I used to be an audio tube dealer. Had 1000s of NOS tubes. Thus I heard every 12AX7 ever made. The best vintage IMO is the Mullard long plate 12AX7 However I was stunned when I tried a JJ E83CC. The JJ sounds very similar to the Mullard but projects much further into the room and the speakers just disappear. Try the JJ, you will tank me later. My amp is modified with best parts and crystal clear audio. Many amps will not perform well enough to hear large differences in tubes.
The Tubes Store has these tubes for $27.95 each. Bargain!
The Tubes Store has these tubes for $27.95 each. Bargain!
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If the sound of jj e83cc is lik 12ax7 mullarde in your ears...test all the items again. When this is the case, there is definitely a fundamental problem in a tube sound system.
Hooman, my tube amp is rebuilt without issues and will compete with any $2K and up tube amp. The sound of the JJ is very similar to the Mullard 12AX7. Try it yourself and report back. Both tubes have very low distortion unlike most other 12AX7s that my amp can clearly hear unlike some tube amps that mask the 12AX7 sound due to internal distortion of the amp itself.
In my experience the 12AX7 is excellent in phono stages and guitar amps, but not what I would put in any amp I'd want to build and listen to on a daily basis. Many, many better sounding tubes, mostly from the 1930a and 1940s. Obviously YMMV...
This tube is used in a guitar amplifier and I had access to it many times during repairs and I also tested it on a clone amplifier. el84..Leban and Rogers 3/5 speakers. I checked a number of 12ax7.... also jj and russian new tubes... The best answer was related to Mullard 12ax7 and Mazda 5751 Mazda chrome plate.but But anyone can use whatever tube they want.
The jj does sound great. I was going to use that except the gain is high. 6922 has adequate gain and enough current to drive the tone stack.
The JJ is the only 12AX7 with a frame grid. 'JJ has designed the E83CC with a frame grid which essentially utilizes a solid frame grid and box plate that provides a different level of stability allowing for better gain and low noise. The same technology utilized in the Amperex 6922'.
Tesla & Telefunken also made a frame grid version but thats old stock. There is an article on Jacmusic site about them.
Somehow I thought the frame grid construction was developed to allow closer grid wire spacing and tighter control of interelectrode distances, allowing the development of high mu triodes with high gm as well. The 12AX7/ECC83 and variants have high mu but quite low gm (thus high plate resistance). Tighter tolerances?
Nice to have a recommendation of a valve in current production - thank you.
Where does the 12AX7 fit into your system? What part of the signal chain?