Home Tubes Asylum

Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ

The dilemma





PHOTO: 5- Siemens triple mica 5814A's from 1962 to 1980 (from Tube World)





PHOTO: CBS black plate, square getter 5814A (From Ebay)

highsound,

It's a dilemma when a NOS tubes has a great sound, but one has to "listen through" noise to hear it. When I tried the Amperex white label 6DJ8's in the Audio Research SP10, the sound was the best I'd heard from that preamp, and when they began to go noisy I was more disappointed than if they had been mediocre but acceptable sounding. It's the "tantalisingly close" effect- so near yet so far.

I expect the early, foil getter ECC82's were expensive, and if I might offer a suggestion based on my reaction to noisy tubes: If the noise bothers you now, over time you may grow to hear nothing else- listening will become an anticipation of hearing the noise. Of course, I'm a particularly obsessive person, and others may learn to ignore this kind of thing, but obsession seems to be the rule in audio. Personally, I would return these two to the seller as a bad match and try again.

You mention having 7316's, which is one of my three favourite 12AU7's: Philips/Amperex/Valvo ECC186/7316, Siemens triple mica 5814A/ (also E82CC/6189- punchy, detailed, energetic, extended range, balanced, very quiet, CBS black plate, square getter 5814A, a deeper, lusher tube, but very articulate.

I use 6 12AU7's and have tried a number:

12AU7's at home:

12AU7 [6] 1, 2, 2, 1 TOTAL: 67

4- Philips SQ/ by Siemens 5814A -3 mica- DE- NOS
5- Brimar ECC82 cleartop- GB- NOS
2- Sylvania JHS 12AU7WA- 6189- NOS 66
1- HP/ Amperex-- NOS
1- HP/ RCA- cleartop- NOS
4- RCA- 5814A- black plate 2 mica- NOS
4- RCA/ Textronix 2-matched prs cleartop NOS
3- Valvo/ Philips ECC82- dimp disc-Holland -NOS
1- Valvo/ Siemens E82CC- NOS
2- CBS 5814A- JHS blk plate- stirrup gtr- NOS 57
7- RCA cleartop- USED
1- Amperex Bugle Boy 7316- Holland- NOS 64
4- RCA “Command” 5814A- NOS
4- CBS 5814A- blk pl- sq gtr- NOS/Used?
8- Sylvania 5814A- USA- c.1970
2- National by RCA- 5814WA- black pl- US- NOS
3- Siemens- E82CC/6189- 2mica, halo- DE- NOS
4- Siemens 5814A -3 mica- USED [25
1- Valvo 6189- RTC- France- db gtr sup- NOS (17,17)
8- Valvo ECC186/7316- Holland- 1965- NOS [21
1- Siemens/H E82CC/6189- 3 mica- DE-NOS [13

You might notice I'm a bid fan of the 5814. If you consider replacing the Amperex ECC82, You might look into the Siemens and particularly the CBS 5814A's- both great sounding and quiet.

Let us know what happens!


Cheers,

Bambi B

P.S. By the way, you may upload multiple images to one post by uploading one and pressing "Preview Message" and entering the next image while in preview. The HTML will line up at the top of the post and if you like you can move the images down into the body of the text.





This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Analog Engineering Associates  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
  • The dilemma - Bambi B 04/6/1007:53:31 04/6/10 (0)

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.