EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

[JCM900MkIII]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

The difference between gold pin and regular is the result of the "selection process".
"Gold pins" meet strict specs. Non-gold pins don't meet those specs.
They went through the same production process
Adding the gold coating doesn't change the tone one bit.

That's all.

And yes, it is likely they will sound different, because of the different specs, not the gold pins

 

[Surgeon]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

The difference between gold pin and regular is the result of the "selection process".
"Gold pins" meet strict specs. Non-gold pins don't meet those specs.
They went through the same production process
Adding the gold coating doesn't change the tone one bit.

That's all.

And yes, it is likely they will sound different, because of the different specs, not the gold pins

Ok, care to share how the plating is put on the pins after the manufacturing process? Not arguing here, just curious...

 

[BirdsOfFire]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

Gold pin tubes are usually the select top 10% - 20% of the tubes in a production run. That is why they sound better.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

Gold pin tubes are usually the select top 10% - 20% of the tubes in a production run. That is why they sound better.

That keeps getting repeated but nobody has explained how these tubes have gold plating up into the glass if they're gold plated post testing.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

I didn't think the gold plating extended into the glass, I thought it was only on the exposed part of the pins.
I have also read that the gold plated pin tubes are specially selected to certain standards (probably the closest ones to standard gain specs for the tube type, lower noise, and maybe closer matched triodes), but the gold plating itself doesn't really affect the sound, they claim it makes better electrical contact and doesn't corrode as easily over time. It's mainly aimed at tube hifi guys IMO, who are into that kind of stuff.
Al

That keeps getting repeated but nobody has explained how these tubes have gold plating up into the glass if they're gold plated post testing.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

I'm just speculating here, but I wonder if the regular ones and gold pin versions that test to tight tolerances get labeled EH, GT, Ruby etc, and the ones that fall a bit below that stay unlabeled, get put into generic boxes, and sent to amp companies and tube wholesalers. I know that's what a lot of tube manufacturers do.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

I didn't think the gold plating extended into the glass, I thought it was only on the exposed part of the pins.
I have also read that the gold plated pin tubes are specially selected to certain standards (probably the closest ones to standard gain specs for the tube type, lower noise, and maybe closer matched triodes), but the gold plating itself doesn't really affect the sound, they claim it makes better electrical contact and doesn't corrode as easily over time. It's mainly aimed at tube hifi guys IMO, who are into that kind of stuff.
Al

Fair enough. It's not that I don't enjoy being the absolute skeptic of this kinda stuff (I really do) but I'm wondering if you have any source for this... EH's site is quite greedy on info regarding their tubes. I've only read that "selected" theory on a few forums and we all know all we read on forums is absolutely true right? Not trying to be a dooshe-nozzle or anything, just wondering if that came from a rep or something a bit "reliable"...

Still, thanks for sharing.

 

[Left_Hand_Strat]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

i have an EH gold pin 12AX7 and i never tried it against a regular pin one and loved the gold pin in my HT-5 and it is still in there, just go with more on them, if it sounds good and you like it get more, no point trying to go cheaper by not getting goldpins when the regular tubes may sound different, and it's not necessarily cause of pins don't forget every tube really has its own characteristics...

 

[JCM900MkIII]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

Ok, care to share how the plating is put on the pins after the manufacturing process? Not arguing here, just curious...

Even if the gold went into the internals of the tube, it's the same effect.


going from silver to gold and back to silver, gives you the properties of silver.



It's the same snake oil as with "cables with gold connector" (in hi-fi equipment).
Yes, they don't corrode. The connection should theoretically be 100% allways. That's it.


It will not improve the sound of your system
How does gold improve anything when the wire inside the cable is still made of copper?

Unless the whole circuit board is made of gold (and the cables, basically everything), then it would make sense...

The very same applies to tubes and tube amps.
Tube amps are not magical.
They don't use fairygold and sparkles to make it sound better.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

Even if the gold went into the internals of the tube, it's the same effect.


going from silver to gold and back to silver, gives you the properties of silver.



It's the same snake oil as with "cables with gold connector" (in hi-fi equipment).
Yes, they don't corrode. The connection should theoretically be 100% allways. That's it.


It will not improve the sound of your system
How does gold improve anything when the wire inside the cable is still made of copper?

Unless the whole circuit board is made of gold (and the cables, basically everything), then it would make sense...

The very same applies to tubes and tube amps.
Tube amps are not magical.
They don't use fairygold and sparkles to make it sound better.

I think everyone has agreed that the gold plating itself doesn't improve a tube much if at all, but some of the gold pin tubes claim that they are "specially selected" tubes, which could mean that they have the best specs, or matched triodes, or low noise versions of the tube. In that case, the gold version might be a better tube than other untested tubes of the same type off of the assembly line.

Al

 

[Rich_S]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

The problem is, you can't build a tube, test it, decide it's a really good one, and then plate the pins gold. The pins have to be plated before the tube is assembled, and you can't possibly test them at that stage.

In my mind, it's more likely that 1) the gold pin tubes are the same as the regular ones, just with gold pins, or 2) the gold pin tubes are a different design and/or are built using more careful process.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: EH Gold 12ax7 vs their regular ones...

Don't now about EH, but I did'nt care for the gold pin JJ I bought a while ago..sounded too smooth & kind of thin, also seemed to lack some gain compared to regular JJ's ...and I have a lot of those around (all of which sound pretty similar to each other...give/take some gain). Definitely was a difference. Not sure if it was just the tube or the plating on the pins though..