RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC.....

Posted by ivan_terrible (P) on July 2, 2024 at 22:30:22

In Reply to: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... posted by andy evans on July 1, 2024 at 08:57:53:

"Personally, I don't care much whether a 60-year-old tube amplifier makes 20 watts instead of 25 watts."

well actually I do.
It has to deliver, which means it measures well, and then ultimately it sounds much better.
I am no fan of that 50s and 60s distortion.
There are reasons why the reluctance or magnetic flux density/behaviour of the old transformers sounds different.

Usually an amp I have reworked produces more power than the original with a giant size drop in distortion.

I have some of the studies on this collected over some time.
Dave Gillespie has also gone into this in some detail.
He also is well known for improving the old amps well beyond recognition.

"It's the sound I want. :)"
Whatever that means!

I don't want the dirty old sound of the badly working old designs.
It's exactly what the Chinese are copying in their ignorance with the materials of today.
It has very little to do with this hyping of old valves and jacking up prices, which is exactly what people on the ASR forum are often moaning about.
ie. ASR consider and have measured many valve amp products and rightly consider them as horrible distortion pumps with bloated prices, - but because they never measured a good one trash the whole lot.

In the end your get an anti-valve lobby and the "audiophile" lobby fighting, both of which are basically wrong.

Btw.
out of the 5 KT8C I got there was only THAT dead one.
The others I revived by removing the bases and resoldering everything -using modern car exhaust paste to seal it up and stop the bases moving again.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - andy evans 08:57:53 07/01/24 (13)

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - ivan_terrible 22:30:22 07/02/24 (2)

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - Triode_Kingdom 00:17:40 07/03/24 (1)

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - ivan_terrible 00:45:54 07/03/24 (0)

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - Jim McShane 14:08:31 07/02/24 (5)

Scarcity = High Pricing... Swedish Standard 33S29B - opalize 13:30:55 07/03/24 (0)

Ah....GECs are scarce..... - andy evans 02:43:36 07/03/24 (0)

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - ivan_terrible 00:54:16 07/03/24 (2)

Bangy-Bang - Byrd69 15:44:05 07/03/24 (1)

RE: Bangy-Bang - Triode_Kingdom 19:07:32 07/03/24 (0)

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - ivan_terrible 01:10:03 07/02/24 (3)

Where's My Thumbs-Up Button? (nt) - Triode_Kingdom 02:14:15 07/02/24 (2)

RE: Where's My Thumbs-Up Button? (nt) - ivan_terrible 08:52:07 07/02/24 (1)

Yep, Been There - Triode_Kingdom 14:56:00 07/02/24 (0)

Follow Ups

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - ivan_terrible 22:30:22 07/02/24 (2)

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - Triode_Kingdom 00:17:40 07/03/24 (1)

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC..... - ivan_terrible 00:45:54 07/03/24 (0)

RE: The most expensive 12AX7s - TFK, Mullard, GEC.....

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