Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions mullard sound?

hello, i'm looking for the mullard sound but not the mullard price , any suggestions? thanks!

3 seconds til someone makes a duck joke...

This one is all 2x6spds... he seems to be the resident tuber? (no, that's a potato) tubehead? (that just sounds rude) tube aficionado. The rest of us would just suggest you buy a solid state amp put a barrel over your head.

Bren R.

Thank goodness for Google. I had no idea what you were talking about until I looked up Mullard.

So, do you want a tube amplifier or a solid state amplifier that sounds like a tube amp?

You can also build one yourself.

Go to bottlehead.com and ask the question they will be able to assist you. Good Luck

Peter, He wants to know of what tube sounds as good as a mullard. Mullard tubes are still very expensive.

Hi Skizz, power tube, or preamp tube? What's the number?

http://www.upscaleaudio.com/view_category.asp?cat=38

Upscale Audio, where I get my tubes and tube advice.

OK, so before I take off for Friday night dinner, if you're talking about 12AX7's, I'd go with the vintage Sylvania 1961, great price, great tube, great sound. I've used Red Rubies, Siemens E83CCs( in my Ah! CDP), GE Long Plates (1963).

If you're talking about KT88s I've used Sovtek, Red Ruby, Svetlanas, I like the Svets, all were excellent.

I have Winged C's KT 88's & Mullard 6201's and 12AX7's in my Response Audio Reference Jolida 502A, and a Mod 2 Jolida JD100 CDP also from Response Audio, which I highly recommend. Bill Baker does some remarkable mods to these units. Its just the price on these NOS tubes that are breaking me. looks like I'll be checking out Sylvania's.
thanks!!!!! also, what can you tell me about cryo treated tubes? are they worth the big bucks?

Bren: If you don't have anything positive to say about the subject SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!
I'm sick of your niggardly attitude about topics you dont
like. I am not the only one that shares this same point of view. Yes we all know you are a legend in your own mind.

skizziks777: The new versions of JJ Tesla are excellent. You get the great tube sound without bass bloom that some other brands have. I actully do enjoy JJ's EL34 more than Mullard or other Chinese brands based on my setup. Maybe the Mullard tubes I got were used to hell or were not matching.

>>Bren: If you don't have anything positive to say about the subject SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!

Hey... Bren's post was the only one I understood

no need to shout

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Bren: If you don't have anything positive to say about the subject SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!

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Down, boy.

I didn't realize we all got a veto. Did it come in the mail? Did mine get misplaced? Is it just understood, or do I get a punch card like at the video store?

Bren R.

Everyone gets a free bite.

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Everyone gets a free bite.

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Is that the Marv Albert plan?

Bren R.

Yes, most people who who share your point of view about Bren have learned to ignore the kind of post you're referring to. You should try it.

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Is that the Marv Albert plan?

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well, most people know it as the "Tyson Protocol".

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Yes, most people who who share your point of view about Bren have learned to ignore the kind of post you're referring to. You should try it.

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Or even have a laugh. There are a lot of things to different people where an attack on the subject becomes an attack on the individual... for the pious - it's religion, for the politickers it's their political party, for me - it's Workplace Health and Safety. These are things people have made a large part of their lives and, in a way, their beliefs in each, and the work they do in their names defines them as a person.

Let's face it, a tube is a glorified light bulb, a solid state IC is a block of sand. If we're fighting about light bulbs and sand then we really need something more in our lives.

Bren R.

The issue is not whether you are entitled to your opinion, Bren. I think the point is that you are offensive in your expression of your opinions. You are intolerant of the opinions of others and insulting to those who hold opinions which differ from your own.

The fact is, nothing short of the genius of many people has been invested into blocks of sand and glorified light bulbs. Folks who tell you, from their own experience, that tube amps can provide a wonderful musical experience, in some cases superior to the best solid states amps, are neither charlatans nor ignorant.

Just my 2 cents, Bren.

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The issue is not whether you are entitled to your opinion, Bren. I think the point is that you are offensive in your expression of your opinions. You are intolerant of the opinions of others and insulting to those who hold opinions which differ from your own.

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Now, I have to admit, you've turned down your "thumb in the eye" knob in the past while (credit where credit is due!) so I don't mind rationally discussing topics now. I'm intolerant - I'll admit that. My tolerance level has been eroded away by all the sales & marketing hype, I'm 31 now and the youngest of all my friends so for about the past 18 years I've been involved (either as a consumer for home audio or a tech for pro/event audio) with this stuff, and heard every lame sales pitch and fell for most of them and I've been shown the error of my ways directly and indirectly. I don't know about offensive, though... take this post... I suggested that the poster should ask you... and that most of us SS guys would suggest a SS amp listened to from the inside of a barrel. Was more poking fun at the usual debate than anything. As for insulting... everyone here has been guilty of that sin at some point, I was recently called the worst expletive in the English language.

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Folks who tell you, from their own experience, that tube amps can provide a wonderful musical experience, in some cases superior to the best solid states amps, are neither charlatans nor ignorant.

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I'm not sure charlatan or ignorant are the right terms... the problem comes when the tube guys admit they hear a difference (we all do, not too many won't concede there is a "tube" sound) but it breaks down when the tube guys are asked to call a spade a spade... the tube sound comes from a form of distortion. Yes, it's distortion, but that's not an insult. The same way caviar is really sturgeon eggs and escargot is really snails.

So no one can say your tube stuff doesn't sound good to you. If you like the sound they make, giv'er. But the other problem comes from the elitist attitude that most tube guys exhibit - the novelty of having something besides the off-the-shelf amplification everyone else has, a way to be different and unique from the million Denon 2805 owners. And they're "tweakable"... hell, tube amps tweak themselves.. over time, over heat, over barometric pressure, phases of the moon... from the SS guys' point of view, many (especially the younger ones) haven't heard tube amplification. I have, and I did a fair bit of dabbling with swapping tubes (Mr. Pang, my junior/senior high school electronics teacher - you were an evil man... "here's a box of tubes and a folder full of xeroxed copies of information about most of what's in there") but I've always had a preference for clean solid state stuff for final reproduction. It's more accurate, and isn't as fussy as tube amplification (don't like the sound, wait ten minutes!) and that's important to me. If someone prefers the tube sound, more power to them... if someone likes the sound a minnow hooked up in serial with their speakers makes, more power to them.

But it's a game for "fiddlers"... like owning a Panhead Harley-Davidson, it's got that cool factor but the Evolution engines just work.

Bren R.

I guess I'm a bit surprised that we're arguing over this particular thread. Bren's comment seemed so obviously intended to be sarcastic and humorous that I just chuckled and moved on. I guess it helped that I was still wondering what a "mullard" was at the time...

I'm sure Bren has made worse comments in other threads

On the tube vs. SS thing, I remember reading somewhere that "the tube sound" was often more than just additional, gentle harmonic distortion :

- generally higher power supply voltages and "softer" clipping
- greater ability to support decent power in a class A design reducing/eliminating crossover notch and nonlinearities on low signals
- even in class AB designs, ability to live with higher bias currents so again less crossover notch

I'm not sure that all of the "tube advantages" are even truly unique to tubes, but it does seem possible that there is more to "the tube sound" than just a higher level of harmonic distortion.

Having said all that, though, I'm with Bren in terms of picking on anyone different (ie tube afficionados) -- anyone as passionate as "the tube crowd" about something as non-life-and-death as tube vs. SS amplification is going to be a ripe target for snide comments.

2x6, you have always been very level-headed about your beliefs and preferences so strictly speaking there is no justification for aiming these comments at you, but when you put on the "tube" uniform in the morning you know that taking a risk is part of the job

Anyways, guys, enjoy the weekend !

John

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I guess it helped that I was still wondering what a "mullard" was at the time...

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For some reason I kept having that term 'Mullet Head' sneak into my brain whenever I first started reading this thread.

I'm kidding!!

I agree that Bren used both humor and sarcasm in expressing his opinion. I also agree that tubes degrade and must be replaced periodically. I also like reading Bren's posts and most importantly, I don't think Bren is a bad natured fella - to the contrary ... I'd be glad to have a beer with him or squeezed grass drink or whatever his beverage of choice. I just wish that Bren would set aside his prejudgments long enough to actually listen to some of the great tube driven sound reproduction equipment out there. I think he'd enjoy it.

"I guess I'm a bit surprised that we're arguing over this particular thread. Bren's comment seemed so obviously intended to be sarcastic and humorous that I just chuckled and moved on. I guess it helped that I was still wondering what a "mullard" was at the time... "


My thoughts too......so WTF people.....relax. The guy's a nut and means no harm.