12au7 tube?

@twoleftears Question: has anyone tried the Apos Ray 12AU7, which seems to be the new kid on the block making a few waves.

Are you aware of who the OEM is for Ray tubes btw?

Not to blow their cover but it’s fairly easy to search and find on the internet. Think large manufacturer who batches their top % of tested tubes and puts a different label on it.. Perhaps the helpful part is they are supposed to be top matched triodes tested [and as good as a guarantee that Ray gives them] whatever that is at the time the warranty is needed fwiw.

Yep. Black plates, not black tops! As opposed to clear tops, and thanks for your patience.

I’ve got to try some more pairs later today. Cheers!

Are you aware of who the OEM is for Ray tubes btw?

Not to blow their cover but it’s fairly easy to search and find on the internet. Think large manufacturer who batches their top % of tested tubes and puts a different label on it.. Perhaps the helpful part is they are supposed to be top matched triodes tested [and as good as a guarantee that Ray gives them] whatever that is at the time the warranty is needed fwiw.

@decooney Yep. There is nothing new under the sun here, and I have to roll my eyes when somebody uses marketing / branding to act like a new tube manufacturer. At least be more up-front: "here is who makes our tubes, and here is what we do to (maybe) make them better than the standard production"

They hide this in the FAQ on their site:

We want to give you the vacuum tubes you need. To achieve that, we work with multiple contract manufacturers across Asia and Eastern Europe. Because no manufacturer covers the entire range, each manufacturer specializes in different types of tubes. No matter where the tubes are made, each one goes through the same strict quality control process.

You have to go to Support, then hit FAQ.

Also this bit of dubious ’technology’:

Magic Coating is a monocrystalline carbon coating that improves sound quality. It cools the tubes, blocks unwanted noise, and speeds up electron transmission for a cleaner sound.

How it can do that when it’s coating the glass is beyond me.

Gotta admit, they have a good marketing department.

They also explain why their tubes are better than all NOS tubes which to me is a blanket statement of nonsense.

Sophia Electric 12au7

I have been using this company's EL34's in my Primaluna EVO 400's and like them very much. Has anyone here ever tried their 12au7's?