My HT-5 friends, tube question

B

bara686

New member
Hey guys,

I have been reading a lot of reviews about swapping tubes in the HT-5 and I am ready to pull the trigger, but I feel the reviews I read are from the majority of metal players.

I play more classic rock, American meteal (read: Van Halen) and more contemporary like Weezer, etc.

I want to put a Tung Sol in the preamp rather than the stock, would this still be best suited for me -- I feel as if its better for metal players, but I do not play "metal" as it is thought of today.

I pretty much want the gain on tap that I have, I want it to be a bit warmer, and less fizzy/harsh. Thanks!!
 
Re: My HT-5 friends, tube question

I happen to like the tung-sol 12ax7. I have one in my v2 after a ruby12ax7ahg in the v1. They do seem to be a little warmer/darker,imo. But don't forget the power tube as well. Sometimes you can get a different attitude from your amp with a good tube change.
The thing is, you'll just have to try a few different tubes untill you get what your ear likes. We can recomend a whole list of tubes, but only you can decide what you like.
Some good places to start is, Tung-sol, JJ, and Mullard. But there are alot more out there.
Good luck in your search.
 
Re: My HT-5 friends, tube question

Tung Sol, Electro-Harmonix, and modern "Mullards" are Russian made valves of very low quality. The QC is really bad -- a friend of mine who is an amp tech has seen 'Mullards' that are actually Svetlana valves mis-branded!

If you want a high quality, inexpensive, reliable preamp valve, look into JJ brand.
 
Re: My HT-5 friends, tube question

I went through basically the gamut of new production tubes in my HT-5. It comes stock with a cheap Sovtek, obviously. Then I tried JJ and Tung-Sol. I went back and forth between these two for a couple months. The JJ was definitely the warmer of the two, but the Tung-Sol had a more crisp, clear tone. It accentuated the graininess a little bit, whereas I found the JJ to be a bit more smooth.

Neither of these ever sat with me properly, though. I liked them, but it wasn't mind-blowing. So I went back and ordered a Mullard and a Sovtek LPS. When I put the Mullard in, I thought I was done. It brought out harmonic complexity from that little amp. It really sounds good, and I think it might fit the bill for you perfectly. It was thick, warm, and very full sounding. It was probably the best balance of the JJ and the Tung-Sol but with something extra in the sound that wasn't there in either of the other two.

But I had that other tube sitting there, and my curiosity got the best of me. I popped in the Sovtek LPS. That was it. I've stopped looking now, but I'm not looking for exactly what you're describing. I was looking for bite in the treble without harshness. I was looking for crunchy mids rather than something smooth. I got that in the Sovtek LPS.

I also swapped the power tube with an Ei, but I found the only difference in the sound to be the amount of noise. It was slightly noisier, and nothing else really improved or changed noticeably. I think you'll get a lot more out of changing the preamp tube.
 
Re: My HT-5 friends, tube question

Also, you could try using lower gain preamp tubes if you don't need as much gain. I put a EH 12AY7 in mine because I actually wanted to lower the gain a little bit and I've been happy with it. You could also try a 12AU7 for something in between a 12AX7 and a 12AY7.

However, I haven't tried other brands/types of tubes so I don't have much to compare it to...I'm happy enough with how it is.
 
Re: My HT-5 friends, tube question

I can second (third?) the idea of using lower gain tubes. I used an old sylvania 12AU7 in mine with great results. It makes it a one channel amp though. In my opinion, the clean channel is too quiet. BUT, the gain channel has all sorts of low gain juiciness! just turn down the guitar volume to replace the high volume clean channel sounds.

With that said, I now have a 12AX7LPS in it and seem to get along with it quite well

I also changed the power tube to an NOS something or other because my orig tube died after 4 months. It sure was a pretty shade of purple before i swapped it though!
 
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