NOS Tubes

[KillTone]

Has anyone tried them in their MTS amp? They are supposed to be far superior to modern production tubes. I have a few (RCA, Amperex and Seimens) that I tried in my Mesa Mark IV and in my RM100.

They made a HUGE difference in the Mesa, but very little difference in the RM100. I am curious if anyone else has tried them and what the outcome was.

 

[laiben]

I would like to try the NOS tubes but how can I know I am not buying the fake/remark tubes?

 

[KillTone]

There probably is no way to know for sure, but if you read up on them and look at enough pictures there are pretty easy ways to tell the old ones from anything new.

Also, I got to know the guy who owns the local high end stereo shop who is crazy about tube home audio gear. He's cool enough to help me verify based on his years of experience.

There is a poster on the Boogie Board named MavGuy who seems to be quite a tube expert. Check out the "tube" string on the Boogie Board, probably a lot of helpful info there.

 

[khingpynn]

In the first position I use a Tung Sol 12AX7 from the 60's... it seems to be the best place to put a great tube like that... I also use a really quiet tube wether NOS or not in the phase inverter.
As for power amp tubes... I like the JJ more than anything else I own... for the Lynch Box that is.

In general NOS tubes sound better but new tubes are so close and the cost is so much more.... reasonalble... the one thing about NOS tubes is they are built way better and last much longer.

I would not retube 4x EL34 Mullards for a cost of $400 - $800 when i can use the JJ for about $100 and still get killer tone.

Groove tubes also has the EL 34M which IMHO is an incredible tube for the $$$ wether you like Groove Tubes or not these tubes are excellent.