China 12ax7 variations

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hopkinWFG

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Dear tube geeks out there....

Just wanna ask and know are there any other non NOS related tube brands out there that has the same eqivalent brightness and aggressiveness to china 12ax7 but much lesser gain ?

Ie sovtek? Or tungsols?
 
I don't know about that. But if you grab some 12ax7b silver dragons, they have a lot of gain, but are almost noiseless. Best part is they are cheap as fuck. I have bought all kinds of nos tubes and gold lions, etc. Now i always pick up the 10$ silver dragons when i get a new amp.
 
This thread sparks my interest also. So the "silver dragons" : https://www.tubesforamps.com/products/1 ... ver-dragon

They look to be the most common 9th gen Chinese 12ax7. I would think these are the tubes that other companies buy, test and put there own label on such as Ruby or ARS. I have a bunch of these tubes with a ruby label that says "12AX7AC5" on one side and on the other it says 7025SS/12AX7A, they look exactly the same on the inside as the "regular" china ones.. I also have some that just say China like those silver dragon. I would imagine when it comes to these tubes its just a matter of getting them from somewhere that tests them properly. BUT I will say that in my experience the Ruby labeled ones seem to be most consistent for me so far.

Then to throw more in the mix Ive found some that have more silver on the inside, some kind of silver series version.

Then on top of that, lol..... Are these TAD spec tubes made in China Shuguang : https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/v ... m-selected
 
The silver dragons have silver colored plates (not dark grey) but look pretty much identical otherwise, I'd take a side-by-side pic but I sent the only silver dragon I have to Monomyth with a bunch of other tubes for him to select from.
 
As an aside, when I got my Monomyth, I went to change out the preamps like I always do, and found that he was using silver dragons as well. I think he had a jj in v1 or v2, but if you play high gain and want low noise, you just can't hardly beat them.
 
Square getter Chinese 12ax7s are awesome. I have them in my Marshall 2555x and Mesa Mark IVa. Low noise, high gain. How do these compare to the Silver Dragons? I laugh at the description tested for high gain and low noise $10. Yet there's an additional option for $8 more for high gain and low noise. Scratching my head.
 
The gain levels can be all over the place at times depending on the batch and production date. The best way is to buy a tester and test your own. That way you can grade them for gain, noise, transconductance.
 
Smashedguitarist":yfz9rb2n said:
I don't know about that. But if you grab some 12ax7b silver dragons, they have a lot of gain, but are almost noiseless. Best part is they are cheap as fuck. I have bought all kinds of nos tubes and gold lions, etc. Now i always pick up the 10$ silver dragons when i get a new amp.
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Hey... thanks for reply sorry i haven been keeping on this thread of mine... so silver dragon? 12ax7b ? Isnt 12ax7b a generation of china 12ax7? And silver dragon is probably a term on specific screening of specific quality among 12ax7b batch?
 
No problem, man. I tell everyone i can. If you play high gain and are picky about hiss, they are a life saver.
 
hopkinWFG":3t5gy23r said:
Dear tube geeks out there....

Just wanna ask and know are there any other non NOS related tube brands out there that has the same eqivalent brightness and aggressiveness to china 12ax7 but much lesser gain ?

Ie sovtek? Or tungsols?
Click to expand...
I was just looking at the fryette ultralead manual today and it mentioned to use a 12AX7A Tung-Sol in v1 for more aggressive top end and increased mid gain or use a 12AX7 chinese tube for more overall gain. Not sure what would sound heavier for my taste, I want both! :lol: :LOL:
 
errrrrl":2njizuy0 said:
hopkinWFG":2njizuy0 said:
Dear tube geeks out there....

Just wanna ask and know are there any other non NOS related tube brands out there that has the same eqivalent brightness and aggressiveness to china 12ax7 but much lesser gain ?

Ie sovtek? Or tungsols?
Click to expand...
I was just looking at the fryette ultralead manual today and it mentioned to use a 12AX7A Tung-Sol in v1 for more aggressive top end and increased mid gain or use a 12AX7 chinese tube for more overall gain. Not sure what would sound heavier for my taste, I want both! :lol: :LOL:
Click to expand...

I use an RFT in v1 and Chinese in the rest. A Ruby 12AX7C5HG+ works really well. That’s basically just a low noise Chinese 12AX7B, or Silver Dragon discussed above. I’ve tried Tung Sol & JJ as well, but I prefer Chinese over those.
 
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