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In Reply to: RE: Changing Preamp Tubes? posted by stereo5 on August 31, 2014 at 16:01:21:
Any of the following small tube swaps have yielded me an improvement towards a lush, beautiful midrange in my Apollo monoblocks:
* GE 5751 TM BP "silver clips" version (1952-54 only) -- excellent tube. The non-"silver clips" TM BP GE can be good too, but not as good.
* Mullard 12AX7 long-plate (late 1950's) -- surprisingly amazing clarity (though not a lot of lushness) compared to the wooliness of the later Mullard short pates and box plates
* 12BH7 Sylvania oval BP (neutral, but smoother and more weighty than a 12AU7) or RCA (warm; all variants). Sylvania gray-plates are not as good in my experience (leaner, maybe strident). RCA will give an additional mid/upper bass boost. Use in place of 12AU7. Also the round-plate Japanese 12BH7 (often branded "Channel Master") are good. Tung-Sol are a bit bright.
* GE TM gray plate 5814 -- I also like these, though they're not as good as the best 12BH7; use in place of 12AU7
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Follow Ups
- RE: Changing Preamp Tubes? - mulveling 09/2/1409:04:49 09/2/14 (0)