Mullard 12AX7 Reissue

[brewdude]

I just received some new tubes from Tube Depot. I deciced to try a Mullard reissue and a Tung Sol reissue among a variety of others. Anyway, I noticed that the Mullard appears to be identical to the Sovtek LPS. Is it the same tube with a different label? And, a higher price tag?

[selloutrr]

it is a russian made tube.

[Structo]

Prolly the same tube.

Look up New Sensor.
Mike Matthews who owns Electroharmonix, owns New Sensor as well so he probably corners 75% of the tube market.

Electro-Harmonix Tubes
EH Gold
Tungsol Tubes
Mullard Tubes
Genalex GOLD LION Tubes
Svetlana Tubes
Sovtek Tubes
Tesla/JJ-Slovakia Tubes
Tesla/ JJ Gold
Sino-China Tubes

He apparently controls all of these.


[img:450:332]http://www.stereophile.com/images/newsa ... 06mike.jpg[/img]

[PlinytheWelder]

I'd like to try one of their new "Genalex" 12AX7's . The Russians seem to be getting better at it...

http://thetubestore.com/goldlionecc83.html

[David Root]

At that price it would have to be better than good. You can buy NOS RCA gray plate 12AX7s for that money.

[brewdude]

Judging by the picture in that link, it looks like it's identical to the Sovtek LPS also... or rather, likely the same as the one with the gold pins.

Should one expect different tube brands to appear different?

If they seem to have the same construction should they be expected to perform the same?

Should I expect any difference that they might exhibit to be simply tube to tube variation within a given label, regardless as to whether they are branded Mullard or Sovtek or Genelex?

[Rich M]

I've always wondered that if the tube was actually better, why wouldn't they just call it a Sovtek and replace the mediocre stuff they sell under that name now. This would enhance their brand name and give them a competitive advantage over Sino tubes. I suspect you are paying for the silk screening.

[Andy Le Blanc]

its most likely that the product is tested and selected against a parameter
set based on existing NOS, maybe after an aging and stabilizing step at the
factory as they're finishing, the same tube, just conditioned and selected.

[selloutrr]

a couple years back when the Mullard reissue was first available it was going to be a groove tube exclusive. It turned out they were 5 months back ordered and had a 40% failure rate the tube was very unstable. GT was hyping it on the fact it was an exact clone of the original machined on the same equipment to make the same "magic" 3 weeks later GT was purchased by fender and the Mullard was released to the public. I hope they have fixed the quality control issue, if not it's possible they kept the name and rebranded the better of the sovtek tube stock. I should track down a GT mullard and test it against a NOS mullard and a new mullard and put them on the amplitrex and do a full test and see if they are similar of just a label.

[M Fowler]

I do not run the new Mullards for just that reason from what I read about this new tubes. I have been sticking with JJ, GT gold and EH.

[gearhead]

Yeah, I went thru the GT supposed remake (GTM). They sounded great when they worked, but mortality was high. Still have some somewhere.

They may cherry pick, but have found that the Tung Sol 12AX7s definitley have a consistent tone (good), nothing like a standard Sovtek.

[beakos]

The 'new' Mullard and the Groove Tubes "M" tube were two different tubes. GT referred to the tube as a 12AX7M and I believe it was a Chinese tube.

[iknowjohnny]

I have the sovtek or whatever it is, mullard reissue Ax7 and i gotta say it's my fav new AX7. I was liking the tung sol reissue a lot but i had 3 bad ones out of 4. So i tried the Mullard RI and i like it not only better than the tung sol, but more than any AX7 i have ever used. I never used any of the old NOS stuff tho with few exceptions. I also had the GT mullard AX7 and i liked it a lot in a peavey classic 30, but everything else i tried it in it sounded mediocre.

anyways, i absolutly love the mullard RI, but i found that more than one seems to be overkill. I much prefer what it does when in V1 only. Tried all 3 sockets and it's just too much of a good thing. whether it's a LPS, i dunno. i doubt it. Probably the same basic tube but with some differences you can't easily see that make it sound different, cuz i can't imagine them pulling a scam that wacky. But i actually hope it IS a LPS, because as much as i love this tube, i fear it will go away. And if that happens at least you can still get the LPS.

[David Root]

If you ran it in the PI position in a D-clone and it survived, it's not an LPS. They croak with more than 30 or 40V on the cathode, not designed for anything but V1 really, I think.

[brewdude]

I was under the impression that the LPS was one of the tubes specifically reccomended for the PI.