Tubes for ad30htc

[Joosh]

Hello everyone,

Proud new owner of an ad30htc & ppc212-closed back cab.

I want to change out the stock tubes that came with the head. I was thinking a medium quartet of el86 & 12ax7s from electro-harmonix but I wanted to check here first to see if anyone has a brand or tube type they recommend.

Thanks!

[jason41224]

you do mean el84, correct?

not my specific domain, as i have an EL34 head. i can tell you though that power tubes don't make nearly as big of a difference in tone as the preamp tubes do. if that's what you're going for, i would wait on it (but still, order some as a spare set!) and grab some preamp tubes instead.

the goal with new power tubes mainly is robustness, something that won't break down on you. out of current production valves, JJs seem to be the favorite around most of the forums regardless of the amp company for power tubes, and i don't doubt it. JJ makes good stuff, but i'm sure the EHX tubes are still great as well.

[Stainboy]

When I got my AD30 I put JJs in the power section and rectifier and all NOS RCAs in the pre. Huge difference in sound. If you don't wanna' lay out for NOS 12AX7s, try new Tung Sols or the Chinese Sinos. I've used both of those with great results. 12AX7s are cheap enough to try different brands and experiment until you find your sound.

[Thinline_slim]

Congrats and welcome!

I've put JJs and EHs in my AD30htc and I really think I prefer the EHs to anything else. I didn't really get along with Tung-sols in my oranges. They just weren't my flavor of choice. I'd like to eventually get some NOS or ANOS preamp tubes to try out sometime though.

[Stainboy]

Are you running EH 12AX7s slim? I haven't tried those.

[Thinline_slim]

I am in channel 1. I just put in some JJs in ch 2 but it seems to be a bit brighter than I remember so I think I'm going to dig up some EHs and throw them in there to see if there's a difference. I really like the tone of ch 1 but I know there's a voicing difference between the two channels so that might be what I'm hearing. I had EH el84 in there for a long time and they did sound great. I'm going to get another set soon but I'm thinking of trying a set of the 70XX (don't recall the numbers) power tubes from the Tube Store just to see what that's all about. I'll post my results when I get them.

I'll be honest, I haven't really played the AD much lately and I need to get back to it. I also tried the trick of maxing out the Master and gain to taste (I think Teddy posted that a few days ago and I just noticed you posted it today in the the Who thread) and I will admit, that is a fun way to play. I really like those tones!

[MaxProphet]

http://thetubestore.com/preferred7189.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Preferred Series 7189 (premium EL84) - This is the tube you want in just about every amp that calls for a 7189 or EL84. These tubes are bold, producing solid fundamental notes and shimmering harmonics. Don’t confuse these with any other EL84 on the market. These are Russian tubes built for Russia. To get the 7189 designation you build a tube that will handle both higher plate voltages and increased current. To handle those issues the glass has to be just as heavy duty.

If you are running older cathode biased amplifiers these tubes are about as good a choice as you can make for this kind of money. Many hours of testing in class A single ended amps and demanding push – pull circuits; such as the AC30, show it to be the way to go if your amp likes to eat tubes.

This tube is not fancy. It’s great sounding and well constructed for “professional” use. To qualify as a Select Series tube, thetubestore.com performs a full battery of tests and extra inspection to make sure you never receive a dud. The $$/tone ratio is excellent with this tube.

6P14P-EV
6P14P = 6BQ5, EL84 and 7189 tubes.
E = Extended or long life (>5,000 hours)
V = Mechanically ruggedized for low microphonics and reliability

haven't tried these but will be getting them next for TT

[Stainboy]

Thanks for posting that. I'm gonna order a set and give 'em a go. Has anyone else here tried these in their AD?

[Thinline_slim]

Just had to update this with some preamp tube swapping on the AD today at lunch.

I tried a set of Tung-sols again on Channel 2 and they sounded surprisingly good. Not quite good enough to keep but good.

Out of the preamp tubes I tried today I would put them in this order:
1. NOS Jan-Phillips 5751 V1 : w/ EH 12ax7 follower V2
2. EH 12ax7s
3. EH 12ax7 V1 : Tung-sol 12ax7 V2
4. Tung-sol 12ax7s
5. JJ 12ax7s

I found it was the JJs pres that were causing my problems on Ch2. They have a pretty harsh side to their OD that I just can't get along with. Kind of a brighter OD frequency and I really like more of a lower growl.

Here in January though I'm going to get a set of those 7189s though just to see.