Genuine Telefunken?

Yes, it is the diamond mark that prooves they are genuine. I have never seen it on any other tube. Labeling is delicate and can rub off with very little handling. The smoothe and ribbed do not sound the same. Both are great, but it is a matter of personal preference. I feel the ribbed plates have a slightly sharper,tighter, more precise sound. Sort of like a robust version of Amperex's Bugle Boys which is another great 12AX7 to consider. Once I had a smoothe and a ribbed plate in opposite channels of a phono preamp and the sound was amazing despite being a no-no of unmatched tubes.

Be very careful!!.....My friend spent five hundred dollars(for three tubes),for his phono section.They sounded drab,thin and basically horrible.

As it turns out,they were "fakes".

He has since replaced them with superb Siemens CCa's,but he got excellent results with the Mullards,Amperex,and very fine results with the Ediswan 6922 tubes.

I've had all of the above(for phono section)except the TELE(fortunately).

I am currently thinking about the Pinched Waiste Amperex 6922's,which might be available to me(very good ones)....

Not to hijack the thread,but(aside from what I've read,in Joe's Tube Lore)does anyone have experience,or a good opinion on the PW's?

Best to all

To be clear to the novice , the Diamond is located in the middle of the Pins and part of the glass itself .

After reading as much as possible on the net about " NOS " tubes, have narrowed it down to Telefunken 12AX7 and 12AU7 for my Jadis DPL preamp

This could be a disappointment if you do not audition other tubes. There's no way to know how the Tele might work with the Jadis unless you listen to its performance to others.

The Tele 12ax7 was outstanding in the Aesthetix Io phono stage but it just never cut it for me in the CAT and Manley products I owned; the result was rather dull. The Sylvania 5751 was a big improvement to the Tele 12ax7 in the CAT product. As for the Tele 12au7, it compared poorly to those from Mullard in the CAT. But there are so many other 12au7 tube types out there that to focus solely on the Tele could limit your preamp's performance.

I enjoyed the Tele 6DJ8/6922 in the Aesthetix and CAT products, but after playing with Amperex tubes the last year or so, particularly the 6922 and 12au7 families, I am less and less impressed with the Tele tubes. They are good but way overrated after hearing the Amperex.

Sirspeedy - YES. The Amperex 6922 PQ PW's. This is my reference 6922 tube. It's a killer in the CAT and excellent in the Aria preamp. But it was soon displaced in the Aria by its cousin, the Amperex 7062 PQ PW. The 7062 is a 12v based tube so it is not directly replaceable from the 6922 ...... except in the Aria with a flip of an internal switch. 8-) The 6922 PW is very smooth with great dimensionality. But the 7062 PW beats the 6922 PW at its own game and quite handily...and with greater dynamic contrasts. The Amperex tubes are special.

It is always possible to purchase an authentic Telefunken tube that is unfortunately past its prime and/or microphonic so making sure the tube has the diamond on the bottom guarantees you nothing sonically. Do yourself a real favor and deal with a quality tube dealer. Call Andy at Vintage Tube Services: 616-454-3467