I'm having a hard time finding tubes with a low noise floor in higher gain
applications. Does anyone have a favourite brand they find less noisey that they would like to share? Thanks.
Low-noise tubes
Moderators: pompeiisneaks, Colossal
Re: Low-noise tubes
Howdy-
I'll assume you are referring to preamp (9 pin miniature) tubes...
Unfortunately, Many of the quietest new-production tubes (EH/SOVTEK)
suffer from "less-than-stellar" tone. They are generally quite durable, though.
Keep on the lookout for old discarded equipment like console stereos that may have some of the "holy grail" preamp tubes within. Truly, some of the best preamp tubes in my collection are 20+ year old used Mullards, Telefunkens, RCAs, etc. Some may be slightly microphonic but sound better than any new production I've heard. (Haven't tried the Russian Tung-Sol reissues yet.) Hope this helps
tubetek
I'll assume you are referring to preamp (9 pin miniature) tubes...
Unfortunately, Many of the quietest new-production tubes (EH/SOVTEK)
suffer from "less-than-stellar" tone. They are generally quite durable, though.
Keep on the lookout for old discarded equipment like console stereos that may have some of the "holy grail" preamp tubes within. Truly, some of the best preamp tubes in my collection are 20+ year old used Mullards, Telefunkens, RCAs, etc. Some may be slightly microphonic but sound better than any new production I've heard. (Haven't tried the Russian Tung-Sol reissues yet.) Hope this helps
tubetek
Re: Low-noise tubes
Thanks for the reply tubetek. My findings mirror yours, the older stuff is better but I'm looking for new production tubes that have a lower noise floor. I'm currently using an old Mullard in one of my models, but when they're gone what then?