My tube tale…

[lakesailor]

Last year I purchased a hybrid integrated and promptly went out and added a pair of “tested” NOS Telefunken ECC-803S and was living “happily” ever after. Or so I thought. In reality the past 2-3 months I have been enjoying the system less and less while pondering what needed to be changed.

Because I had the Telefunken ECC-803S it never occurred to me that starting with the tubes should be my first course of action. It should have. More as an effort to rule out it wasn't the tubes that was the problem, I decided to try rolling the tubes…installed a pair of matched, low noise Tung-Sol Gold’s…far from being the most exotic tube out there but these had the benefit of being A) a matched pair and B) came from a reputable seller.

The result? As much I loathe using the over-used “difference was night and day” spiel – the difference was night and day – shockingly different almost like listening to an entirely different system – although in this case clearly because the former Telefunkens were shot. I realize many have gone through the process of a shot pair of tubes before but this was my first and a real eye opener. I am looking forward to trying some more tubes – but of course only from reputable sellers.

Here is pic. of the new Tung-Sol Gold's installed....

[jdandy]

Rudy.......Buying used tubes is always a gamble, especially from unknown individual's or sources. There is such a demand for out of production Telefunken tubes that many unscrupulous people will take advantage of those with little experience purchasing tubes. Fortunately, there are some reputable tube sellers with good test equipment and high morals that sell used tubes you can count on. Brent James, Jim McShane, Tubemonger, BnB Tubes, SND Tubes, among others are reliable tube sources.

New production tubes are getting better. I have had success with Tung-Sol gold pin 12AX7 tubes in my C1000T preamp, along with Telefunken, NOS Mullard, and Gold Lion.

[ronenash]

Buying NOS tubes can be a hit and miss experience and in most cases not worth it. You will find much better consistency in quality from current production tubes and often they sound just as good or very close.
There are certainly NOS treasures out there but you will be spending a lot of money before you find them. I would suggest spending that money with a reputable NOS tubes dealer like upscale instead of spending it hunting for good tubes.

[lakesailor]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Rudy.......Buying used tubes is always a gamble, especially from unknown individual's or sources. There is such a demand for out of production Telefunken tubes that many unscrupulous people will take advantage of those with little experience purchasing tubes. Fortunately, there are some reputable tube sellers with good test equipment and high morals that sell used tubes you can count on. Brent James, Jim McShane, Tubemonger, BnB Tubes, SND Tubes, among others are reliable tube sources.

New production tubes are getting better. I have had success with Tung-Sol gold pin 12AX7 tubes in my C1000T preamp, along with Telefunken, NOS Mullard, and Gold Lion.

Thx Dan, you and Roneash nailed it. This was a learning experience but at least with a happy outcome. Thx again!

[HedgeHog]

Thx for the review! Where did you get the Tung Sol, if you don't mind me asking?

I have the Pathos Acoustic Classic One Mk III and tried the Tele's. They were nice but not as smooth overall. I prefer the Siemens 7308 (I think that's what they are).

Cheers,
Hedwig

[Pathfinder06]

When tubes are changed in a pre-amp, like the 12AX7 tubes, do they
need to be biased like power amp tubes?