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Preamp tube advice needed: tight and focused

#3
Inconnu said:
Hi!
If it makes any sense at all… I’m looking for a preamp tube (12ax7 or compatible) that would have the most focused sound possible, smooth yet detailed. Ideas?
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I would think we need a little more info.

Are you wanting an EQ? Or more of a tube injection direct box?

What's your budget? The price of tube preamps varies greatly. You can probably find a used cheaper one for well under $200. But you can spend two THOUSAND if you want.
 
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#4
Inconnu said:
Hi!
If it makes any sense at all… I’m looking for a preamp tube (12ax7 or compatible) that would have the most focused sound possible, smooth yet detailed. Ideas?
Click to expand...

Start with a preamp that is smooth and detailed to your liking? ;)
 
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#5
Telefunken smooth plate ECC 83. This tube is very even in response and has sweet sounding musical highs. The ribbed plate version sounds almost as good.

There are some Telefunken marked tubes that were not made by Telefunken. The West German Telefunken tubes have a diamond shape molded into the glass on the bottom in the center the pins.
 
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#7
Chuck M said:
Telefunken smooth plate ECC 83. This tube is very even in response and has sweet sounding musical highs. The ribbed plate version sounds almost as good.

There are some Telefunken marked tubes that were not made by Telefunken. The West German Telefunken tubes have a diamond shape molded into the glass on the bottom in the center the pins.
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In my ampeg svp pro (same as SVT-II pro) preamp a pricy Telefunken ECC83 does not sound any noticeable better (more smooth, more detailed, or more better of anything) than any other "good quality" ECC83 tube.
 
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#8
ThisBass said:
In my ampeg svp pro (same as SVT-II pro) preamp a pricy Telefunken ECC83 does not sound any noticeable better (more smooth, more detailed, or more better of anything) than any other "good quality" ECC83 tube.
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I have tried many of the tube preamps available including the Ampeg. The Ampeg preamps did not sound all that great to me and I eventually settled on the Demeter VTBP-201 as my 1st choice. In that preamp I could definitely hear a difference in the tubes and did prefer the Telefunken above the others. The Telefunken ECC83 has long been appreciated by those audiophiles who use tube equipment for listening to music. Fisher used Fisher marked Telefunken tubes in their receivers back in the day.

I have about 100 12AX7/ECC83's in my collection so I have spent quite a bit of time and money before deciding that the Telefunken sounded best to me.

That said, in matters of tone we all have our opinions and your choice of Ampeg amps is fine for you and many others but is just not my thing. No problem with that.
 
#9
Chuck M said:
I have tried many of the tube preamps available including the Ampeg. The Ampeg preamps did not sound all that great to me and I eventually settled on the Demeter VTBP-201 as my 1st choice. In that preamp I could definitely hear a difference in the tubes and did prefer the Telefunken above the others. The Telefunken ECC83 has long been appreciated by those audiophiles who use tube equipment for listening to music. Fisher used Fisher marked Telefunken tubes in their receivers back in the day.

I have about 100 12AX7/ECC83's in my collection so I have spent quite a bit of time and money before deciding that the Telefunken sounded best to me.

That said, in matters of tone we all have our opinions and your choice of Ampeg amps is fine for you and many others but is just not my thing. No problem with that.
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yet actually depends on the preamp design IF a different tube may sound noticeable different OR IF the difference was quite hard to notice.
With strong cathode biased tube stage such as is quite typical for Ampeg there will be only less (if any) noticeable difference for the sound with different tubes (tube rolling).

You may get more of noticeable difference with preamps such as Hiwatt DR101 Preamp, or others with rather small cathade R biasing, or designs with a cathode R bypassing C.

The point is, as long as the tube schematic in question is totally unknown, as long it is not possible to "predict" a distinct sound coming off of a distinct tube such as a "very pricy" Telefunken ECC83
 
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#14
ThisBass said:
If the OP puts the tube in a tube stage of just the same design, right, he might get the same "Tung-Sol 12ax7" sound then yours.
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Maybe.

At this point we don’t have enough information about OP’s situation, so I can only guess.

I have a couple of tube preamps and been killing time rolling tubes in them. Might be placebo or not, but the Tung-Sol seems to have tight & bright character to it. At least it is cheaper than NOS tubes.
 
#18
There used to be some comparison articles on a couple of the better known tube vendors on the internet, but I'm not sure how up-to-date they are.
I do know that when you Google "Best 12AX7 Tubes you get a dozen or more articles, with varying degrees of authenticity, depending on which marketing organization is publishing the article. Since it appears you are going "hi-fi" with your preamp, I would also suggest searching audiophile/stereo articles and ratings for their input.
 

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