Bought Hammond vintage 12AX7A's and 12AT7's from Brent Jesse for my Jolida 302a, noticeable improvement, but biggest change was Sophia Electric EL-34's, much lower noise floor, excellent bass and voluminous soundstage, well worth the price. Two have failed since purchased 1 1/2 yrs ago, but I often run the unit 6-8 hours per day. I will replace the small signal tubes with Sophia Electric as well in the future. Highly recommended!
Tubes most likely to improve SQ?
I have a newly purchased integrated tube amplifier. The tubes consist of 2 x 12AU7, 2 x 12AX7, and 4 x EL34. All of the stock tubes are chinese tubes labelled by the amp manufacturer.. They may not be, but look very much like Psvane 12AU7-T without the gold pins.
I have owned many excellent SS amps (Krell KSA-100, Parasound A23, Parasound A21, Classe AMP2 and a few others.). I bought this amp on a gamble and am surprised how amazingly good it sounds into my upgraded Tekton Electrons. I have tried GE 5 Star 5814 in the place of the 12AU7 and was very impressed. Now I am considering a bit more tube rolling.
Am I likely to get much change/improvement from changing the 12AX7 or the EL34?
I have owned many excellent SS amps (Krell KSA-100, Parasound A23, Parasound A21, Classe AMP2 and a few others.). I bought this amp on a gamble and am surprised how amazingly good it sounds into my upgraded Tekton Electrons. I have tried GE 5 Star 5814 in the place of the 12AU7 and was very impressed. Now I am considering a bit more tube rolling.
Am I likely to get much change/improvement from changing the 12AX7 or the EL34?