KeithL
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Posts: 10,274
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Post by KeithL on May 19, 2021 8:57:28 GMT -5
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Post by 405x5 on May 19, 2021 9:04:45 GMT -5
I replaced the 12AX7’s a few times in the old days in my old Fisher/ Stromberg Carlson rig. Back then, they were just part numbers and not any cushy discussion about potential nuances from them. Bill |
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Post by AudioHTIT on May 19, 2021 10:25:55 GMT -5
Nice find, a blip in history … I’m about to re-tube my Bandmaster Reverb, which has different requirements than my VTLs. I like the Ad in issue 14 for SED, with a 🙂 “Glowing Review” from a guitarist who mentions the tube’s sound rather than its neutrality. Don’t think I’m going to spring for NOS though. |
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Post by audiobill on May 19, 2021 11:27:40 GMT -5
Thanks, Keith, good to see you on the right track!
Bill
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KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 10,274
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Post by KeithL on May 19, 2021 11:47:06 GMT -5
Exactly...
You bought them by number... And the store usually gave you whatever brand they happened to have in stock at the time...
They were assumed to be pretty much the same (which was the whole point of standard part numbers)... You bought "a dozen eggs, some #2 pencils, some 60 watt cool white light bulbs, and some 12AX7's".
And for most people "matching tubes" meant buying ones with the same logo on the front... (But, back then, a normal 12AX7 cost about $2, and a "premium brand" might cost an extra buck.)
It's also worth noting that the biggest change has been one of attitude. To be quite blunt I don't even remember wondering whether a different brand of tube would sound different. Other than being especially noisy or sensitive to microphonics it never even occurred to me to compare different brands. They either worked.... or there was a problem (like obvious noise or distortion). And there were other differences between amplifiers that vastly overshadowed any differences between tubes anyway.
Those magazines offer an interesting perspective of the sports of things that "connoisseurs" paid attention to. (Note that those magazines date to the 1990's - when tubes were already "old collectible technology".)
I replaced the 12AX7’s a few times in the old days in my old Fisher/ Stromberg Carlson rig. Back then, they were just part numbers and not any cushy discussion about potential nuances from them. Bill |
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