Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

[Christopher Caruana]

I bought 3 EH 12AX7's and 3 Groove tube "gold series" 12AX7's and tried each set in my 800 and WOW they made my marshall really open up and come alive!

I tried the 3 EH's first and then the 3 GT's. Havent had a chance to mix and match yet.

I think I like the EH's a little better out of the 2 sets. The Groove tubes were great, they added a lot of body to the sound and really fattened up the tone. The EH's were not as fat sounding, but they just have a little more "hair" to their tone. The gain on both were very good.

Next for some new 6550's!

-Chris :bigthumb:

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

Was there anything else about the Groove Tubes? If I understand right, they usually have another designation, such as GT12AX7-C for Chinese or GT12AX7-M for Mullard. You can tell a little bit more about how you would expect them to sound based on those designations. I'm not real familiar with the Gold Series, so this may not apply to those.

I like the Electro-Harmonix, but I think they play second fiddle to the Tung-Sols. They have the same basic character, but I hear more fullness and gain from the Tung-Sols, while they have a little bit lower noise floor. I prefer them, but I do think the Electro-Harmonix are good tubes.

And I highly recommend mixing and matching. It's a great way to fine-tune the character and voicing of your preamp. Also, as I learned a month or so ago, don't overlook the importance of the PI tube, especially in a Marshall circuit. It can really make a difference.

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

Was there anything else about the Groove Tubes? If I understand right, they usually have another designation, such as GT12AX7-C for Chinese or GT12AX7-M for Mullard. You can tell a little bit more about how you would expect them to sound based on those designations. I'm not real familiar with the Gold Series, so this may not apply to those.

I like the Electro-Harmonix, but I think they play second fiddle to the Tung-Sols. They have the same basic character, but I hear more fullness and gain from the Tung-Sols, while they have a little bit lower noise floor. I prefer them, but I do think the Electro-Harmonix are good tubes.

And I highly recommend mixing and matching. It's a great way to fine-tune the character and voicing of your preamp. Also, as I learned a month or so ago, don't overlook the importance of the PI tube, especially in a Marshall circuit. It can really make a difference.

oh ya sorry, the Groove tubes each say GT-12AX7-R on the box. and they also have a sticker that says it on the tube itself as well as "made in russia"

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

I really liked EH in the DSL50 I once had. EHs seem to have a certain sizzle that I find really goes with a lot of gain.

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

I really liked EH in the DSL50 I once had. EHs seem to have a certain sizzle that I find really goes with a lot of gain.

ya exactly what I experienced. The EH's just a little more "hair" to them

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

I might try the EH's in V1 and V2 and put a GT in the PI

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

oh ya sorry, the Groove tubes each say GT-12AX7-R on the box. and they also have a sticker that says it on the tube itself as well as "made in russia"

They are Sovteks then.

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

They are Sovteks then.

Are Sovteks good tubes??

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

Are Sovteks good tubes??

There are different reviews of them everywhere. Some say they suck, some only use them and nothing else.

The fact is that they are cheap (about $10 per tube) but they sound pretty good for the money.

A general consensus is that they are good in high gain amps.

I use them for pretty clean blues though and think they sound just fine.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

BTW Groove Tubes are just rebranded tubes from other companies. They cost more because they are guaranteed to (in general) last longer than other modern tubes.

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

BTW Groove Tubes are just rebranded tubes from other companies. They cost more because they are guaranteed to (in general) last longer than other modern tubes.

ya i was gonna say, I think I payed $16 for each tube

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Went out and bought some new pre amp tubes for my 800 (review)

groove tubes supposedly grades them and only sells the ones meeting some specific criteria. Some people find it's worth it, some people don't believe they're doing anything special. I'm not sure who to believe and I've never bought a GT labeled tube.

I'm on the NOS or ANOS thing, and these japanese tubes I keep getting seem to give me what I want. The only ANOS tube I didn't like so far was a GE that was just really thin and bright.