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Post by donnyp on Feb 5, 2007 18:32:31 GMT -7
I found some 12ax7's that are labeled as "Electronic Industries - Made in England". Does anybody know what these are? They came in black and white boxes. I got them from a radio repair shop that went out of business many years ago. Thanks!
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Post by nitehawk55 on Feb 6, 2007 3:09:57 GMT -7
EI was a common brand that used Mullard made tubes . I would say you found some that should sound good . Are they long plate ot short and do you see any small numbering code on the tube anywhere ?
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Post by zdogma on Feb 6, 2007 5:30:55 GMT -7
Made in England=Mullard or Brimar. Tend to be good quality, great sounding 12AX7's if they are in good condition. Have a look at the codes to decipher what it is: www.audiotubes.com/mullcode.htm
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Post by mudskipper on Feb 6, 2007 7:45:18 GMT -7
i'm a little weary of saying that it's a Mullard whenever i see "Made in England" because they most often said "Made in GT. Britain", especially without seeing the Mullard/Philips code at least. is there a seam at the top? what does the plate structure look like?
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Post by zdogma on Feb 6, 2007 8:04:53 GMT -7
Here's a couple of "made in great britain" mullards. You can see the plate structure. These are both "blackburn" tubes, and have the top seam. They also sound great. I have seen mullards labeled like these, "made in Gt. Britain" and "made in England" I think both Brimar and Genalex (I've only seen one Genalex 12ax7, rare for sure) used the made in England label.
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Post by mudskipper on Feb 6, 2007 12:12:24 GMT -7
sometimes it's hard to determine where tubes come from because everyone relabeled a lot. i've come across more than a couple of tubes with "Made in England" label that aren't/weren't from England in 2 cases they were from Japan, made by companies like Panasonic/Matsushita or Toshiba. another classic case of it is those "Amperex Made in Holland" tubes that aren't from Holland. like GE would get some EL34s and stamp them "Made in England", then GE logos when in fact the tubes were from Japan. maybe those tubes came from England while manufactured in Japan, though.
i should clarify my previous post and state thati wasn't saying all "Made in England" tubes aren't from UK, btw. but i think i've seen more non-UK tubes with "Made in England".
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Post by nitehawk55 on Feb 6, 2007 20:33:09 GMT -7
I recently found 5 NOS Sylvania 12AX7's at a local shop . These were marked "made in Germany" which surprised me . I'm pretty sure they aren't Telefunken but maybe Siemens .They sound great in my 57 Twin RI .
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Post by zdogma on Feb 7, 2007 5:48:05 GMT -7
I recently found 5 NOS Sylvania 12AX7's at a local shop . These were marked "made in Germany" which surprised me . I'm pretty sure they aren't Telefunken but maybe Siemens .They sound great in my 57 Twin RI . I have 4 NOS Siemens left from a stash I found at a local shop, and they are one of the best I've ever heard. They are labeled 6681 Germany.
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Post by nitehawk55 on Feb 7, 2007 17:28:26 GMT -7
I recently found 5 NOS Sylvania 12AX7's at a local shop . These were marked "made in Germany" which surprised me . I'm pretty sure they aren't Telefunken but maybe Siemens .They sound great in my 57 Twin RI . I have 4 NOS Siemens left from a stash I found at a local shop, and they are one of the best I've ever heard. They are labeled 6681 Germany. I have read and been told that the Telefunken's are over rated and it's hype that is selling them . Apparently Siemens and other makes are a better tube . I'm not familiar with the 6681 , are they for military use maybe ?
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Post by zdogma on Feb 7, 2007 18:41:06 GMT -7
6681 are specially tested/selected to be able to tolerate variable filament voltages (+- 20%). Otherwise same as ECC83/12AX7. I think they might have been used in military apps.
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Post by nitehawk55 on Feb 7, 2007 20:18:02 GMT -7
6681 are specially tested/selected to be able to tolerate variable filament voltages (+- 20%). Otherwise same as ECC83/12AX7. I think they might have been used in military apps. With those ratings definately military application , should be great tubes . I still need to find some 12ay7's and I missed 4 nos on evilbay yesterday that went cheap from a fellow in Quebec . I'll find some sometime at the right price . I got a lot of Mullard and Sylvania GZ34's.....kind of went crazy on those .
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Post by mikekca on Feb 8, 2007 7:08:26 GMT -7
I have 4 NOS Siemens left from a stash I found at a local shop, and they are one of the best I've ever heard. They are labeled 6681 Germany. I have read and been told that the Telefunken's are over rated and it's hype that is selling them . Apparently Siemens and other makes are a better tube . ? It should be pretty obvious by now that you'll hear all sorts of stuff on the net. In reality, Telefunkens were VERY high quality tubes...likely the best ever made in terms of materials, workmanship and performance. This doesn't necessarilly mean that you'll like the way they sound...that's all subjective...just that, from an objective viewpoint, no finer tubes have ever been made.
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Post by mudskipper on Feb 8, 2007 8:13:48 GMT -7
I have read and been told that the Telefunken's are over rated and it's hype that is selling them . Apparently Siemens and other makes are a better tube . ? It should be pretty obvious by now that you'll hear all sorts of stuff on the net. In reality, Telefunkens were VERY high quality tubes...likely the best ever made in terms of materials, workmanship and performance. This doesn't necessarilly mean that you'll like the way they sound...that's all subjective...just that, from an objective viewpoint, no finer tubes have ever been made. i'd agree. Telefunkens are good tubes. they do cost a lot and along with that comes all kinds of comments from people on the 'net. overrated? maybe.... and other tubes being "better" is highly subjective. and it all depends on the amp and application as well as various needs and taste of players. try one in more than 1 amp and see for yourself if you are curious about facts based on your own taste.
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Post by nitehawk55 on Feb 8, 2007 19:30:37 GMT -7
Well another unfortunate reality on the net is pirates selling knock-offs of Telefunkens because they are bring such a high dollar . I try a lot of different tubes and have a good size collection of German tube radios from the 50's and 60's to play with . I only wish I was buying up cases German tubes when I lived over in Germany from 1965-68 . My amp used EL84's and if I recall they only cost maybe $2 each for Telefunken or other top brands....YIKES ! All tubes were cheap back then .
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Post by mikekca on Feb 10, 2007 8:54:28 GMT -7
Well another unfortunate reality on the net is pirates selling knock-offs of Telefunkens because they are bring such a high dollar . I try a lot of different tubes and have a good size collection of German tube radios from the 50's and 60's to play with . I only wish I was buying up cases German tubes when I lived over in Germany from 1965-68 . My amp used EL84's and if I recall they only cost maybe $2 each for Telefunken or other top brands....YIKES ! All tubes were cheap back then . Yes, we all wish we could go back to the '60s and buy up tubes, guitars and amps. If only we had a time machine:)
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