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JAN / Phillips 5814A / 12AU7 Tube

I am looking for opinions on the 5814A / 12AU7 tube for an Audio Logic DAC. I am looking for 2 tubes that do not add any brightness and was told the Jan Phillips 5814A are excellent for the price ($15/each). The Mullards ECC82s in the unit now add some glare and someone else recommended Telefunkens but I also read that they were not such a big deal on AA. What do you recommend and where do you buy your tubes from? I tried to contact Vintage Tube Services but the web site did not work and nobody answered the phone yesterday. There were about 13 other stores recommended on Agon and AA so I am trying to narrow down the choices for a store that can get inventory, is customer friendly, really knows tubes and has a good reputation.

I have researched these tubes and the top recommendations for far are:

5814A:
Siemens Germany (pricey)
RCA Black Plates
GE 5 Star

12AU7:
Amperex Bugleboy Holland (plue the same without Bugleboy logo)
RCA Clear top (side getter) I don't know what side getter means
RFT 12AU7s

Thanks for your help and Happy Listening.
bigkidz

Showing 1 response by kiko1974

kiko1974
4 posts
 
The best 12AU7 tube I've tried and that I'm currently using on my Phono preamp is an English made Raytheon 12AU7 with small and smooth plates.
These are great sounding tubes, very quiet, smooth sounding with silky mids and highs but not overly sweet and very dinamic. I just love them. I bought 8 of them to have some to spare.
You can get them here:http://https//www.langrex.co.uk/products/ecc82-12au7a-raytheon-nos-valvetube-lc9/
Another great sounding 12AU7 tube but very hard to find are Hit Ray (a joint venture on the 60's between Hitachi and Raytheon), they were damn cheap, I paid 16.69 € for two NOS in their original boxes units. They are made in Japan and sound great, not the warmest tubes I've heard but they're smooth, dinamic and dead quiet.
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