Tube Sound Comparison - JJ VS. NEW SENSOR (Sovtek,Tung-sol,EXH )

[@matthewf1979]

I appreciate these kinds of videos. It really shows how little difference there is in recorded sound tubes make. Not saying that there's no difference. I prefer old US/Euro made tubes because they last for freaking ever.

[@ecc8344]

I also prefer vintage tubes not only because of longjevity but also great tone :)

[@luckystiff9360]

The "S" in the Sovtek 12AX7LPS stands for spiral. Spiral filament for lower noise.

[@ecc8344]

Thanks for the info :) 👍

[@MrJLobster]

Thanks man! Both nice combined sets. I ´d prefer the JJ. Their slight restriction in the bass /lows allows me to bring up the preamp and tone control a little more in a guitar amp without getting in the way. Remindes me more to my old stash of Mullards and the very first Ei Yugoslavia triodes. The russian set seems slightly nasal and slightly pronounces the higher bass frequency. This may work fine in an audio context or an audio amp in general. I would not prefer them with clean guitar sounds in guitar amps. Too nasal for me. But a distorted humbucker guitar signal may benefit form the characteristics of the russian set.

[@milkman100001]

tung-sol for me. great vid.thanks

[@TheJurgisRud]

I can definitely hear the difference but it's still hard to choose. After listening a few times, I would take the New Sensor tubes for the clarity and definition. The JJ's do sound great though.

[@bakters]

" *I can definitely hear the difference* " The first set was cleaner, that's all I hear. In order to compare tubes you need to measure and set the gain for the same amount of distortion, then equalize the volumes. Then hardly anybody is able to tell the difference. They all sound pretty much the same.

[@Jeffy2n]

Too my ears, the JJ's both clean and distorted were more even in the high/mid/low and clearer. The sovtechs were more mid focused to the point of overpowering, drowning the highs and low to the point of muffling it while being a solo track, this was not what I would want, in the mix, this did set the guitar more out front defining it in the mix. I would (And do use) JJ tubes, I feel I can get the tone a bit more by raising the mids a bit, and I can still have the top & low ends there.

[@cdemike7517]

Really cool video. I liked the JJs more on the guitar-only tracks, but the New Sensor sounded much clearer in a mix to my ears. I'm currently deciding whether to splurge on some new preamp tubes for a Hiwatt and Marshall which have JJs and EH tubes, so this was really helpful. I know you mentioned your take in another video on the different New Sensor tubes, but I've been having a difficult time finding a direct comparison between the Sovtek LPS, the Mullard RI, and the Gold Lion gold pin (i.e., the 3 long-plate ECC83s from New Sensor). Could be a cool comparison!

[@StormtrooperCylon]

You forgot the PS Vane factory in China

[@sevenhxrecords677]

Is the jj sounds good in tube mic?

[@ecc8344]

Im not sure about that, probably vintage tube would work better :)

[@songshineoriginalmusic]

I just bought a tube tester and put it to work. I tested three JJ tubes that had little use and all were bad, even a new EL34 that was a part of a matched quad - did not even register on the meter. A 6V6S from JJ that I bought for a guitar amp I built -bad. And an ECC81. I tested 2 Tung-Sol 12AX7 and they were brand new - both bad. I have a bunch of vintage tubes I tested from GE, RCA, Sylvania, Raytheon, Amperex and out of 50 tubes, 4 were bad. They just do not make tubes like they used to and one has to be careful.

[@ecc8344]

Yes of course! Im a vintage tube lover myself for all those reasons you mentioned beside superior sonics. :) this video is just a demo of what is avaible in current market and what to choose from. Im always using vintage stuff :)

[@ryanjozz]

So what's the best tube sir?

[@ohyesitsme]

JJ's all the way

[@danieltambasco528]

I wonder if one could re-think the differences of tube tone, like if the JJs seem to have higher gain than the russian tubes in the lower registers - why not re-voice the circuit by changing the bias resistors and cathode bypass capacitors? Look at Marshall plexi circuits, you have the same v1 tube providing the first gain stage in both high treble and the normal channel - v1a vs v1b. But both are biased differently and have different cathode bypass capacitors - both channels have very different eq. Why not take an amplifier and re-voice it to give the same results with JJ tubes? Just start playing around with cathode bypass caps and coupling capacitors to neutralize the bass frequencies of JJs?

[@ecc8344]

Because why would you recap the amp to adjust to JJ? :)

[@danieltambasco528]

@@ecc8344 it could make sense, right? JJ's are the most abundant available modern made tubes. Capacitors and resistors are cheap - just re-voice an amplifier to give original tones using modern made tubes. Maybe it would fail to do so? I am told not every facet of tone/sound is visible on an oscilloscope - although, nobody is ever capable of informing me what is it about the electrical signal that is invisible to oscilloscope waveform analysis?

[@yaniv-nos-tubes]

with today's prices nos is much more attractive, i use russians if i have to use modern tubes. nothing beats old mullard i63 i61 GE 12ax7wa and brimar cv4004 for me.

[@ecc8344]

For sure! Just wanted to do a little comparison video to those who like to use modern tubes :)

[@paulbangash4317]

Agreed. I have been using some ( new) brimar valves really good to my ears ✨

[@jerrymcgeorge4117]

While I prefer the Tungsols, I won’t buy any Russian-made products. Sorry.

[@JamesMcCutcheon]

I am fortunate I began collecting USA-made NOS tubes 30 years ago and I have some old RCA tubes that are still operating in my 1960s vintage tube amplifiers. I tried some newly manufactured tubes and they are OKAY if they come from highly tested tubes for noise etc. Most Chinese tubes have a short life and have very little sound character.