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Preamp tubes - 12ax7/12au7/12at7 VS

Submitted by anonymous on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 06:35

6SN7 & 12SN7. any of you guys who build or tinker have any opinions?

I know the au,at & 6sn7 are lower gain than their counterparts.

Any thoughts on the way they sound?

Thanks

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Comments

jonyoung

I haven't messed with the SN7 series, I do run a few pres (identical models) with 12DF7's, 12AT7's and 12AX7's. The DF's and AT's are lower gain, lower noise, almost impossible to clip on vocals and acoustic tracks. When I first loaded them, I did an A/B/C between all 3 with a Guild D25M acoustic. The AX's were bright and sparkly, lots of air. The AT's were very midrangey, in yer face up close sound (almost like heavy compression). The DF's are dark and smooth, and I think I got the last pair on earth 8)

Wed, 08/23/2006 - 06:59 Permalink
anonymous

jonyoung wrote: I haven't messed with the SN7 series, I do run a few pres (identical models) with 12DF7's, 12AT7's and 12AX7's. The DF's and AT's are lower gain, lower noise, almost impossible to clip on vocals and acoustic tracks. When I first loaded them, I did an A/B/C between all 3 with a Guild D25M acoustic. The AX's were bright and sparkly, lots of air. The AT's were very midrangey, in yer face up close sound (almost like heavy compression). The DF's are dark and smooth, and I think I got the last pair on earth 8)

Ok, thanks jony. I was hearing about about the 12**7's sometimes sounding "pinched" in preamps, but hell if I really know what that means.

And the SN7 being more musical sounding?

Cheers

Wed, 08/23/2006 - 15:00 Permalink