1664 Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Brief first post intro: Hi, I'm Geoff, a student without a ton of money. I really enjoy drinking, The Hold Steady, and Drive-by Truckers. I messed around with "audiophile" speakers (Spendor s3/5, GMA Europa) for a while but wasn't really ever satisfied. I bought a pair of Klipsch Fortes quite some time ago and have loved them ever since. They deliver everything those little minimonitors just never could. Thanks to everyone at this forum, you're all an incredible resource. I have a Will Vincent Baldwin amp and an H/K 430 (which are both killer) because of what I read on this forum. I usually run the Baldwin with a Bottlehead Foreplay III that I built in front of it and various vintage SS integrateds for the phono stage. Anyway, long story short, one of the 6l6's in the Baldwin ceased to work so I decided to retube the whole damn thing (never rolled the stock tubes out anyway). I ordered some SED 6l6's but can't really decide on what to do for the 12ax7's. I have no money or desire to mess around with NOS tubes (though I probably will buy some Brimar 13d5's for the Foreplay at some point). Poking around the archives leads me to a few seemingly pretty good options. It sounds like the EI Elite golds were pretty nice, but they are no where to be found anymore since that factory stopped production. It seems to me that either JJ or Groove Tubes would be my best options. I'm a little unsure of how they would differ in sound and was wondering if anyone could give me some input since there are many around these parts who have owned that amp and are more experienced with tubes than I... Since I listen to rock (but no heavy metal or anything like that...) I need a full and rich sound with a lot of punch and good bass. Anyone care to share opinions/experiences? Also, if I go the JJ route, is it worth it to pay extra for the gold pins?TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I've tried the Electro harmonix, Tung Sol, and JJs. All are good. I like the EH best myself. Very good detail and balance. The Tung Sol have higher gain and a slightly less detailed sound. Also good. Both are cheap. I ran the JJs for a few years actually in some monoblocks and they sound fine as well.< All are cheap./p> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 EH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 Not affiliated, but tubedepot.com has some good prices and reviews of the tubes they stock. Good resource for "long distance" tube replacements. Very helpful folks also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 Buy both EHs and JJs (or whichever others you think might be better). They're cheap. Use whichever you like best and keep the others as spares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.