Doug's tubes recommendation for my S120

[rabies]

Just talked to Doug. Pretty straightforward guy. He recommended a Tung-Sol in V1 (keep the rest which are JJ's) and I wanted to try the =C= EL34's. It was funny: "why would you use all the same brand of tubes in your amp?" when I talked about eurotubes. He said the Telefunken's sound sterile. so I'll give it a shot, I was about to drive to Rivera to have my S120 checked ($85 bench fee).

well, aren't you using almost all the same brand if you use Mesa tubes?

 

[rabies]

went with a Tung-Sol for V1 and 2xEL34 =C= SED. No warranty for SED (eurotubes does have a warranty).

let's see what happens...

 

[dodger916]

I've had very favorable results with vintage Tung-Sol 12AX7s in my Mark amps. Haven't used any new production ones.

 

[sevycat]

I have a mix of preamp tubes in my mark v. Changed out the v1, v2, and pi tubes with a mix of NOS tubes. WOW! Takes a nice amp and turns it into a tone monster. I doubt that any modern production tube will ever match what I am getting out of my amp now.

 

[crane]

It's important to mix preamp tubes brands, they will combine their tonal characteristics. When using only one brand for every socket it tends to accumulate more of their bad side than of their good.