12au7 gray plates

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(5 votes, average: 2.80 out of 5)

There is not much to say for the tubes. They all sound similar. All sound bad. Not worth the money that you would stand on them. When they were released, tube hardware was not considered high-end. Now, since the tubes are used in high-end by audiophiles having them is just not a good match for the amps. Sell, sell, sell.

I tried Sylvania, RCA (a bit better than the others), Baldwin, GE, Motorola all with the same results.

The only exception is RCA clear top – they don’t come with black plates and they sound quite good.

Telefunken 12at7 smooth plates

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(7 votes, average: 4.29 out of 5)

“Regardless of what the Telefunken 12AT7s went into, they sounded consistent. The first thing people notice is that treble instruments are placed far back in the soundstage. In several rooms and systems, the hi hat on Peter Gabriel’s “Red Rain” and cymbals from Megadeth’s “Disconnect” were placed behind the plane of the speakers.” Read

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GE 12ax7 Gray plates

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(6 votes, average: 2.67 out of 5)

“very quiet and tame medium gain tube. These were very well constructed back in the day and will provide hours and hours of vintage tone.”

“It is a great sounding tube, with wonderful air and detail. Helically-wound filaments for low hum and is quieter and more consistent than the ones they had partially assembled overseas later. If you want one of the better sounding 12AX7’s ever made and don’t want to pony up the big bucks for the Tele’s and so on, this is it!” Read

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GE 5751 Gray Plates

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(12 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

“Will outlast and outperform any of the current production crap! These are Joint Army-Navy tubes, USA made, and are a BARGAIN right now.” Read

” I love em, especially if an amp is prone to fizz or brittleness in the crunch, they will smooth it out, but its not like drastically reducing the gain so its a nice compromise” Read

“GE Triple Mica 5751 is absolutely unbeatable in the line stage of any Fisher that uses 7591 or 7199 output tubes, but not for 7868 output tubes” Read

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Sylvania 5751 Gold Brand Gray Plates Triple Mica

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Sylvania 5751 Gold Brand Gray Plates

(12 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

” To my ears it is the the 2nd or 3rd best 5751 ranking up there with the Sylvania & GE black plates. Its strength is its midrange, but it may also be its weakness. The mids here are full, lush, tangible and maybe (just maybe) a trifle overblown. Occasionally i find the lush full vocals obscure just a bit of detail and reduce transparency slightly, but the mids are so lush I could understand how you might not care. ” Read

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JJ 300B

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(5 votes, average: 3.60 out of 5)

“The JJ Electronic 300B seems to have all the things i love about 300B tubes! What more can i say then that? May i humbly suggest you try the JJ Electronic 300B? You too might find yourself in love while enjoying the music.” Read

“In other words, the EAT (and JJ) veered nearly too deep into transitorized sound with the kind of material that vintage lovers would likely favor. ” Read

“Sonically this valve failed to convince, sounding bright, harsh and edgy. Soundstaging was lacking too. One positive side, the bass was quite strong and well defined but the overall tonal balance was subjectively objectionable and faintly unpleasant. ” Read

“JJ tubes are probably the smoothest sounding tubes next to NOS tubes themselves.” Read

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Raytheon 12au7 black plates

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(29 votes, average: 3.62 out of 5)

“Don’t miss trying the “organ stock” 12AU7 tubes that were sold to organ manufacturers. These sweet tubes were screened for audio use in organs, and have the organ brand on the label. Usually sold at bargain prices because of the re-branded label, the RCA cleartop and Raytheon blackplate versions are a great find!” Read

“…She told me that the yellow Raytheon 12au7 sounded WONDERFUL in the MG Head OTL, except that it was a little quieter. She reported that the sound quality was practically identical to the Raytheon 5751…” Read

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Sylvania JHS 5751 Black Plates, 3 mica

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(12 votes, average: 4.42 out of 5)

“Wow, now here is a tube I didn’t expect to be as nice as it is, especially with the gold brand to compete with. This is a great tube, very solid buy. The dynamics are great, and they reproduce the sound very accurately.” Read

“Its strength is its midrange, but it may also be its weakness. The mids here are full, lush, tangible and maybe (just maybe) a trifle overblown. Occasionally i find the lush full vocals obscure just a bit of detail and reduce transparency slightly, but the mids are so lush I could understand how you might not care.” Read

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