trinityamps.com

He just means he uses both JJ and Tung-Sol tubes in the preamp. You got three preamp tubes in thr 18W, you don't have to use just one brand/manufacturer.

JJ output tubes. Matching is over-rated over-hyped for what were doing with this lo-fi amplification...

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http://pdfelectronics.com

And it also gives you more sterile tones.

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

Basically say matching isn't needed, but many will argue forever about it.
I am not sure about the sterile description, but matched tubes of any type are not a high priority.
It seems others here believe the same

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Fantasy Noise is what my shop of dreams is called and was the only way to beat my addiction, like many here I suffer from G.A.S.


Tele's make the best noise

There are a bunch of things that are true in the world of hi-fi, bit not necessarily with guitar amps. These include:

- The amplifier should not colour the tone of the signal
- The amplifier must also not distort the signal
- Power tubes must be matched and PI tubes must be balanced
- Crossover distortion is always a bad thing
- Class AB amplifiers must always be push-pull
- Frequency response should be at least 20Hz to 20kHz
...etc....

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

There is another part to it as well. And that is,"What parameter of the tube is matched?". I personally don't believe tubes stay matched for very long and I don't believe NOS are better than New stock.
Maybe some are better quality, some sure are not. Your ears will tell you what you like. Good is not always old or expensive.
Some NOS are more desired. An example would be a 5Y3 rectifier. Nos is normally lower volt o/p and that will affect sound/tone.
Do like most of us, buy then try, you will eventually develope your own bias on tubes.

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Fantasy Noise is what my shop of dreams is called and was the only way to beat my addiction, like many here I suffer from G.A.S.


Tele's make the best noise

Thank you all for the various explanations and clarifications. Much appreciated.

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Go Buckeyes!

For what it's worth, I finally ordered tubes for my v6. Based on a lot of input from here, plus the lure of the 10% off Tung-Sol sale at Tube Depot, here's what I ordered.

Mullard 12AX7 for v1 - Hear lots of good things about these, plus I like the one in my old Super Champ. Seems a good tube for a Brit style amp.

Tung-Sol 12AX7 for v2 - Based on some input from Coco in another thread (quoted above). Sale is nice too!

JJ 12AX7 for V3 - Don't care too much about the PI, so the JJ seems reasonable. Cheaper than a T-S or Mullard. Plus, Coco uses JJ or T-S in the i/p anyway.

JJ EL84 for v4 and v5 - I've liked JJs before. Plus, two out of three recommended them in this very thread. There was an E-H recommendation, but they are said to be bright. I don't need any extra brightness out of an EL84.

JJ EZ81/6CA4 for v6 - It's a rectifier. Plus, Coco uses them in Trinity amps. So why not?

Tung-Spol 6V6 for v7 and v8 - These seem to be the ones everyone recommends. I've used them in my Super Champ too - plus the sale!

Thanks to everyone that chimed in. I've been very pokey beginning this build. Drooled over all the parts and perused the instrucions the other day. Meant to do way more over vacation, but there was always other family/kids/puppies type junk to do. Should get a nice start over the next few days before work on Monday. Of course, I took Tuesday off to watch the Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl. May get some amp time that morning too!

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Be aware that there have been a number of quality/reliability issues reported with JJ EZ81s during the past year. I just hope they've managed to fix them. I assume Tube Depot will take back tubes that go faulty within a short period of time.

BTW did I ever share the mod to help equalise the drive level between the EL84s and 6V6s, to compensate for their difference in gain?

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Great tones come in small glass jars!

I guess we've been lucky. I havent had any issues with the JJ EZ81 to date.

I think you did post that somewhere. If you do it again, here, I'll add it to the tweaks. Lawrence & I did try various tail resistors (down to 50% of the EL84 I think) on the PI but we didn't think it made that much noticeable difference. I'm willing to give it another go on mine, here some time.

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

FWIW, i opted for Tung-Sols for the preamp and PI. For power I went with Mullards for the EL84s and JJs for the 6V6s. I used an EH for the rectifier. Unfortunately I can't remember what my reasoning was for these choices, but the amp sounds great to me. I'm coming to the conclusion that I can't hear the differences that others do. As long as they aren't microphonic, are durable, and operate at the proper voltages, I'm usually happy.

On the other hand, I could detect some minor differences in the preamp tube I tried in a single ended, 2 tube amp I built some years ago (AX84-P1). I rebuilt it into a high octane this year and it absolutely rocks now ....

Happy New Year,
Lee

Bummer. Wish I saw that while this thread was running BEFORE I ordered tubes. Hopefully, I don't get a dud.



I think you did in another thread, but I can't remember which one.

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That's certainly encouraging. Other than some recommendations for Mullards, the consensus from all the responses I've seen on this board was to use JJ in the EL84 power section. Seemed like a no-brainer to order them.




Looking forward to this!

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Go Buckeyes!