Conrad Johnson PV12 tubes: a few opinions

[Wes_in_VA]

I love this preamp .Its warm without coloring the sound to much. I can't say enough good things about it.
When I got this one it had some new production Telefunkens in it. They were good but just a tad on the cold side. Paired with the rest of my system they were good but not quite "there" for me.
Next I rolled in some Mullards and those were a step up. More of the lush sound...but maybe a bit too much. After a few months I started to find them a tad veiled.
Today I popped in some 1960s RCA clear tops and I think I've found "it". These have some hours on them already so I know they're broken in if you believe in that.
The veil seems gone. Ive gone through a bunch of different types of music on both cd and vinyl and it's all fantastic.
I wanted to post some opinions since I know there are quite a few of these out there and others might be looking for tube suggestions

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I have a CJ PV10A which I am running with RCA clear tops, after trying several others. I have liked them very much.

 

[fiddlefye]

Also running RCAs in my PV-12. I also liked Brimars a lot, maybe even a bit better.

 

[BNR_1]

Thanks wes for sharing your experience. I have the 12L with RCA JRCC 6189. It sounds good to me, but this is the only tubes i have tried. I read so often how the clear tops do such a great job for the price. One day i need try it myself just for comparison and curiousity.

 

[Elrick]

I'm not sure what your tube type is on your PV12. I have a PV7 it has 12AX7 and 12AT7's. I'm not a big an of brand names, instead I've tired to just sample different tubes and stick w/ the best sounding ones. What is the tube compliment of the PV12?

 

[Wes_in_VA]

The PV 12L runs (2) 12AU7's.
I'm interested in trying some Bugle Boys but considering they seem to go for much more money than these RCA's...I'll wait a while on that

 

[Tom_r]

I really like the RCA clear tops in my PV-11 and that's what I'm using right now, but prefer Amperex. I have all different varieties of Amperex including BB .... but don't tell anyone - still can't hear the difference between the different varieties of Amperex. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I'm using the PV-11 now with my rebuilt Dynaco MkIII's, but when I had it with one of my Krells I had to use the Mullard or Amperex tubes as the RCA clear tops were waaaaay too bright vs Amperex/Mullard. And they were the least bright of any of my US made 12au7's ... and I have them all including 5814's etc.

If I were out shopping I would look for the 1960's/70's Amperex with the orange globes ... they sound great to me and are very affordable last time I looked.

 

[TubeHiFiNut]

I have had luck running 5751s in place of 12AX7s.

Sometimes 12ax7s in the phono stage and 5751s in the line stage.

YMMV.....

 

[goldear]

Personally I really like using 5814s in place of 12AU7s.

 

[Wes_in_VA]

Personally I really like using 5814s in place of 12AU7s.

What do you like better about the 5814s?

 

[goldear]

What do you like better about the 5814s?

I just love their sound. The 5814 is the 5751 of the 12AU7 family; except that it is an exact match for a 12AU7 as compared to the 5751 which is extremely similar to the 12AX7, but which has only 70% of the gain.

If you've ever heard 5751s, then I need say no more.

 

[audiodon]

I'm with the vorlon.
If you like RCA cleartops, you're likely to love 5814s . . . especially triple-mica ones.
Low microphonics, built-in shock-proofing, and militarized internal structure for walkie-talkies and radios.

That is, unless you sit at the mexican restaurant and have one shake of Cholula, one shake of The Old Devil, and one shake of every other spicy salsa in the rack on your stuff.