You probably won’t agree with both statements:
If you can’t hear a difference at your listening position, then there is no difference.
What you pay attention to, expands.
Tube Question - Significance of Tube Noise at Listening Position
Hello all. I need some advice on tubes. I use a BHK preamp that has a tube input stage (12AU7). I recently replaced the PSvane tubes that came with it with some GoldLion gold pins. The sound is much better, more holographic, warmer. However, after 6 months, I started to get tube noise with my ear near the speaker. I put back in the PSvane tubes and the noise was reduced in half so it is the tubes, but with the old tubes, the sound quality of course dropped.
I am thinking about buying some new tubes, either Ray Select tubes, which are considered to be very low noise, or NOS Brimars.
My question is: does the tube noise matter at the listening position if it can't be heard where I sit? Although I don't think I can hear the noise at my listening position, I am still bothered by it because, well, its there. We work so hard to get black backgrounds and I would never use a cable, power cord, streamer or conditioner, that adds hiss. We would never accept that, so even if I don't hear it at the listening position, I just feel like it must have some detrimental effect and why should we accept that from a tube if I won't accept it from any other component?
I am looking for advice on this topic and if I should get the Ray Select tubes to hopefully remove the noise, or go with the good sounding GoldLions even though I know they are adding noise/hiss/garbage to the sound near the speaker.
Finally, anyone have any comments on the Ray Select 12AU7. I don't want bright or hard, and the competition is the GoldLion gold pins.
Thanks everyone.
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- 27 posts total
When you first received your BHK preamp, did the tube make this kind of "noise"? If you believe and can prove both of your existing 12au7 tube(s) are making the noise, why would you keep either or both around? What's holding you back from trying a well-tested tube in your BHK preamp? Its kinda like saying I have a flattening tire on my car, its leaking air, and every time I fill it back up with air, eventually it goes flat again. What will I do... You might have just gotten your hands on some lower quality tubes, and they did not last. If you buy well tested 12au7s from a reputable dealer, reseller, it can help.
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Being able to hear... or noise being at the edge of your perception is probably interfering with how your system sounds. Having a background hiss when you put your ear up to the tweeter is normal... but if you can hear it half way to your sitting position then it it too loud. You probably just got a noisy tube. Discuss with Ray. It is likely to be one tube... seldom will multiple tubes develop noise. |
Yes, as ghdprentice said, it does matter. With tube noise you don’t hear many details in recordings, you may not even know they could be there until you upgrade to higher resolution very low noise tubes. I only tried a few vintage tubes. I tried 12AX7 Brimar military from 1970s, I think. 12AU7 Brimar may or may not sound similar, probably depending on when it was made. Usually, but not always, the older the better. I didn’t like those Brimar but they were very quiet and clear, problem was recessed midrange. I use Sylvania long black plates 12AU7 from 1950s in driver stage of power amplifier, which of course is not the same as in line amplifier where quiet tubes are even more important. So I can’t say how they would perform in your preamp. The same with RCA black plates from 1950s, very quiet in my VAC integrated. I think, you could talk to Brent Jesse, Audiotubes, perhaps he has exactly what you are looking for. Maybe Mullard long plates from 1950s or Amperex or GE military. He is a fan of Telefunken tubes, generally speaking, so maybe them too. |
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