Members DET1973 Posted June 16, 2009 Members Share Posted June 16, 2009 what are some good models or brands of High gain pre tubes? I'm about to buy some winged C 6550 power tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members madryan Posted June 16, 2009 Members Share Posted June 16, 2009 There's no such thing. Preamp tubes will sound different. Some are going to sound brighter than others but any tube meeting the 12AX7 spec is going to sound just like any other 12AX7 in terms of "gain" but they will vary somewhat with regards to tone. Brighter tubes are perceived as having more gain. What you want is a bunch of reliable tubes like the 9th gen chinese Shuguangs in most of your preamp with a nice NOS 12AT7 from Jan or Phillips or similar US company in the PI. Then buy 3 or 4 different 12AX7's and try them in V1 till you find the one you like. I like to pull the Chassis so I have quick easy access and "hot swap" them to compare. Just flip the amp on standby, pull V1 and replace. Let the new tube heat up for about 10 seconds and flip the amp off standby. Just to relate to what I'm saying about gain... I run a 5751 in V1 of my Mesa DC-5. The amp has just as much gain as it would if I were running a JJ or any other 12AX7 despite the fact that the 5751 is rated as having roughly 70% of the "gain" of a normal 12AX7. Having that tube in V1 makes the amp sound thicker without a hint of fizz than any other 12AX7 I've tried but as I said... The level of gain that is available is the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brian_ward Posted June 16, 2009 Members Share Posted June 16, 2009 in what amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DET1973 Posted June 16, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 16, 2009 in what amp? sorry bout that, i forgot to mention. 1980 Marshall JMP 2203 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brian_ward Posted June 16, 2009 Members Share Posted June 16, 2009 well, in my 2203x i liked a tungsol ri in v1 and 9th gen chinese in v2 and 3. the chinese are pretty warm and balanced, the tungsol i find to be almost kinda hi-fi ish. i hear great things about nos RFT tubes in v1 because they're a little smoother sounding and remove the harshness these amps tend to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DET1973 Posted June 16, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 16, 2009 well, in my 2203x i liked a tungsol ri in v1 and 9th gen chinese in v2 and 3. the chinese are pretty warm and balanced, the tungsol i find to be almost kinda hi-fi ish. i hear great things about nos RFT tubes in v1 because they're a little smoother sounding and remove the harshness these amps tend to have. cool man, thanks alot. I'll print that and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_bleeding Posted June 16, 2009 Members Share Posted June 16, 2009 mullard 12ax7 re-issues all throughout for preamp. My friend put one in V1 of his engl fireball, and he found it too gainy, so he switched back to a JJ. They are easily the best current production 12ax7 out there. Worth every penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knucklefux Posted June 16, 2009 Members Share Posted June 16, 2009 typically, tubes that are labeled high gain have a lower current rating. you lose more than you get, basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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