Tube Comparisons - 12au7 - Using The Source + Plus TM

This group of audio samples has been created to display the differences and strengths of several highly sought-after tubes. These comparison files have all been recorded through an original hardware design we created specifically to perform the ideal sound of 12-series dual triode tubes without anything else in the path, it was called the Source Plus TM. This is the device usd to provide the natural sound of the vacuum tubes included in the Vintage Tube Collection software.

Each mp3 below begins with a clean setting, followed by increasingly more 'driven' signal levels. Each setting beyond 'clean' has been tuned to show off the best characteristics of each tube. Therefore, some examples may have 2 example settings, where others may have 4.

My personal experience has been that many of these recordings present exactly why people choose certain tubes for specific qualities. It also showed me how wide a spectrum of character each individual tube possesses, and no single tube beat all of the others hands down in all categories. For instance, I found that the long and short plate Mullards matched the expectations of the 'sound of a Mullard' in every respect, where the short plate was more tight and focussed while still forward and warm, perhaps slightly easier to make sound overall balanced and 'big', where the long plate was smooth, easier to maintain balance of extreme lows with complex material, and had more of a range of lightly overdriven harmonics before breaking up, while once again exhibiting all of the warm focussed sound that is desired.

I believe that the JJ/Tesla is an excellent, usable, and very impressive newly manufactured tube. It reproduces complex material very well and can be driven into many characteristic tones and overtones with a great range of flexibility. I would say that some of the dimensions of sound that set it apart from the more expe