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In Reply to: Re: tube preamp hiss; will balanced cables help? posted by OldSycamore on January 2, 2006 at 06:52:18:
Assuming that this is a line stage, replace the 12ax7 with 5751, either GE 5 stars or RCA black plate. The 5751 has 30% lower gain than a 12ax7 and a very nice tone. It's 100% pin-compatible with a 12ax7, nothing will be damaged.
If your preamp is a phono stage, I do not recommend the 5751, because overall gain will go down and you will lose dynamics.In that case you need special low-noise gold pin european Ecc803s.Your Phillips Miniwatt 12At7s are excellent tubes, but if you find a quartet of Phillips gold pin E81cc or Ecc801S, there's a chance to further reduce the noise, maintaining the preamp "tone".
Siemens Ecc801s will sound slightly more metallic/midrangey than Phillips Holland.
However, the source of hiss is usually the tube with the highest gain (in your case the 12ax7/Ecc83).
Good luck
Carlos
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Follow Ups
- Correct - Carlos 01/2/0617:34:20 01/2/06 (0)