I think I’ve reached the analysis by paralysis stage. All of my options are sounding more-or-less similar.
I suspect that the 6sn7 types are being run too hard in the BHK since they are very hot. So I’ll save those for my Cary.
I’m perfectly happy with my Philips JAN 6922s, Tungsram PCC88s and stock Psvanes.
Interesting, the Tung-Sol 6SN7 did not run hot at all. I think their temp was less than the most recent 12au7-variants I’ve run. They do draw close to twice the current and thus should run hotter though. 380ma vs 600ma.
I found rather blatant sounding differences in different tubes. What makes up the rest of your chain?
I probably didn’t word my last response correctly. I can hear differences, but they’re not “blatant” enough to pick a clear winner. They’re shades, hues, flavors. I like 'em all.
(Click on my puce “T” avatar for my system.)
@brett66 I meant to ask you which of the 12v tubes do you prefer (new or old stock). I’m still in the early stages and want to get as wide an opinion as possible For comparison.
I’ve been enjoying the Sylvania and Raytheon bottles selected for Conn and Baldwin organ companies. There’s also a CBS labeled one that is very nice.
I’ve purchased ~10 sets from Mark on eBay. All have been great except for a set of RCA Cleartops that were just plain noisy. He sent me another set, it was noisy, so he replaced them with my pick. Great service, good guy to work with.
I’ve got some new JJ that are bleh and a few NOS from Upscale that are OK but Kevvy’s tubes don’t seem to last long before getting noisy with rush or worse.
I have no affiliation other than being a happy customer
Senna for me it depends on the presentation I desire from my music.
!2ax7s don’t offer me the same level of sq as the 12at7 varieties I have used below
NOS Sylvania 6301Gold Brand (12at7 variant) very rich smooth detailed, T
NOS Tungsol 6301 very detailed airy strong bottom end.
NOS Telefunken 12at7 smooth plate rich liquid delicate refined mids and upper very strong bass
and this from a heavily used tube from a 1960’s Fisher 800c with who know how many hours
run time on them…still kickin tail !!
NOS Telefunken ECC 801s triple mica very refined highly detailed well defined bass…different
presentation from the plain tele 12at7.
NOS Siemens 6201s triple micah very close in presentation as Telefunken ECC 801s
NOS GE 5751…clean sound but nothing to write home about!
New production Sovtec 12ax7lps flat sounding not very dynamic.
New production Electroharmonix 12ax7 very plain disappointing sound…
Never did try JJs or Psvanes so can’t comment on these…
These were used in my classic 60’s McIntosh MX110z all tube tuner preamp…
Senna hope this helps…in you application the your result may differ and perhaps even by a lot…
Forgot to mention the Raytheons …these are the best competitor sq to the Teles
My Mx uses a 6d10 triple section in the 1st amplifier stage…these Raytheons really set
the stage and really allow the signal to flow to the 2 remaining amp stages allowing
my 12at7s 6301s and ECC801s to really sing…that is high praise to Raytheon…
Oh boy another forgot to say
Need to add that I did compare a new production Tungsol vs NOS Tungsol…
new production is nice but not in the same league as NOS Tungsol
Per Bascom regarding the BHK preamp:
12AX7’s definitely won’t work. 12AT7s might work. It really is best to stick to 12AU7s or their equivalents.
I agree the 12AT7’s are higher gain than the 12AU7’s.
Quoting senna
@brett66 I meant to ask you which of the 12v tubes do you prefer (new or old stock). I’m still in the early stages and want to get as wide an opinion as possible For comparison.
The question asked by senna was an opinion on sound quality…my
reply had to do with my experiences with my classic McIntosh MX110z…only as a reference to sound quality as a guide…
My appologies if I caused a stir…
No stir at all, I just didn’t want those reading the thread in the future to be mistakenly misled into thinking those would work in the BHK.
I should have added this to my post…
Thank you both for clarifying; to add for reading reference, I only intend to roll the 12AU7 in the BHK at the 12v setting.
I just hooked up my BHK Preamp I picked up locally from a seller on usaudiomart.com. It came with Baldwin tubes but I put the stock tubes back in to hear what it sounds like using the PS Audio tubes. I’m extremely pleased with the sound improvements compared to running directly out of my DS Sr. I will run it stock for at least 2 weeks then I will roll the Baldwin’s and see if I like the difference.
The color of the print on the Baldwin’s determines the manufacturer of the tubes.
The print is green.
Sylvania
Thank you. I’m a newbie to the tube scene.
Green, yellow and white labels were the most common being Sylvania, Raytheon and RCA. There were for a while some blue labels that could have either been Toshiba or Matsushita. I’ve owned 12AU7’s from all of these and my favorites were the 59-60 Triple Mica Black Plate Raytheon’s that are now hard to find and getting pricey. Baldwin and Conn organ tubes were known more for their low noise than their triode matching. There is a dealer on Ebay that was selling some very closely matched pairs for fair prices.
Here’s the dealer on Ebay though it looks his inventory on pairs is a little low right now. You want the Platinum Plus pairs.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/spin4cards/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
That’s my dealer, Mark, good dude. Been buying these reasonably priced 12AU7-family for a couple years now.
He says he’s got tons more tubes but they’re not organized well.