Where do you buy preamp tubes from (US)?

[MarshallDog]

Go buy yourself all the 12 ax7s I mentioned above and get back to me. I've owned them all.

Well not gonna argue with you. I chose to believe what one of the biggest and professional tube stores around told me not some Forum “stuff”. I have a very large selection myself almost too many!

 

[What?]

Does anyone use tubesandmore.com, AKA Antique Electronic Supply? (USA)

They have been around for a long time and are a reputable shop. I recently bought some current production 12ax7's from them which seem ok.

 

[CROWEMAG]

Does anyone use tubesandmore.com, AKA Antique Electronic Supply? (USA)

Great online option!

I have never gotten tubes from them but lots and lots of electronic parts. They are good people.

 

[TXOldRedRocker]

Good to hear. I have ordered from them once. I spoke with them on the phone first, and was extremely happy with the service, and the products. I have tubes I bought from them in amps now. As long as we were discussing suppliers, I was curious about other people's experiences.
Thanks.

They have been around for a long time and are a reputable shop. I recently bought some current production 12ax7's from them which seem ok.

Great online option!

I have never gotten tubes from them but lots and lots of electronic parts. They are good people.

 

[jeffb]

Well not gonna argue with you. I chose to believe what one of the biggest and professional tube stores around told me not some Forum “stuff”. I have a very large selection myself almost too many!

Support whom you like! That's awesome. But this is not "forum chatter" I bought all 4 and tested them. Though not all at the same time.

They are visually about as identical as it gets- halo getter, pins, mica, etc. You can even look online at detailed pics and see that much. Perhaps deconstructed there may be some sort of difference, but with no labels, they would look identical (all 4 are a short plate mullard copy). They all are the sme tube with different sorting/grading

The TAD gets more burn in love once it gets back to them, and high gain
The Golden Lion has balanced triodes for PI use, and high gain
The Preferred Series gets more love up in Canada too with sorting and burn in, and high gain

The Ruby doesn't get any extra burn in, but they do have two versions, 12ax7A7HG is the "Standard tube" and the 12AX7AHG+ gets some extra love for noise and high gain.

At the time I bought the Ruby, TAD, and Preferred Series. The Ruby was cheaper than the PS by about 7 or 8 bucks, and the TAD was almost twice as much as the Ruby. I really WANTED the more expensive ones to sound better, but sonically they are 99% there.

The TAD and PS went into some amps I sold and I kept the Ruby. Then I bought a Golden Lion about a year or so later. It sounded "slightly" different, but I couldn't tell if that was because I knew it was a balanced tube, or because the Ruby had a bunch of hours on it. But It was still obviously the same tube.

Nowadays the Rubys are not as cheap due to the Tarriffs situation, and the PS haven't gone up because they are in Canada, so the price gap has closed.

Groove Tubes does the same thing with the Shugang/Sino Bs. They do extra testing, sorting, matching and then pop their label on it and call it the 12ax7-C. Ruby does the same thing and calls them the 12ax7A5HG for the standard sorting, and 12ax7A5HG+ for least noise/microphonics and highest gain (and they do sound better and are quieter than run of the mill Sino/Shugang B's- I own some of these too)

Business is business, and of course Tube Store, Ruby, TAD or New Sensor is going to tell you how much better the tube with their label on it is than the competition. Some places definitely do special runs with SINO/SHUGANG but the tubes are extremely expensive, often as much as NOS, because it costs so much to stop production and re-tool everything for a small or limited run (this goes for any manuacturing business, really)

 

[What?]

Support whom you like! That's awesome. But this is not "forum chatter" I bought all 4 and tested them. Though not all at the same time.

They are visually about as identical as it gets- halo getter, pins, mica, etc. You can even look online at detailed pics and see that much. Perhaps deconstructed there may be some sort of difference, but with no labels, they would look identical (all 4 are a short plate mullard copy). They all are the sme tube with different sorting/grading

The TAD gets more burn in love once it gets back to them, and high gain
The Golden Lion has balanced triodes for PI use, and high gain
The Preferred Series gets more love up in Canada too with sorting and burn in, and high gain

The Ruby doesn't get any extra burn in, but they do have two versions, 12ax7A7HG is the "Standard tube" and the 12AX7AHG+ gets some extra love for noise and high gain.

At the time I bought the Ruby, TAD, and Preferred Series. The Ruby was cheaper than the PS by about 7 or 8 bucks, and the TAD was almost twice as much as the Ruby. I really WANTED the more expensive ones to sound better, but sonically they are 99% there.

The TAD and PS went into some amps I sold and I kept the Ruby. Then I bought a Golden Lion about a year or so later. It sounded "slightly" different, but I couldn't tell if that was because I knew it was a balanced tube, or because the Ruby had a bunch of hours on it. But It was still obviously the same tube.

Nowadays the Rubys are not as cheap due to the Tarriffs situation, and the PS haven't gone up because they are in Canada, so the price gap has closed.

Groove Tubes does the same thing with the Shugang/Sino Bs. They do extra testing, sorting, matching and then pop their label on it and call it the 12ax7-C. Ruby does the same thing and calls them the 12ax7A5HG for the standard sorting, and 12ax7A5HG+ for least noise/microphonics and highest gain (and they do sound better and are quieter than run of the mill Sino/Shugang B's- I own some of these too)

Business is business, and of course Tube Store, Ruby, TAD or New Sensor is going to tell you how much better the tube with their label on it is than the competition. Some places definitely do special runs with SINO/SHUGANG but the tubes are extremely expensive, often as much as NOS, because it costs so much to stop production and re-tool everything for a small or limited run (this goes for any manuacturing business, really)

It seems that some brands would want us to think that what they are offering is something very different than other brands, as in different construction and characteristics / voicing, rather than really being the same tube that has been through some extra screening for gain, noise, and microphonics. That isn't to say that there isn't value in getting a little higher quality if you want to pay more for the extra screening. But that's a very different thing than a differently constructed and voiced tube. Appreciate you sharing your experience. There are too many post out there being the equivalent of: I like chocolate ice cream. So it's nice to read posts once in a while that say something more.

 

[MarshallDog]

It seems that some brands would want us to think that what they are offering is something very different than other brands, as in different construction and characteristics / voicing, rather than really being the same tube that has been through some extra screening for gain, noise, and microphonics. That isn't to say that there isn't value in getting a little higher quality if you want to pay more for the extra screening. But that's a very different thing than a differently constructed and voiced tube. Appreciate you sharing your experience. There are too many post out there being the equivalent of: I like chocolate ice cream. So it's nice to read posts once in a while that say something more.

And the Preferred Series 12ax7's do have a sound thats different and the Tube Store is so confident in their build quality they have a 6 month warranty, unlike any others out there.

 

[jeffb]

It seems that some brands would want us to think that what they are offering is something very different than other brands, as in different construction and characteristics / voicing, rather than really being the same tube that has been through some extra screening for gain, noise, and microphonics. That isn't to say that there isn't value in getting a little higher quality if you want to pay more for the extra screening. But that's a very different thing than a differently constructed and voiced tube. Appreciate you sharing your experience. There are too many post out there being the equivalent of: I like chocolate ice cream. So it's nice to read posts once in a while that say something more.

Well certainly there are tubes that are exclusive designs. New Sensor builds all it's own stuff (Tung Sol, Mullard, Sovtek, EHX, GL, etc) in their own plant except for that one MIC 12ax7. But when you start dealing with the Tube Distributors- Ruby, GT, TTS, etc- that's where you start seeing some overlap because they are buying from the same manufacturers- JJ, New Sensor and Sino/Shugang.

 

[jeffb]

And the Preferred Series 12ax7's do have a sound thats different and the Tube Store is so confident in their build quality they have a 6 month warranty, unlike any others out there.

Ruby tubes, whether Sino/Shugang or JJ, or Sovtek also have a 6 month warranty.

 

[MarshallDog]

Ruby tubes, whether Sino/Shugang or JJ, or Sovtek also have a 6 month warranty.

Well, The Tube Store Specifically states a 6 month warranty on their Perferred Sieries but they dont state this with JJ's, Shugang or Sovteks that I could see and of course they dont carry Rubys because they are just relabeled XXX mfgs tubes.

 

[jeffb]

Well, The Tube Store Specifically states a 6 month warranty on their Perferred Sieries but they dont state this with JJ's, Shugang or Sovteks that I could see and of course they dont carry Rubys because they are just relabeled XXX mfgs tubes.

I was just pointing out that The Tube Store is not the only distributor who has a 6 month warranty on the tubes they sell, as you stated. In the case we have been discussing , you can buy the same 12ax7 tube from Ruby (12ax7A7HG+) as the Preferred Series 12ax7 and also get a 6 month warranty from Ruby.

Or a Ruby selected Sino Shugang EL34B STR.

or a Ruby selected JJ ECC83S (12ax7A7CZ)

etc.

 

[treblebooster]

If it’s a PCB/diode amp it should be whoever’s cheapest. Spend money on tubes for turret board/4-hole etc....

 

[Robert Hughes]

I started buying from these guys: https://reverb.com/shop/audio-tubes-direct. They ship really quickly, tubes are always well packed, and they offer something I don't see many other places call out; the need for a balanced triode in the inverter position. It makes perfect sense though. You're splitting the signal to go between the push and pull sides of the power amp, so of course you'd want the both halves of the inverter outputting the same signal level.

 

[Robert Hughes]

If it’s a PCB/diode amp it should be whoever’s cheapest. Spend money on tubes for turret board/4-hole etc....

It doesn't matter whether it's a PCB or hand wired construction amp; tubes always make a major difference in the tone of the amp.

 

[Puffer Fish]

If you are seeking JJ tubes from a USA vendor, do yourself a favor and check out Eurotubes, a vendor out of Washington state. I have been buying from them for many years---tubes for Marshall amps, for microphone preamplifiers and more, and Eurotubes has been great to work with. They do indeed sort and grade tubes.

Even if you do not think you have an interest in JJ tubes, I implore you to check out Eurotubes and review their extensive tube descriptions and the long list of the variety of tubes produced by JJ. Pretty cool stuff.

 

[Rooster-p]

Support whom you like! That's awesome. But this is not "forum chatter" I bought all 4 and tested them. Though not all at the same time.

They are visually about as identical as it gets- halo getter, pins, mica, etc. You can even look online at detailed pics and see that much. Perhaps deconstructed there may be some sort of difference, but with no labels, they would look identical (all 4 are a short plate mullard copy). They all are the sme tube with different sorting/grading

The TAD gets more burn in love once it gets back to them, and high gain
The Golden Lion has balanced triodes for PI use, and high gain
The Preferred Series gets more love up in Canada too with sorting and burn in, and high gain

The Ruby doesn't get any extra burn in, but they do have two versions, 12ax7A7HG is the "Standard tube" and the 12AX7AHG+ gets some extra love for noise and high gain.

At the time I bought the Ruby, TAD, and Preferred Series. The Ruby was cheaper than the PS by about 7 or 8 bucks, and the TAD was almost twice as much as the Ruby. I really WANTED the more expensive ones to sound better, but sonically they are 99% there.

The TAD and PS went into some amps I sold and I kept the Ruby. Then I bought a Golden Lion about a year or so later. It sounded "slightly" different, but I couldn't tell if that was because I knew it was a balanced tube, or because the Ruby had a bunch of hours on it. But It was still obviously the same tube.

Nowadays the Rubys are not as cheap due to the Tarriffs situation, and the PS haven't gone up because they are in Canada, so the price gap has closed.

Groove Tubes does the same thing with the Shugang/Sino Bs. They do extra testing, sorting, matching and then pop their label on it and call it the 12ax7-C. Ruby does the same thing and calls them the 12ax7A5HG for the standard sorting, and 12ax7A5HG+ for least noise/microphonics and highest gain (and they do sound better and are quieter than run of the mill Sino/Shugang B's- I own some of these too)

Business is business, and of course Tube Store, Ruby, TAD or New Sensor is going to tell you how much better the tube with their label on it is than the competition. Some places definitely do special runs with SINO/SHUGANG but the tubes are extremely expensive, often as much as NOS, because it costs so much to stop production and re-tool everything for a small or limited run (this goes for any manuacturing business, really)

All the tubes may look the same but the material they're made of is less or more inferior and I wouldn't buy anything from China regardless as it's all junk. I'm not a big JJ fan but they are just about the only company that designs and manufactures their own tubes now a day's, the rest are Chinese crap relabeled or Russian which I would take all day over Chinese as they use higher quality metals. The only other alternative is n.o.s. and just like everything else, you get what you pay for. I have found Russian genelex golden lion to be the best quality. They all come out of the same factory, either the Chinese factories or the Russian factories unless you're buying JJ'S and like I said, they design and manufacture their own in their own factory in Slovakia and some are good and some not so. Chinese sucks from my 50 years of personal experiences. To each his own though, good luck with that.

 

[Rooster-p]

Before anyone goes apeshiot, yeah, China design and manufacture their own tubes in their own factories but like I said, inferior materials. New sensor are all the same inherited Russian designs built in Russian factories, in my opinion, better quality materials but all the same tubes, more or less. JJ'S are designed and manufactured in Slovakia in their own factory, no relabeling. N.O.S. you get what you pay for. Your choice. J.S.

 

[Rooster-p]

Oh, I forgot to mention, new sensor is American owned by Mike Matthews if that makes a difference. Still manufactured in Russia.

 

[rsjd41]

As long as y'all are talking tubes, where do you like to obtain power tubes, ie, EL34, 6V6, etc?

I assume most of the same places, but I'm curious to see if any others pop up......

 

[jeffb]

All the tubes may look the same but the material they're made of is less or more inferior and I wouldn't buy anything from China regardless as it's all junk. I'm not a big JJ fan but they are just about the only company that designs and manufactures their own tubes now a day's, the rest are Chinese crap relabeled or Russian which I would take all day over Chinese as they use higher quality metals. The only other alternative is n.o.s. and just like everything else, you get what you pay for. I have found Russian genelex golden lion to be the best quality. They all come out of the same factory, either the Chinese factories or the Russian factories unless you're buying JJ'S and like I said, they design and manufacture their own in their own factory in Slovakia and some are good and some not so. Chinese sucks from my 50 years of personal experiences. To each his own though, good luck with that.

I never said anything about the quality of the MIC tubes- so unsure why you felt the need to quote me about this?