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RE: What are your picks and pans for JJ tubes?

Kevin,

I have a quad of JJ EL84 a few years old and they are really very good. But, if I recall, Jim McShane recently posted something about a bad batch he recently had.

I also have two pairs of JJ 12DW7, one from a few years ago and the other pair from the past year. The older pair is great. The newer pair was awful – but then I sent them out for cryogenic treatment and now they are quite good.

I put a few hours on a pair of JJ 6922. Maybe it wasn’t enough time for them to settle in, but I like EH 6922 better, though the JJ was a little less bright, which may be preferable in some cases.

With JJ in general, I think they can be a good choice, but the quality seems to be variable over time. Perhaps some will remember the brouhaha over the tube pins being too small in diameter on some of their tubes and other problems.

If you pick up JJ, you'll just have to really stay on top of them and scrutinize each batch really carefully all the time. When the bugs are worked-out, they can be quite good. I suggest trying to find a way to maintain production lot consistency, that is, see if they will put a date code on their tubes for you, and then keep the production lots for a given type together.

Regards,
Peter



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