Tubes, tubes...

[Corto Maltese]

It is time to roll the tubes. I have a pair of 12AX7 by Electro Harmonix, and a quad of EL84 by Sovtek. The amp is Synthesis Nimis. Good sound, but it must be the way to take the real advantage of this nice little amp. And, it would be nice to try something else.
Did anyone try those new production Mullard tubes (made in Russia)?
Did anyone already experiment with Synthesis Nimis – what tubes does it “like”?
Thanks!
JR

[Feanor]

It is time to roll the tubes. I have a pair of 12AX7 by Electro Harmonix, and a quad of EL84 by Sovtek. The amp is Synthesis Nimis. Good sound, but it must be the way to take the real advantage of this nice little amp. And, it would be nice to try something else.
Did anyone try those new production Mullard tubes (made in Russia)?
Did anyone already experiment with Synthesis Nimis – what tubes does it “like”?
Thanks!
JR

Hi,

I don't have experience with these tubes, or brands except Sovtek. But I do strongly believe that different tubes sound different and some better than others. The difference is much bigger than swapping interconnects for example, at least in my experience.

On my Sonic Frontiers LINE 1, rolling the standard Sovtek 6922's for Amperex USA white label 'PQ' tubes. What differences? Warmer, smoother, but not less detailed, plus a greater sense of depth and space.

[Corto Maltese]

Thanks for reply, Feanor.

On my Sonic Frontiers LINE 1, rolling the standard Sovtek 6922's for Amperex USA white label 'PQ' tubes. What differences? Warmer, smoother, but not less detailed, plus a greater sense of depth and space.

I have some experience with Amperex - I was using them in Marshall JCM 800 100w, un-matched quad of EL34s. That was in (ehm) early to mid 80-ties… I can’t remember all the details; I think sound qualities were still (arguably) the same, with definitive improvement in clean power over the factory (Marshall) tubes.
Were those Amperex tubes that you used NOS, or new, made in USA stock?
What I’m actually trying to figure out is this:
Is there any significant difference between NOS and new production of the same brand tube? I would say there is, but what it is?
As I’m somewhat emotionally attached (past is strange thing, makes you believe in many undefined things) to Mullard, I would like to explore the differences between NOS made in Great Britain, and new production, made in Russia. Price difference is huge, and it is significant factor. I would like to know did somebody already have encountered both of those, on the same amp. Or, if somebody already experimented with Synthesis Nimis. That could save me some money, which could result in many, many more LPs…
Thanks!

[Feanor]

Corto,

I bought my Amperex PQ on eBay; they were used but work very well, fortunately. Below are pictures of these tubes. (I've also had four orange PQ, of which 3 were excessively noisy.)

BTW, in my LINE 1 I'm also using a pair of NOS Reflektor 6H23P-EB's as inputs, and a pair of used Siemens E88CC, (not CCa), as cathode followers. The Amperex better than these others and the Sovteks at the gain stage.

Are there new production Amperex? If so, I wasn't aware.
...

[Corto Maltese]

You are very knowledgeable, but also very lucky.
Lots of fraud turned me away from the tubes for some time. There are some Amperex, and many other tubes on the web where people are selling them as NOS or new production, but they are re-labeled tubes, made in who-knows-where, and how. It is not quite clear to me are they victims themselves, or they are doing all the washing and re-labeling…
With my kind of the luck, I have to be extra careful. I would like to buy certain Mullards because of the characteristic stamp they have. Nobody can wash that detail. But, they cost serious money. NOS could exceed the cost of my amp…
Still searching. Thanks for sharing your experience with me, and I’m going to look for Amperex as well. They also should be great improvement over the tubes that I listen to now.