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Quiet and Noisy

Posted by Bambi B (A) on April 5, 2010 at 07:20:54

In Reply to: Amperex/Valvo 12au7 tube question posted by highsound on April 4, 2010 at 22:42:47:

highsound,

I have quite a few Valvo, Hamburg-made tubes, including some of the best tubes at home- the Valvo blue label 6201 (12AT7) and the most glamourous tubes I have, the Valvo red label, pinched waist, gold pin E80CF (6BL8 in McIntosh MR67). Valvo are attractive as it's a way to get the same tube as Amperex without paying extra only for a higher status label.

The Valvo Hamburg tubes in my experience are all exceptionally quiet- and remain so. I have a lot of Philips/ Amperex Heerlen tubes too- the very quiet 7316 for example, and the story is the same as for Hamburg tubes- I've not noticed that one factory made tubes quieter than the other- though of course premium tube are usually quieter- with some types that's part of their rating.

The very quietest tubes I have are Siemens triple mica E83CC (12AX7), Siemens triple mica 5814A (12AU7), and there's the Sovtek 12AX7LPS which is remarkably quiet and in current production. The LPS is so modest, it's embarrassed to show that it's glowing!

Luckily, I've had few noisy tubes- really they all went noisy from use. I once bought some used Amperex white label ECC88 (6DJ8) which made the best sounds I ever heard from an Audio Research SP10 preamp, which is famously tough on tubes. They were quiet at first, but began going noisy after 10 hours and I gave up on pushing 6DJ8's into early retirement. Today I'm using 6-Amperex and Valvo E188CC (7308, Heerlen)and 6-Tungsram red label E88CC (6922) these days.

In response to your question concerning the foil getter 12AU7's, I'd summarise my experience with noisy tubes: a tube that began noisy may have remained the same over a long while, but it never improved- if there was a change it became noisier.

That's a very exotic sounding, early 12AU7- you don't happen to have a photo of that one you might post? I have halo, D, square, ladder/stirrup, windmill, and dimple getter tubes, but never a foil one.

Cheers,

Bambi B

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