NOS Tubes = Tone Glory

[shawnqa800720]

So, I have now tried:
RCA 12AX7 long plates (Grey)
RCA 12AX7A grey plates
RCA 6681 (ruggedized 12AX7) grey plates
RCA 7025 (ruggedized 12AX7) grey plates

Telefunken ECC83

Mullard ECC83

RFT ECC83

Mazda ECC83 (silver plate)

Amperex Bugle Boy ECC83 (short plate)
Amperex 7025

Tung-Sol 12AX7


By far my favorite has remained the RCA 7025. It has the best distortion - fat, liquid, punchy, smooth - nothing comes close - seriously.

The Mazda was the opposite. Very tight, sterile distortion, but had the sickest clean of all the tubes - full, rich, powerful. Best clean by far.

My current NOS tube set is
V1 = 1950's RCA 7025 long black plate
V2 = 1960's Amperex Bugle Boy ECC83 (may swap with the Mazda)
V3 = 1960's RFT ECC83
V4 = 1960's RCA 6681
V5 (PI) = 1960's very well balanced Tung-Sol 12AX7

Still trying to find something that is a little better in the clean channels than the RCA's. The Amperex is very good and adds a little to the lead channel in a very complimentary way. I haven't tried the Mazda in the V2 position yet, but am planning to after I let the Amperex sound burn into my ears a bit more - that way I can give a better comparison of the actual change in tone. I will post again if I swap in the Mazda.

I cam across a good sized lot of the Amperex bugle boys and will likely be putting some on the classifieds soon....