Tubes for Quicksilver Mid Mono?

[HPower]

Hey Guys,

Now that I have had a month or so to listen to the Mid Monos driving my Cornwalls I am

wondering what might be the next step... maybe upgrading the OEM tubes?

The  Mids came with:

1- 6922: Sovtek

1 - 12AX7: no name, Made in China

2 - EL34: Tesla

One of the EL34s was a little wonky, it snapped and crackled during start up so I picked up

a quad of Winged "C" SED from The Tube Store for $90 to get me by.

Is NOS tubes the way to go?

From what I have seen some of those can get pretty pricey, I may have to go

3 steps at a time... 6922s, then 12AX7s, and then EL34s?

My musical tastes are fairly wide, rock, country, folk, starting to get into jazz, no classical.

Here is a handful of cds that are currently sitting out:

White Strips, Richard Thompson, Van Morrison, Mary Gauthier, Allison Kraus, Dave Alvin, Keb Mo, Holly Cole, John Prine,

Lucinda Williams, Springsteen, AC/DC, Stones, Blue Rodeo, Roy Hargrove... no particular order.

I would rather spend my time listening than rolling, so I would like rely on your opinions as too what you guys think might be best

suited for me and my amps.

Ultimately, I would like to bring out the best these amps have to offer.

Thanks

[nu2toobs]

I have Horn Monos and the EL34's I use are Mullard reissues which sound better than the Teslas to me.  A little less muddy.  Mine doesn't have the 6922s but my preamp uses them.  I like the EH 6922 and Amprex Bugle Boys in the preamp, but it is a whole different comparison.

[Groomlakearea51]

The Sovtek 6922's probably should go into your spare tube box.. The "china" 12AX7 tubes really probably need to go also. Tubedepot.com has some JAN (Joint Army Navy) 6922's Sylvanias (NOS 1972) for only $27.95. They've also got JJ/Tesla 12AX7's for $19.95. There are some Telefunken 12AX7's for about $70 each, but that may be too pricey for you. The SED tubes, while Russian made, are lately of very good quality. TD has them for about $80 a quad if you need a spare set. While "pricey", they have Siemens matched NOS pairs for $149 a pair. Siemens is very high quality.

TD is very reliable and will test, match, etc for you for a nominal fee. I've had very good luck with them on some tubes recently. They are in Memphis and their techs are very knowledgeable. They also have a review of some tube types. Read their reviews of the 12AX7 types at: http://www.tubedepot.com/12ax7reviews.html

You might want to contact some of the other forum members that specialize in tubes, NOSValves, HarryO, and others. They can give you far better guidance than I can.

[HPower]

Hey Groomlakearea51,

The TubeDepot has a ton of tubes listed, makes it even more confusing for a tube newbie like myself.

A lot of the tube reviews that I have looked at usually talk about guitar amp applications, 

how should I relate that to HiFi amplifiers?

Last year I bought some tubes from Brendan at Tube World for my now sold Modwright preamp.

That made a huge improvement on the sound.

I will give both Tube World and Tube Depot an email and see what they have to say.

[Groomlakearea51]

You are correct, The biggest market per the tube distributors is the music folks for guitars, etc. Before I made the final decision to obtain the tube amp I wanted, I must have read every post and web site I could find on "tubes", "6L6", "12AX7", 6AQ8, 6BH7, etc. for months. So I can say I know what you are going through!!!

When I started down the "slippery slidey slope" on tube amps, I had to read the descriptions very carefully, then compare the possible choices. Then narrowed it down, then called several different distributors about the ones i was looking at. Fortunately, I was able to locate NOS tubes for the amp I am restoring, but... during the search, a number of folks, including forum members, gave me some insight into what was good, bad, indifferent, and in particular (given that NOS is getting very expensive), what "new" stuff may sound good in hi-fi equipment. One of the best articles I read is at:

http://www.vacuumtube.com/FAQ1.htm

It explains alot about the problems with new tubes, what to look for and what to consider. It is written for hi-fi as opposed to the guitar applications, and discusses the new manufacturers.

Again, I'd contact forum members with tubes, and in particular, NOSValves, harryO, etc. and see what they have to say. There are also several forum members with Quicksilver equipment. i cannot recall at the moment their forum names, but do a search on EL34 and read those posts.

[Tarheel]

I have the QS Audio Horn Monos. Have tried the orginal Tesla el34s and have tried the JJ kt-77s from dougstubes.com. The JJs were a small improvement to my ears. Have wanted to try Tung Sol 6550s and some swear by the 6L6 (brown base). I changed the 12DW7 (small tube) to Phillips JAN (joint army/navy) milspec tubes.

I also have the QS Audio preamp and have replaced all tubes with nos and used stock from the 50s. I wish I could say everything was an improvement but by the time I changed everything out I couldn't remember what the previous tubes sounded like[:^)] I am content for now and had rather spend my money on cds from the thread "Best new releases for 2007" which I just did. They should start arriving next week[]