Hi
I decided to post my views and experiences with rolling different tubes. When I first started I had no idea about any tubes but over the past several months I have studied them and had the chance to own a few nos tubes as well. This article is posted here to make it easier for anyone else to get a grip on tubes without having to spend a lot of money or time.
First a bit about tubes.
On a basic level one has pre stage tubes and output stage tubes. Pre stage tubes are the ones that you usually hear about. They go with nomenclature such as 12ax7, 6922, 5687 and so on. The most famous are the 12ax7 series followed by the 6922 family.
A little about these two families.
The 12ax7 also has two sibling namely the 12au7 and the 12at7. The difference is that they all have different gain factors. Hence it is recommended to stick with the model that the manufacturer provides.
The 6922 is based on the 6DJ8 tube and is considered as a beefed up 6GJ8. It can be replaced in any circuit that used a 6DJ8 tube. Then there is a 7DJ8 which can also be used in most circuits but it uses a 7v heater rating. There is also a 6H23 tube which is the Russian equivalent.
Output tubes go by nomenclature such as higher output tubes like 211, 845, kt88, kt120 and lower output tubes like el84, 6L6 etc.
Now coming to the brands. There are various brands but I'll mainly divide them into NOS tubes and current production tubes.
Current production.
You mainly have 2 players here. The Russians and the Chinese. The Russians have bought the rights to many great brands such as sovtek, genelex, mullard where as the Chinese have brands such as JJ Telefunken Psvane etc. Except for psvane all the other brands are run off the mill tubes if they are new production. The sovteks can withstand a lot of abuse and hence many manufacturers use them in their pre stage. Basically when you buy any new tube Amp today you will have one of these tubes in it.
Now coming to the nos players. This is where the party begins. Telefunken, Amperex bugle boys, Philips mini watt, Mullard.
Telefunken.
They are considered to be among the best tubes out there. They are expensive. They have a ruler flat response. You won't have the typical tube sound with this tube. The mids are not fat nor is the bass bloated. Nothing sticks out yet everything is delivered when it's called for. It's not a euphonic tube but is extremely well balanced head to toe. It times well, has enough air, enough body, and extends at both extremes just enough. And it can boogie when needed. It will make your toes tap and make you dance. It's not an emotional tube that draws you in on some songs, but makes other songs sound boring. I'm using the cheapest nos 12au7 that I could find so I can only imagine how much better the medical grade tubes must be.
Amperex bugle boys
Once again there is a lot of variety available. I'm using the cheapest tube costing about 45 USD but these guys can get expensive.
This tube doesn't extend as much on top yet it doesn't sound rolled off. It's a bit dark on the top end and mainly focuses on giving a dry, slightly upfront mid band. The bass doesn't really stick out and is integrated into the mid band itself. Sounds nice on small bands. Imagine you have a whiskey in hand and there are 3 performers in a dark night club. This is exactly what this tube does. Very good for jazz etc. I'll call it the dark night club tube.
Voshkod 6H23
These tubes came stock in my audionote source so I switched them to nos amperex initially hoping for some magic. I was transported to the dark night club but on many other songs I felt I was missing out. I put the voshkod back and guys, this tube is the holy grail. It is THE most transparent tube I've heard. No hash, no artificial bloat, just one clean clean band if energy. This is probably why it didn't hit me when I first heard it. Good equipment doesn't draw your attention at first but with time one appreciates it. According to me this is how the perfect source should be. Transparent without emphasizing or deleting anything.
The only other player that did this was an old simaudio cd player that I tried many years ago. Nowadays far too many sources try to voice their products in a particular fashion, which makes them sound great on some songs and boring on others. The voshkod sounds neutral on anything you put through it letting the Amp or speakers deliver the boogie factor. At just 10 bucks a tube this is the steal of the century. Audionote picked it for a reason and this was it. Google voshkod rocket tubes if you want this fellow. He also has a bigger brother costing more.
Sovteks new production
Very mid heavy tube with a dark top end without bite. Sounds heavenly on stuff that has female vocals that tend to be bright but overall not a very good tube.
Telefunken new production
These are produced by JJ and are not even close to the nos tubes. These tubes are very transparent top to bottom but a little thin and bright with a slightly recessed mid band. Good tube if you will combine it with a nos tube in the same circuit.
I'm currently using this with the nos telefunken as I didn't have the budget to go all nos. It's main strength is that it is very transparent and doesn't really have a strong signature to impose on any other tube in the circuit.
I'll update this thread if I test anymore tubes. Hope it's useful to those who have tube amps and want to experiment a bit.
I'm using the audionote oto Amp and with the Telefunken NOS in it, it is one of the most satisfying amplifiers that I have owned.
Please note that before tube rolling check with the manufacturer or on forums regarding what can and cant be rolled. If the amp runs the tubes hard then only the new production sovteks may work over a long period.
I decided to post my views and experiences with rolling different tubes. When I first started I had no idea about any tubes but over the past several months I have studied them and had the chance to own a few nos tubes as well. This article is posted here to make it easier for anyone else to get a grip on tubes without having to spend a lot of money or time.
First a bit about tubes.
On a basic level one has pre stage tubes and output stage tubes. Pre stage tubes are the ones that you usually hear about. They go with nomenclature such as 12ax7, 6922, 5687 and so on. The most famous are the 12ax7 series followed by the 6922 family.
A little about these two families.
The 12ax7 also has two sibling namely the 12au7 and the 12at7. The difference is that they all have different gain factors. Hence it is recommended to stick with the model that the manufacturer provides.
The 6922 is based on the 6DJ8 tube and is considered as a beefed up 6GJ8. It can be replaced in any circuit that used a 6DJ8 tube. Then there is a 7DJ8 which can also be used in most circuits but it uses a 7v heater rating. There is also a 6H23 tube which is the Russian equivalent.
Output tubes go by nomenclature such as higher output tubes like 211, 845, kt88, kt120 and lower output tubes like el84, 6L6 etc.
Now coming to the brands. There are various brands but I'll mainly divide them into NOS tubes and current production tubes.
Current production.
You mainly have 2 players here. The Russians and the Chinese. The Russians have bought the rights to many great brands such as sovtek, genelex, mullard where as the Chinese have brands such as JJ Telefunken Psvane etc. Except for psvane all the other brands are run off the mill tubes if they are new production. The sovteks can withstand a lot of abuse and hence many manufacturers use them in their pre stage. Basically when you buy any new tube Amp today you will have one of these tubes in it.
Now coming to the nos players. This is where the party begins. Telefunken, Amperex bugle boys, Philips mini watt, Mullard.
Telefunken.
They are considered to be among the best tubes out there. They are expensive. They have a ruler flat response. You won't have the typical tube sound with this tube. The mids are not fat nor is the bass bloated. Nothing sticks out yet everything is delivered when it's called for. It's not a euphonic tube but is extremely well balanced head to toe. It times well, has enough air, enough body, and extends at both extremes just enough. And it can boogie when needed. It will make your toes tap and make you dance. It's not an emotional tube that draws you in on some songs, but makes other songs sound boring. I'm using the cheapest nos 12au7 that I could find so I can only imagine how much better the medical grade tubes must be.
Amperex bugle boys
Once again there is a lot of variety available. I'm using the cheapest tube costing about 45 USD but these guys can get expensive.
This tube doesn't extend as much on top yet it doesn't sound rolled off. It's a bit dark on the top end and mainly focuses on giving a dry, slightly upfront mid band. The bass doesn't really stick out and is integrated into the mid band itself. Sounds nice on small bands. Imagine you have a whiskey in hand and there are 3 performers in a dark night club. This is exactly what this tube does. Very good for jazz etc. I'll call it the dark night club tube.
Voshkod 6H23
These tubes came stock in my audionote source so I switched them to nos amperex initially hoping for some magic. I was transported to the dark night club but on many other songs I felt I was missing out. I put the voshkod back and guys, this tube is the holy grail. It is THE most transparent tube I've heard. No hash, no artificial bloat, just one clean clean band if energy. This is probably why it didn't hit me when I first heard it. Good equipment doesn't draw your attention at first but with time one appreciates it. According to me this is how the perfect source should be. Transparent without emphasizing or deleting anything.
The only other player that did this was an old simaudio cd player that I tried many years ago. Nowadays far too many sources try to voice their products in a particular fashion, which makes them sound great on some songs and boring on others. The voshkod sounds neutral on anything you put through it letting the Amp or speakers deliver the boogie factor. At just 10 bucks a tube this is the steal of the century. Audionote picked it for a reason and this was it. Google voshkod rocket tubes if you want this fellow. He also has a bigger brother costing more.
Sovteks new production
Very mid heavy tube with a dark top end without bite. Sounds heavenly on stuff that has female vocals that tend to be bright but overall not a very good tube.
Telefunken new production
These are produced by JJ and are not even close to the nos tubes. These tubes are very transparent top to bottom but a little thin and bright with a slightly recessed mid band. Good tube if you will combine it with a nos tube in the same circuit.
I'm currently using this with the nos telefunken as I didn't have the budget to go all nos. It's main strength is that it is very transparent and doesn't really have a strong signature to impose on any other tube in the circuit.
I'll update this thread if I test anymore tubes. Hope it's useful to those who have tube amps and want to experiment a bit.
I'm using the audionote oto Amp and with the Telefunken NOS in it, it is one of the most satisfying amplifiers that I have owned.
Please note that before tube rolling check with the manufacturer or on forums regarding what can and cant be rolled. If the amp runs the tubes hard then only the new production sovteks may work over a long period.
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