Time for new tubes.. which ones?

I just ordered a few different pairs of tubes for my TAD-150 to try out.

Cryoed Sylvania 5814A black ribbed plates NOS
Cryoed Sovtek 12AX7LPS NIB
Cryoed Tung Sol 12AX7 ECC803S Gold Pin NIB

I'll post when I have checked them out.

Also head good things about the JJ/Tesla 12AU7 ECC802 Long Plates.

Tube progression, so far....

Stock t7-flat sounding, rolled off top and bottom lack depth and width of soundstage
RCA x7a ribbed gray plate-better than stock
RT u7wa-ribbed gray plate-better than the RCAs but one was a bit noisy (couldn't stand it, wish I could have listened longer)
Brimar u7wa-gray ribbed long plate-better than any above-wider soundstage, increase in bass
Sylvania JHS 5751-wow, a direct hit, improvement across the board-Very nice soundstage width and depth, plenty of detail and prat! Gain match with volume control into my Mc DNA-125 is right on.
Mullard x7-short plates, halo getter-A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT-detailed but very flat-lost the soundstage completely (I hope everyone does not read this thread because these will be for sale soon!)
GT ax7m-playing now, just got them today-These are nice, very, very close to the 5751s mentioned above. They may lack some of the fine detail of the 5751s but not much. I can live with either.

I would like to try some nos 50s long plate Mullards or Telefunkens but I got to agree with Swampwalker, it seems a bit crazy to put $100 plus tubes in this pre (or does it?). For $50 a pair or so the 5751s or the GTs would seem hard to beat.

I have never fooled with cryoed tubes so I would be interested to get Stratosaur's impressions...

12UA7s are a big thing in a small tube. I am using mullards and the are a great improvement over the Chinese tubes that came with my McIntosh 2102 amp.

what are you trying to create sonically ??

different tubes have different presentations.

The Cryoed 12AX7 were not as good as I had hoped. The Cryoed 5814 Sylvanias sounded very, very nice but did not have quite enough gain. So much for the Cryoed ones for now.

I currently have GE 5 Star 6201 in there and they have impressed me. 6201 are military spec 12AT7. They bettered some Raytheon 12AT7WA I had. For want of a better term the 6201 had a more "spacious" sound (larger soundstage and more air around the intruments) then the 12AT7.

The GE 6201 were 20 bucks for a quad on EBay. I have some Sylvania and Mullard 6201 en route from Upscale Audio.

I'd say stay away from 12AX7 as you don't need the gain with the TAD150. Use a 5751 instead (military spec 12AX7 with lower gain, similiar to a 12AT7). Since the pre comes with a 12AT7 it might be best to stay with them (12AT7WA, 6201, 7728, ECC801). If a 12AU7 gives you enough gain you can use them (5814, 6189, 7730, ECC802).

I had asked Paul @ Bizzybee about 5751 and 5814 and he said they would be good choices. He does not believe in leaving the TAD150 on 24/7. I use mine with an Odyssey Stratos Extreme that I leave on all the time but turn the TAD150 off when not in use.