juniper8 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 A little info on preamp tubes and experiences. I just installed a matched pair of new Genelex ecc83 12ax7's in my vintage preamp, and the sound is poor to say the least, very harsh comes to mind, in fact they are awful. Everything is forward, grainy,very little seperation between instruments, and I could go on and on. Is this a matter of tube break in, or should I just find a nice pair of telefunkens which these replaced. Is this a common problem? Thanks any info would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Tubes and tube rolling seems to be an important issue in tube preamps like the Peach and Blueberry. Ping GaryMD, he seems to be very up on choices. What preamp do you have? Long ago, I gave up on my Marantz 7C, as its tubes seemed to deteriorate rather quickly and I gave up on always replacing them. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juniper8 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Tubes and tube rolling seems to be an important issue in tube preamps like the Peach and Blueberry. Ping GaryMD, he seems to be very up on choices. What preamp do you have? Long ago, I gave up on my Marantz 7C, as its tubes seemed to deteriorate rather quickly and I gave up on always replacing them. Larry Thanks for responding, it is a Pilot sp 210 preamp that came out of a late 50's console.. It is a fine pre from what I have read and heard with my own ears. With the amp that came with it, supposedly, it stands up against many of the best pre / amp combos of it's day, including Marrantz and Mcintosh offerings. The tiny little console that the amps came out of, a little over 4 feet long, must have been of fine quality, the model these came out of cost more than many cars in the late 50's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 juniper, would just want to add that tube and amp match seems to be a pretty synergistic phenomenon. there are some combinations even with current manufacture tubes that sound better than they should. others that one would expect to be stellar might not turn out to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I've had some more expensive tubes, but been really happy with some Electro Harmonix. The gold pin or regular... The prices are worth trying anyway. Their 2A3 tubes have worked well in my Moondogs, and I have an EH 6922 in my Merlin line stage. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juniper8 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 juniper, would just want to add that tube and amp match seems to be a pretty synergistic phenomenon. there are some combinations even with current manufacture tubes that sound better than they should. others that one would expect to be stellar might not turn out to be. Daddy Dee, I am new to the tube thing, and what you say seems to make alot of sense about synergism. After inspecting this console that looked almost pristine, with all original tubes, the Pilot engineers chose tubes from many manufacturers from all over the world and chose "local" U.S. tubes only in some spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 I second Electro Harmonix, as I run them in my Sp6 tubes4hifi pre amp. I don't have anything to compare to, I just know I all ways liked preferred the sound of a tube preamp over a solid state pre. Now I have not herd a tube pre matched with a tube stereo but I am sure it sounds wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juniper8 Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 Thanks Guys for the info!!! I will try the electro harmonix and get some tested NOS Telefunkens. There is also some crazy tube fanatic guy around here that tried to send me a pair of matched vintage 12ax's for free..... What kind of place is this... Thanks Gentlemen!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 +1 on the Electro Harmonix gold pin tubes. I changed out the original Chinese tubes in my Dared MC-7P with the EH golds and got an immediate improvement across the board. Much more detail. Just better all around. I really liked that little "low budget" preamp. Paired up with a Bob Latino VTA ST-120 and driving a pair of La Scalas was probably the best sounds my living room every experienced. Unfortunately it along with the amp and speakers fell victim to the financial realities of extended unemployment. What kind of place is this? The kind of place that another member would offer up a pair of Heresys to a poor schlep like me free for the taking. All I need to do is pick them up or cover the shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 A couple of things that you should consider. One, that Pilot needs to be fully recapped after all these years. The caps dry out and sound rolls off. Second, what's wrong with the original tubes? Small tubes can easily last 10,000 hours (or so I'm told). Rolling small tubes in a preamp will IMO garner discernible audio differences as you have already found with your new tubes. I do not have wide experienced with new tubes, but among the older 12Ax7's I'm partial to the Telefunkens, and if the sound is harsh, Mullards are in order. Obviously there are variants within those brands, but I'm talking in general here. So recap, and then roll. Take your time and don't be afraid to drop a few bucks. The dividends will be palpable. Also, don't leave the house with the preamp on until the power supply has been recapped. Just a common sense precaution for something that old. If you need your tubes tested and don't have access to a tester send them to me and I'll test them for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juniper8 Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Thanks Thebes, I did have pre and amp recapped, and it was sounding really nice, until the right channel sounded a little weak. I dont know what happened to the tubes, and have recently read what you have stated, that they should last a very long time. I had a gentleman out to test all the pre and amp tubes, and this pair, his meter said should be replaced. I switched the Genelex tubes, into the amp, and moved the Telefunkens from there to the pre, and it is sounding much better, but not quite as good as before.. Thanks for the testing offer, thats very kind!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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