What NEW 12AX7 is BEST

[guitician]

OK, with all the NOS stuff set aside. I have played and heard all types of NOS. Not comparing to the old stuff. What do you guys like as far as the New Production 12AX7 types. I'm looking more for reliability and consistency of specs., than tone, or what best suits an application.

[melvin]

I have been really impressed with the JJ ECC83S tube.

[guitician]

Thanks, I'll check them out. I guess there are only 4 or 5 new production 12ax7's out there. I may just pickup one of each and go from there.

[Sock Puppet]

TechTube Valves - Blackburn MicroTech Solutions

There's a nice video on there too.

S.

[guitician]

I think that Co. went out of business. They are selling current stock on hand only. Seemed like good tubes though.

[Rhodesplyr]

Originally Posted by guitician

OK, with all the NOS stuff set aside. I have played and heard all types of NOS. Not comparing to the old stuff. What do you guys like as far as the New Production 12AX7 types. I'm looking more for reliability and consistency of specs., than tone, or what best suits an application.

For any of the new production tubes, reliability and consistency is going to depend, in part, on who you buy them from. Different dealers have different thresholds for rejection of out of spec tubes. Some charge more for tighter tolerances.

That said, most people do pick tubes based on what sounds best in his/her application, and I've been having good luck with the reissue Tung Sol 12AX7s. I have a good stock of NOS tubes, and they sound a bit like old-stock RCA.

The short-plate JJ ECC83S seems to work OK in some amps, in some positions, and not in others, probably because its structure is different from traditional 12AX7s. For example, I recently had one of these sound good in a split-load phase inverter and awful in a long-tailed pair inverter/driver. And they make the Hammond Organ AO-28 preamp sound weird to my ears. I've also noticed wide variations in how these test in my tube tester--and some early failures. So, I usually expect them to sound bad and am pleasantly surprised when they don't.

Sonically, I often like the tall-plate JJ ECC803S better.

The latest (9th) generation Shuguang 12AX7s are consistent performers, too. I have a friend who likes them as V1 in his Twin Reverb.

I think the best approach is to have several types on hand and swap them around till you achieve the best system synergy in your application. I do the same thing with my old-stock 12AX7s. It's seemed to me that there was always a lot of variation in 12AX7 performance in-circuit from manufacturer to manufacturer.

[Rhodesplyr]

Originally Posted by guitician

I think that Co. went out of business. They are selling current stock on hand only. Seemed like good tubes though.

Yeah--unfortunately they were trying to launch a new product in the middle of a global recession--very bad timing.

[xStonr]

For a new 12AX7 production tube, I've been pleased the the Tung Sol re-issue.