seti Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Has anyone tried these tubes? Are they just a rebrand? Sophia Electric 12AX7 & 12AU7 tubes are available now! Introductory special: $59.99 each with 30 days warranty or $75 each with one year warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Never tried them. Wish they had another angle shot they look like they maybe box plates.. the price looks a bit rich to me for any modern production tube though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 " $59.99 each with 30 days warranty or $75 each with one year warranty." What does that mean...they expect their tubes to last 30 days, but their average loss for returns after 30 days is approx $25 per transaction? I thought these folks made amps...are these are probally re-branded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 Www.sophiaelectric.com/setube.htm I thought rebrand but I emailer them and they insist they make their own.... Hmmm Maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Seti they do make a great sounding amp, and they also sell what they call their 300B tubes. I did some research on the 300B tubes and found them to be TJ's, so you can drawn your own conclusion on these newer tubes. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 LOL tube insurance business. I find it hard to believe they make their own tubes but they offer so many custom 300Bs. Perhaps they just request customization from the TJ factory and stamp their name on them.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 LOL tube insurance business. I find it hard to believe they make their own tubes but they offer so many custom 300Bs. Perhaps they just request customization from the TJ factory and stamp their name on them.. Seti TJ makes alot of 300B tubes and the top 5% become Sophia's.Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 LOL tube insurance business. I find it hard to believe they make their own tubes but they offer so many custom 300Bs. Perhaps they just request customization from the TJ factory and stamp their name on them.. Seti TJ makes alot of 300B tubes and the top 5% become Sophia's. Jay Interesting. You are so right. http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Magazine/equipment/0402/tj300bmesh.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Seti as more proof I use a pair of TJ's in my Sophia 300B amp, and can not hear any difference in the two tubes. After reading that article you linked was when I decided to try them for myself. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I use their 300B in my diy SET (JE labs circuit) and they were a great improvement (big difference) over the EH Gold, which mostly told me that every amp design may have its optimum tube. With the EH the amp would have been useless to me (mids too bright for horns) but with the Sophia I am enjoying the amps as the midrange for my tri-amp rig. At the time, it didn't seem like there were all that many good options for 300B other than what they were offering. C&S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I'd like to see a Tube Factory with "Sophia Electric" sign out front... I bet a dime to a dollar the tubes are actually manufactured in the Shugaung factory in China (or similar) under Sophia's guide lines/licence or something along those lines. But that is just a guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 TJ Vacuum Tubes The TJ factory in Tianjan province manufactures WE replicas with a few interesting and creative variations. 300B tubes are available as ST or Globe style with the Globe offering both solid and mesh-style (perforated) anode. The factory is a private enterprise (no state involvement) and the owner, Mr. Liu is a veteran of the tube industry having worked many years for the Beijing Tube Factory. He graduated from university in 1955 in the field of vacuum tube technology and holds a number of QC patents in that field. He has previously produced CRTs for NEC. The TJ name is quite new to the West but has a well established following and solid reputation amongst audiophiles in Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I think they get those prices because the tubes do generate positive feedback from critical users. I strongly suspect that those AXs and AUs are really good sounding tubes and they can get away with those prices in a market with such questionable "nos" alternatives these days. Not such good prices for manufacturers etc. but users looking for a viable alternative to high priced NOS, they fill a niche. This is what I found with their 300B, the alternative was ridiculously priced NOS WE (out of the question!), new WE (not quite the same as NOS and also mucho expensive) and some other very high priced alts. The guy answering the phone there seems to know his stuff and has very confident opinions about the products. As much as it hurts to spend (yesterday's) NOS money for NEW now, I think it might be a viable alternative. Just my 2 cents at the moment. C&S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alliclaytor Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 As a guy in sourcing...I can substantiate the claim that they could be buying and relabeling, in fact probably a bad decision to not to from a marketing, and cost point perspective. The interesting thing about it is, they likely have tighter tolerance specs for the tubes...in China they don't worry about statsitical process control and continious improvement. They will sort the good and ship them to the reseller and the rest direct to whomever will buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 As a guy in sourcing...I can substantiate the claim that they could be buying and relabeling, in fact probably a bad decision to not to from a marketing, and cost point perspective. The interesting thing about it is, they likely have tighter tolerance specs for the tubes...in China they don't worry about statsitical process control and continious improvement. They will sort the good and ship them to the reseller and the rest direct to whomever will buy. And then the buyer tests the tubes he receives from china and sends back the tubes that test out of their specifications. When they get back to China they turn around and sell them to a buyer who is not as picky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Seti, I'm simply swimming in 12Au7's, mostly old american and Jan production. I also have some National's that, I thnk, spekaerritz set me up with for the phenominal forum price of $5 a piece. The Nationals sound very nice and have but afew hours on them. I'm holding onto my 12Ax7's collection of Mullards, Telefunkens etc. though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Well lets see.....we can buy 10 dollar 12ax7's all day long from vaious volume sellers....scrub the labels off then...hand write homeboy's premuim tube on them in gold magic marker...sell them for 59.99 if your ok with 30 days warranty...or 75.00 if you want a 1 year warranty...today however...just for forum members..if you don't need a warranty we can go at 49.99 per tube. For NOS needs we will scrub off the labels on some Nationals that we were running a fire sale on at 4 bucks a piece last year and sell you those for 49.00 or 59.99 or 75.00 depending on the warranty you want. If each customer would send me in their used tubes (like the printer cart deals at your local office supply store), we can give you 3 bucks credit if they score as NOS (We can resell them as NOS for 100.00 on our NOS web site), and 4 bucks if they score NOS and you have the box. If there is anything else we can do to make you happy let us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 I lost the link but I found a site were you could order large batches of tubes from China. You could pick base color, glass shape, glass color with three options and if you sent your logo they would put it on the tube for you. The bass could also have a logo. You could setup shop selling your own brand tubes on the internet with fantastic claims rather quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I lost the link but I found a site were you could order large batches of tubes from China. You could pick base color, glass shape, glass color with three options and if you sent your logo they would put it on the tube for you. The bass could also have a logo. You could setup shop selling your own brand tubes on the internet with fantastic claims rather quickly. I would love that link..."snake oil tubes" sounds like a good trade name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 You could setup shop selling your own brand tubes on the internet with fantastic claims rather quickly. Yeah. You and the other 30 guys doing it.... Not I. I would love that link..."snake oil tubes" sounds like a good trade name. I'll try to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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