12ax7 recomendation for T-Max

[jaredio]

I'm looking for a preamp tube for my T-max. Changing the tube definitely makes a difference in this amp. I've tried a few that I've had laying around.

Came with an EI? I can't remember but it was super thin and ice picky and lacked output.

I was surprised to see that I actually didn't like the mullard that I borrowed from my Blues Deluxe.

Mesa Boogie tubes from my Subway rocket didn't make me happy at all.

I've used groove tubes that sounded pretty good actually.

I'd like something that could subdue the highs and accentuate the low mids. Any suggestions?

[bassplayerken]

I pulled this straight off the www.audiotubes.com website. I just bought a few NOS from Brent and he seems to have fair prices and know what he is talking about. Call him if you have specific questions. He tests all of his tubes for transconductance, microphonics, and more; just to make sure they sound perfect with audio equipment. These descriptions are for his vintage/NOS collections, but he also has newer tubes with great descriptions that may fit your needs better. To me, vintage is the way to go, but your ears may hear something different.

TELEFUNKEN, SIEMENS, VALVO, LORENZ, and other German made NOS: These tubes are usually characterized by an impressive open "air" at the top end. The soundstage is large, even in mono applications these tubes have a great 3-D image. The midrange is ruler flat, and the bass is tight and accurate. These tubes have a fine sense of dynamics, and most are impressively quiet. These are not "warm" tubes, and to some ears their lack of midrange warmth may be heard as bright. I tend to think of them as accurate, and their clean, focused sonic image is astonishing. My personal favorites. Check out Siemens longplates, Telefunken smoothplates, or Siemens E83CC for critical phono preamp or microphone preamp work. Same goes for the Telefunken "selected tube" and the tubes with blue tips that were intended for critical medical equipment. These tubes are dead quiet, ruler flat, laboratory grade beauties that will knock your socks off! The Siemens, Valvo, and Lorenz are often priced lower than the more well-known Telefunken, and can be a great bargain since their sonics are similar to the highly regarded Telefunken. Oh, and here is a little secret: the Telefunken ribbed plates sound pretty much the same as the smoothplates! In spite of the "shootouts", and "Some Guy's Tube Lore", and other claims to the contrary, the sonic differences between these two tubes (made in the same era at the same factory) are small (the rib plates are a bit warmer in the midrange) and very subjective. Don't let anyone tell you what tubes you should like and what you should not like!

AMPEREX, PHILIPS, MAZDA and other Holland/France/Belgium made NOS: These tubes are a great balance of a clean, airy top end, nice midrange warmth, and accurate bass. They are very pleasant, clean, and musical to listen to in hi-fi applications. Unlike other clean European tubes, these break-up impressively when overdriven in a guitar amp. Check out the Mazda 12AX7S silver plates for critical phono preamp or microphone preamp duties. These tubes are dead quiet, with a great sense of air and dynamics, with incredible speed and impact. The Philips Miniwatt series, usually made in the same Heerlen, Holland factory that produced the Amperex Bugleboy tubes, are a great alternative to the increasingly rare Bugleboy. They are identical internally, carry the same factory code markings, and sound the same. These Holland tubes can often be found, sometimes made for other brands or OEM labelled for amplifiers, when the Bugleboys cannot. The rare longplate versions are the same sonically, but with even more soundstage space and detail. The rare French Mazda has the air and sparkle of the Telefunken, the touch of warmth of the Amperex, and adds a nice bit of dynamic punch to the sound.

MULLARD, GENALEX, BRIMAR, and other British made NOS: Like a warm British jacket of the finest tweed, these glorious tubes have an attractive sweet warmth in their midrange and lower regions. The top end is silky and pleasant, without being rolled-off. The best of these tubes retain a fine sense of "air" at the top, and the upper midrange is smooth and liquid. These tubes reproduce the human voice, especially female voices, with haunting realism. The rare longplates and Genalex versions have an eye-popping huge soundstage, razor sharp focus and detail, and an uncolored top end while retaining the warmth of the lower priced versions.

RCA, RAYTHEON, GE, SYLVANIA, and other USA made NOS: This group is very diverse. The RCA, Raytheon, and Sylvania blackplates are among the best here. These are very musical tubes with air and sparkle at the top end, warmth in the mids, and great bass. The RCA are drop dead beautiful in guitar amps, even the lower priced greyplate and longplate versions. They also have a wonderful "phat" gritty sound when overdriven in these amps. The blackplates and most tubes made for organs are very quiet. The greyplate GE is an all-around nice-guy tube to listen to, the longplate here possibly getting the nod for hi-fi use. The Sylvania greyplate and military versions are clean and a bit bright, but the Sylvania 5751 variants are very balanced and pleasant to listen to for hours. The GE blackplate 5751 triple mica is also in great demand as a very musical vintage tube. The RCA 5751 is more like the Mullard, with a rich warmth and wide bandwidth. Currently, the USA made tubes are a nice surprise with their low prices as compared to the European types.

[will33]

Bless you for realizing the goodness of the T-MAX. Mines not for sale either.

One thing I've found with these amps is yes, different preamp tubes do change the sound quite a bit but also, the tube channel can sound a good deal more full bottom to top and clearer than the SS channel. The SS channel on those amps is pretty warm sounding but after awhile starts to sound "electric"?. Like vibrating energy as if you grabbed onto the main service going into your house. The tube channel is much more low/high/"open and clear". With a cheap groovetube like you'd get at GC the tube channel sounds quite good but more precise than the SS with more topend and a little "blat" if you dig in. I put an old Mullard in there and then the tube channel is still a bit more representative of a natural bass sound but with far less treble than the GT and a generally richer sound in the mids and lows. It can also put a good bit of hair on the note if you'd like it to. It generally had a more subdued top end, still available if you want it but you have to dial it up, it's not there as a "tone stamp". Point is, tube rolling in these amps has a greater effect on the overall tone than in several other popular amps. IME.

[will33]

Originally Posted by jaredio

I've used groove tubes that sounded pretty good actually.

I'd like something that could subdue the highs and accentuate the low mids. Any suggestions?

Try an old Mullard....It's good at that, or something maybe inbetween? Point is, you can try a half dozen different pre tubes with this thing and get a half dozen different sounds. Try using a clear/treble present tube like the GT and hitting the combine 2 preamps switch and add warmth to the clarity or clarity to the warmth, etc. Sometimes a good pre tube you like can make that channel the best, sometimes combining the 2 using the better aspects of either can lead to the best results. Sometimes driving a good tube is what's needed, sometimes putting a little of the "driven electricity" sound to a clean tube gets the best of both worlds.

[JimmyM]

he already tried a mullard and said it didn't agree with it.

i've always had great luck with rca's. not prohibitively expensive like mullards, but they always sound solid. if you must go new, jj's are pretty universally liked. but since i have a nos store 20 minutes away from my house, i always buy rca's when possible, but i'll also take sylvanias and ge's.

[will33]

Depends on the Mullard. Mines is probably older than I am, English built and I lucked across it in some garagesale/craigslist/store sellout thing. There are new tubes out now branded as Mullards but it's not the same. Hence try and "old" mullard.

Actually in the T-max I've had more diverse tones available and the right sweet tones I've needed using a cheap GT combined with the SS channel. SS pre for girth/pseudowarmth + the more trebly tube channel for "openess", "clarity", "pureness of tone" to use some magazine article terms.

Point is, I've got a Peavey T-MAX. This thing can get stored up underneath the car with the spare tire, get beat on, abused, neglected, battered with road tar and generally mis-used and someday when I need it, I can set it on top the cab(s) there and plug into it, sound damn good and probably have to turn it down a little to keep from drowning out the guitard's

[bassmanrocke]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

he already tried a mullard and said it didn't agree with it.

i've always had great luck with rca's. not prohibitively expensive like mullards, but they always sound solid. if you must go new, jj's are pretty universally liked. but since i have a nos store 20 minutes away from my house, i always buy rca's when possible, but i'll also take sylvanias and ge's.

Jimmy, Is that the shop in Sorrento? I didn't know anybody around here still stocked tubes, and occasionally need a source.

[Stinsok]

Considered using a 12au7?

[Floyd Eye]

+1 for talking to Brent at Audiotubes. Dude knows his stuff and has a great selection of NOS tubes.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by bassmanrocke

Jimmy, Is that the shop in Sorrento? I didn't know anybody around here still stocked tubes, and occasionally need a source.

there's a shop in sorrento? no, this one is on orange av. just below downtown orlando and it's called www.vacuumtubesinc.com .

[jaredio]

Thanks. I'll read through these descriptions. And follow some of these leads. The mullard is newer from Tube Depot I believe. So far the GT has been the warmest.

The tube channel is a lot more lively and textured. I like blending a little warmth from the SS channel into it.

I'd just like to tame those highs without tooo much eq-ing or SS influence. That channel really has no lack of top end! And its very available when I want to dial it in!

[GeoffByrne]

Originally Posted by Stinsok

Considered using a 12au7?

You may find 12au7s and 12ay7s have too little gain to push the amp, being only around 30% or less.

Try, if you can find one, a 5751 which has about 70% gain against a 12ax7.

It'll give greater headroom at the expense of some all-out volume.

I like it, but YMMV

[jaredio]

Originally Posted by GeoffByrne

You may find 12au7s and 12ay7s have too little gain to push the amp, being only around 30% or less.

Try, if you can find one, a 5751 which has about 70% gain against a 12ax7.

It'll give greater headroom at the expense of some all-out volume.

I like it, but YMMV

This amp seems pretty sensitive to the tubes output. Headroom is not a big concern. I'd rather have the volume. I'd rather have less headroom than more actually.

[jaredio]

Well I might try grabbing a few Mullards again. I can put them in my subway rocket if they don't work out. I loooove mullards in the Fender Blues Deluxe. I'm sure they'll work in some of the slots of my little Mesa Boogie. Each mullard will probably sound pretty different from the next. I'll audition like 4 and put the losers in the SR.

[Bluesbob]

I have an easy way of determining if your Mullards are NOS or just plain new (current manufacture).
The new ones go for around $17.00 apiece. The "real" Mullards go for $100.00 and up.
Personally, I'd try to find a nice used RCA.

[jaredio]

Haha. I know its the new mullards. Actually I realized a have a few more to try. I will look into the RCA. Its just gonna be a trial an error thing. Should be fun!

[dcr]

I'm having decent luck with a Telefunken in my BBE BMaxT.




dcr

[bassmanrocke]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

there's a shop in sorrento? no, this one is on orange av. just below downtown orlando and it's called www.vacuumtubesinc.com .

Thanks Jimmy I'll check them out. I think the guy that builds ValveTrain amps is out of Sorrento, but I could be wrong. I thought maybe that was where you were talking about.

[Gav4003]

I generally like the jj/tesla tubes, give a nice warm tone to my head without any real break up to them.