtek LPS in the PI is my typical go-to.
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Great minds think alike.
Other combos that work well is ehx in v1 with either shuguang or jj e83cc in v2 and v3.
 
tjnx said:
Haven't tried the EH yet but Tungsol in v1 wasn't as bright as I thought it would be in my rd45h based on comments, maybe different in another amp. More gain + smooth top end for me
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Those are dark, dark, dark amps. JJ 6L6's are the ticket in the power section for those, but also be mindful of the bias. There's a sweet spot between cold and grainy, and too hot and mushy.

You REALLY have to crank the treble and presence on those because they are so dark. I went with a Tungsol in V1 in mine, and that did brighten it up. The older ones, (before China had issues), came stock full tilt with Ruby's, (all Shuguang). I didn't like their 6L6's. I always did a Tungsol in V1, JJ in V2, Ruby in V3, and Sovtek in the PI with JJ 6L6's biased to 34-36mA. Those are killer sleeper amps with the right tubes/bias. Leave the boost off, and hit it with an OD instead!
 
Check out the JJ E83CC. Different than the JJ ECC83S for those that knock JJ 12ax7s. That JJ E83CC is quite comparable to the Tung-sol. I prefer the JJ over the Tung-sol. JJ has the brightness of the TS with "meaner" mids and rounder low end than the TS. The TS can get harsh at times.
 
napalmdeath said:
Those are dark, dark, dark amps. JJ 6L6's are the ticket in the power section for those, but also be mindful of the bias. There's a sweet spot between cold and grainy, and too hot and mushy.

You REALLY have to crank the treble and presence on those because they are so dark. I went with a Tungsol in V1 in mine, and that did brighten it up. The older ones, (before China had issues), came stock full tilt with Ruby's, (all Shuguang). I didn't like their 6L6's. I always did a Tungsol in V1, JJ in V2, Ruby in V3, and Sovtek in the PI with JJ 6L6's biased to 34-36mA. Those are killer sleeper amps with the right tubes/bias. Leave the boost off, and hit it with an OD instead!
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I may have referenced your posts when I did some tube rolling, but I have JJ 6L6s @ 36mA, eh 7025 v1, tungsol v2, JJ v3 and lps in the PI. Mostly because I bought those 4 to try in different combinations because I had no idea what to do.

The 7025 is great but has less gain so I'm using an SD1 in front. It is so close to being perfect but sometimes sounds nasally live unless its really loud so I was thinking of trying an EH to give it some hiss. The stock 12ax7s had more gain and hiss but I prefer this. Really like the 7025

Thinking of getting a graphic eq or something like an orange 2 stroke just to add a little on top. I had an empress paraEQ but it just sounded a little digital or recorded through all my amps for some reason.
 
tjnx said:
I may have referenced your posts when I did some tube rolling, but I have JJ 6L6s @ 36mA, eh 7025 v1, tungsol v2, JJ v3 and lps in the PI. Mostly because I bought those 4 to try in different combinations because I had no idea what to do.

The 7025 is great but has less gain so I'm using an SD1 in front. It is so close to being perfect but sometimes sounds nasally live unless its really loud so I was thinking of trying an EH to give it some hiss. The stock 12ax7s had more gain and hiss but I prefer this. Really like the 7025

Thinking of getting a graphic eq or something like an orange 2 stroke just to add a little on top. I had an empress paraEQ but it just sounded a little digital or recorded through all my amps for some reason.
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I used an MXR 10-Band in the loop. Highly recommended.

I'd still put that Tungsol in V1, the JJ in V2 and the 7025 in V3.
 
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napalmdeath said:
I used an MXR 10-Band in the loop. Highly recommended.

I'd still put that Tungsol in V1, the JJ in V2 and the 7025 in V3.
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I actually ran that setup before, the 7025 sounds great for the cleans. This one is the current winner but haven't tried it in a rehearsal setup yet.

The previous one was good but got lost sometimes, gotta snag a 10-band and try both again
 
Frehley12 said:
Check out the JJ E83CC. Different than the JJ ECC83S for those that knock JJ 12ax7s. That JJ E83CC is quite comparable to the Tung-sol. I prefer the JJ over the Tung-sol. JJ has the brightness of the TS with "meaner" mids and rounder low end than the TS. The TS can get harsh at times.
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Yep I bought several of these earlier this year and they sound completely different from the standard JJ 12ax7. With all the standard JJs in the preamp of my 5150, I swapped in one of the new E83CC’s in V1 and it was a drastic difference like taking a blanket of the speakers. I put all E83CC’s in and it was too thin sounding.
 
Frehley12 said:
Check out the JJ E83CC. Different than the JJ ECC83S for those that knock JJ 12ax7s. That JJ E83CC is quite comparable to the Tung-sol. I prefer the JJ over the Tung-sol. JJ has the brightness of the TS with "meaner" mids and rounder low end than the TS. The TS can get harsh at times.
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You sparked my curiosity enough I just bought a JJE83CC to try out. I can't believe I paid $29 bucks:shocked: for a 12AX7 but that's the market price right now.

Opps my bad, corrected, YUP JJE83CC

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I am curious to try this against my newer production Tung Sols and my Chinese 9th generation 12ax7's.:yes:
 
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harddriver said:
You sparked my curiosity enough I just bought a JJECC83S to try out. I can't believe I paid $29 bucks:shocked: for a 12AX7 but that's the market price right now.

I am curious to try this against my newer production Tung Sols and my Chinese 9th generation 12ax7's.:yes:
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Did you type or buy the wrong tube? Should be JJ E83CC if you were going for the brighter tube.
 
The EH7025 is my favorite current production. I use them in V1 and PI and then fill out the middle with JJ83s or 90’ era square getter Shuagangs.

I don’t like the JJ83cc at all. I find it gritty/harsh in the mids and really stiff sounding. Definitely brighter than 83s if you need that. But may work in some amps I guess. As far as JJ tubes, the MG is not bad and the 803s is good as a PI.
 
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