Is anybody using Jet City Retrovalves or AMT Warm Stones?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rex Rocker
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Rex Rocker

Rex Rocker

Well-known member
Wonder if anyone has experience with them. How are they?

I'm always looking for new tubes to try, and these seem interesting.
 
I have a set of the jet city’s somewhere I got years ago, they light up a cool color is all i remember though
 
I bought some Retro's when they were blowing them out. Used them in some spots of a RM100. They were alright I guess. Still have them actually.
 
I have 3 retro valves. I don't think they sound particularly great but they will do in a pinch. I bought them to keep on my gig bag for an emergency backup during a gig. They serve that purpose well.
In terms of tone they're a bit stiff and solid state sounding so I wouldn't use them permanently.
 
guitarbilly74 said:
I have 3 retro valves. I don't think they sound particularly great but they will do in a pinch. I bought them to keep on my gig bag for an emergency backup during a gig. They serve that purpose well.
In terms of tone they're a bit stiff and solid state sounding so I wouldn't use them permanently.
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I agree. I have a bunch of them that I bought years ago. The red ones are ok for getting more gain out of your amp, and the blue ones are fairly normal; but like Billy said - they're all very stiff sounding. I have seen one report of one failing and melting the entire piece, but maybe that was just an isolated QC issue.
 
I've got a pair of blue retro valves that I keep around to swap with suspected bad preamp tubes. If nothing else they are reliable and consistent.
 
guitarbilly74 said:
I have 3 retro valves. I don't think they sound particularly great but they will do in a pinch. I bought them to keep on my gig bag for an emergency backup during a gig. They serve that purpose well.
In terms of tone they're a bit stiff and solid state sounding so I wouldn't use them permanently.
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This. I have like 3 or 4 of the Jet City ones that I bought when they were on sale. I basically just keep em around as backups.

I haven't tried the AMT ones but if I had to hazard a guess I'd think they are probably better sounding than the JCA retrovalves. I'm a big fan of AMT gear and I think they do SS stuff better than just about anyone out there
 
Yeah I tried them in V1 spots and moved them out of there after a bit. They are good for further down the line though in most cases.
 
Bought them, never even tried them, still in the packaging. :D

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Maybe the time has come for SS tube substitutes. I bought some RetroValves to experiment with. Haven't tried 'em yet, but I'm glad I bought them now!
 
I sent a Facebook message to Jet City Amplification asking about reintroducing RetroValves and they replied: "Hey Johnny! Thanks so much for the message. But no, that is not happening. And in the long run tubes will be fine."
 
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JohnnyGtar said:
I sent a Facebook message to Jet City Amplification asking about reintroducing RetroValves and they replied: "Hey Johnny! Thanks so much for the message. But no, that is not happening. And in the long run tubes will be fine."
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Interesting, so they didn’t sell well 10 years ago and so they won’t sell well now. Gotta say, they are probably right, as by the time they get them up and running again, we may be in 2023 and the tube supply will be better than it is now.
 
i have some AMT preamp tubes, very defined and punchy tone, they work great as PI making your poweramp hybrid(good for metal) but if you want smooth warm sounds they will not work for you
 
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