Picking 12AX7/5751/ECC83 tube

heiney9

As my thoughts to start 2011 were expressed in Blue Fox's thread I need to get some advice on one last pair of tubes to roll in the Norh SE-9.

George Daniel is singing the virtures of his recently discovered Tung Sol 5751 some have said the RCA 5751 black plate or Raytheon 5751 are excellent choices as well. Also looking into Baldwin (Raytheon) 12AX7 long black plates as well as 50's GE JG-5751.

So I need to choose just one pair among the above or perhaps another recommendation (only NOS please) eventually I'll be aquiring some current production Genelax 12AX7's

I currently have the following 12AX7/ECC83 tubes in order of preference.

1) 1959 Valvo ECC83 (Hamburg made, short plate 45* getter) superb tube
2) 1958 RCA 12AX7 short black plate w/angled square getter - tone monster, very rich sounding
3) 1970's Ei ECC83
4) 1980's Philips ECG 12AX7 (mediocre sounding)

So I'd like to add another pair or two to roll

Any suggestions would be great.

H9

thsmith

H9,

I have tried the RCA 5751, Raytheon 5751 and Baldwin 12AX7, in my setup the Sylvania 3mica BP 5751 was the best.

In another post I asked George how the TS compared to Sylvania 5751 but not sure he responded.

heiney9

The Sylvania's are on my list, but I'm not paying what they get for those. Again, this is a secondary rig and I have to draw the line. I paid $120 for the Valvo pair and that was a lot considering it's a secondary rig. But, my favorite tubes are Valvo Hamburg made and I wasn't at all disappointed.

I have under $300 in the Norh and about $450+ in tubes for it. CRAZY HOBBY:eek::biggrin: To be fair I have a back-up pair of RCA blackplates and a pair of back up SED Winged C, (2) back up Mullard 5AR4/GZ34 rectifiers (the good ones).

CRAZY HOBBY!

H9

P.s. Thanks for the suggestion

george daniel

Guys,, I don't just do this for anyone,, but,,I have a contact in Europe that has Sylvania 3 mica 5751,NOS,for a very good price,,I'll check and see if he has any left,,IIRC they were 110 per pair shipped,,also,,I'd shoot Jerryj12 a pm and see if you can motivate him to dig thru his treasure trove of tubes,as he should have quite a stash of organ pulls that meet your needs.I have the TS 5751's in Carls Hagerman and I'm really diggin' em.Also,,I have a pair of Sylvania 12AX7's (blackplates) than my son in law happened upon,,and they are very sweet,, analoggy smooth,,velvety smooth as in NICE.

F1nut

Brock, for all the money you've spent on those other tubes, you could have had the Sylvania triple mica/black plate 5751's and been done.

Another thought....maybe it is time to move up the tube amp ladder.

heiney9

F1nut wrote: »

Brock, for all the money you've spent on those other tubes, you could have had the Sylvania triple mica/black plate 5751's and been done.

You'd think that would be logical, but then I'd still be wondering about all the others.

F1nut wrote: »

Another thought....maybe it is time to move up the tube amp ladder.

It would only make it worse because I'd still roll tubes like a crack addicted ****. For me that's part of the fun, the hunt and the discovery of another type of sound. I enjoy that part of it immensely.

H9

thsmith

H9, I have a pair of the Syl BP 3 micas stashed away. Let me mull over what to do with them. I have been holding on to them for a potential Jolida JD100 CDP but I am not that committed.

organ

Just curious, have you already heard this unit with a 5751? Reason I ask is because the 5751 will change the operating characteristics of equipments designed for 12AX7. I've heard the 5751 sound good on some equipments and bad on others.
Why not source some Tele and you'll be done?

heiney9

Nope, that's the idea of rolling tubes, right? TFK's are just about my unanimous favorite in my other gear besides Valvo Hamburg tubes. Just curious about one of the three top 5751's.

H9

organ

aaah cool. The 5751 I played around with weren't top tier but did sound great on some gear. I noticed they have somewhat of an organic quality to the sound on all the gear I tried them in. Even on equipments where they didn't sound that good.

Enjoy the hunt!