Tube Lab #8 12AU7 Rolling

Рет қаралды 12,951

3 жыл бұрын

Reviews of 7 - 12AU7 vacuum tubes and variants.
Link to Quality Vintage Tubes: valvesnmore.com
Note at the end I mention the E80CC, which is an entirely different tube and only sometimes compatible, please wait for the dedicated Tube Lab on the E80CC, when I'll talk about trying very different tubes.

Пікірлер: 33

@Simon_Hawkshaw Жыл бұрын

Many thanks for this great info. New to tube rolling and your channel is already very helpful.

@eugenepohjola258 20 күн бұрын

Howdy. I use JJECC82 in my designs. Mainly because the reasonable pricing. Biasing to about 7V and using constant current loading I can get an output swing of about +-120V using 300V as B+. The cathode resistor being 2k2. The current is about 3 mA so the impedance is well low enough to drive the grid (capacitance) of EL34 or KT88 as end tubes. 12AU7 / ECC82 is not very linear. It introduces odd harmonics. Regards.

@bongofury3176 Жыл бұрын

Nice comparison of some great tubes. I use 12AU7's in my TA-20 hybrid headphone amp and have quite a few. I love vintage Philips/Mullards but am also happy to swap to re-issue Genalex Gold Lion tubes as they have great punch and are very lively. I also love the PsVane 12AU7-S - very clean and exciting. The re-issue Mullards are also pretty good - notably better than JJ, Electro Harmonix, Tung Sol etc to my ears on my amp with my headphones...all very subjective !!

@frankgeeraerts6243 Жыл бұрын

I also like the exeptionnel 5814A Command ...triple mica & BP from RCA ........

@bongofury3176 Жыл бұрын

@@frankgeeraerts6243 also just discovered my current favourite - GE JAN 6189 - absolutely fantstic...

@frankgeeraerts6243 Жыл бұрын

@@bongofury3176 NICE !!!

@davidstein9129 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this information

@frankgeeraerts6243 Жыл бұрын

Amperex /Valvo E80CC are Philips tubes , carrying the different Philips brand names.......I think they were made in the Valvo plant.................real high( er) quality tubes with no cathode barrier formation and very long life time.

@FineArtPrintmaker 3 жыл бұрын

Quite like my findings overall. I have most of those as well as several E80cc's, Tele and Brimars. The e80cc is higher gain and more dynamic. A little leaner than most but has balls. I like the Brimar 13D8 and CV4003 best in my setup.

@tubelab194 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for that description of the E80cc, they will be featured in an upcoming Tube Lab, and i've been thinking of how to describe them, can I use your line "little leaner than most but has balls"?

@robertparkphotography2451 3 жыл бұрын

@@tubelab194 sure, I feel it is more like the Super Tube 6h30 than most vintage bottles. It’s actually a little fresher sound as well. It’s really cool but there are so many variations of that tube, it’s a tube rollers dream to have a 12au7 based circuit.

@robertparkphotography2451 3 жыл бұрын

Nurse well it can be system specific. If you want extra smoothness, richness and a thick sound the JJ ecc802 is it. The RCA clear top focuses of high frequency clarity. The E80CC is supercharged everything.

@chuckisidro8624 3 жыл бұрын

Great channel !! I just have a question, since I’m not experienced with tube rolling. Which tubes should I change first if I want to hear a significant change in sound? Power tubes? Input tubes? Thanks 🙏

@tubelab194 3 жыл бұрын

Well to quote the great Michael Fremer "everything matters!". I always qualify this by adding "but some things matter more!". So with any tube amp, all the tubes matter. Normally first tube at input will be the most influential, that's because it will be the voltage gain stage and that will affect what comes next more than anything. But if you are trying to voice an amp and roll in great sounding vintage tubes into the first sockets and leave mediocre power tubes in place, it won't matter how good your front end tubes are, what comes later will wreck your sound. Conversely if you have a wonderful set of vintage Mullard EL34 xf2's in the output stage and crap tubes before it, it won't matter! You'll never even know you've got one of the best sounding EL34's ever made!

@chuckisidro8624 3 жыл бұрын

@@tubelab194 that’s a good point! Much appreciated! Thanks 🙏

@frankgeeraerts6243 3 жыл бұрын

The first tube.......

@user-ng9qo8ls9g Жыл бұрын

Hello! Thanks for the video tutorial! I have a recording studio! I use MANLEY MASSIVE PASSIVE EQ. it has amplification 12AU7 lamps with the MANLEY logo! What lamp would you recommend as the best sound alternative?

@tubelab194 Жыл бұрын

I have no idea what Manley 12au7's are - probably just a rebrand. For a quality vintage 12au7 I highly recommend you try the RCA "clear tops", they do everything really well with great clarity and just a touch of midrange warmth along with a very clean clear treble. We recently got very lucky and found a bunch of them NOS NIB NIS (new old stock, new in box, new in sleeve) all from the same manufacturing lot, made in the early 1960's.

@user-ng9qo8ls9g Жыл бұрын

thank you very much for the answer! i will take advantage of your advice! you're right , Manley has no lamps, they use third-party lamps!

@davidstein9129 Жыл бұрын

I'm very new to tubes. Are these input or output tubes?

@leonasj9633 Жыл бұрын

imput

@locmanw1583 3 жыл бұрын

What is an equivalent new production 12au7 tube of the Mullard CV4003? Is it Gold Lion?

@tubelab194 3 жыл бұрын

There are no (zero) equivalents to vintage Mullards, not even reissue tubes with a nice Mullard shield logo on the glass and a nice looking reproduction box! Almost all the reissue tubes are made in either Russia or China. With the large vintage inventory available, I wouldn't even consider a new 12au7.

@locmanw1583 3 жыл бұрын

@@tubelab194 ok thanks! But Mullard CV 4003 are $140 each 😧

@tubelab194 3 жыл бұрын

@@locmanw1583 if I have time, I'll have a look at my large stash of 12au7's that's not in the inventory, I definitely have some Mullards and other high quality European types. If you message me through the store, you have a better chance that I won't forget! Things are crazy busy with orders and incoming inventory! I try hard to price used vintage tubes fairly, so can probably find you something nice you can afford!

@locmanw1583 3 жыл бұрын

@@tubelab194 please let me know I am definitely interested! Thanks!

@frankgeeraerts6243 3 жыл бұрын

CV4003 was a BOX anode.................new production valves.....try them out!

@swarajnath1129 Жыл бұрын

How do u comoare with ECC83?

@tubelab194 Жыл бұрын

ECC83 / 12ax7 is a high mu (gain) tube and completely different than the ecc82 / 12au7, which is a low mu tube. Not only are the gains at opposite extremes, but other parameters like plate resistance and use in circuit are different as well. You don't compare dissimilar tubes - there's no point.