(82 votes, average: 3.18 out of 5)
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2 thoughts on “Electro-Harmonix 12au7”
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Great reviews from all over the place, but… It’s definitely not a bad sounding tube, but since we are spending huge amount of money on tube equipment – is good enough – GOOD ENOUGH? I don’t think so. Really didn’t care much about the tube. It’s boring and sounds too much like SS. It did provide a bigger soundstage than most SS amps, but transparency of the sound and even soundstage couldn’t compare to the best tubes in the 12au7 family. HF rolled off way to soon and had metallic sound to them. Construction o the tube, on the other hand, is great. Looks like Sylvania Gray Pinched Plates. I like the build of EH much more than I do ShuGuang – it looks like they put a lot of care into internal structure. Even micas look old style. Now, it wouldn’t be fair to compare this tube to the likes of Mazda, Telefunken, Amperex & Mullard since it costs $10-12 a pop, but even RCA cleartop or 5814 outperform the tube in every way and cost, in some cases, a half of EH. So you decide, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
So this is where my tube rolling started. I bought a Cary Audio SLP-03 Pre-amp that had 4-EH 12AU7’s in it. The rest of the reference system includes a Chord DAC, Krell Evolution Amplifier, B&W Diamond Speakers, and pure silver solid core wiring throughout.
At the time I had no idea I could swap out tubes.
Initially the set-up had loads of grip, plenty of definition and detail, adequate soundstage between the speakers, and enough “umph” to keep me and others thoroughly impressed.
Then I started to tube roll. The first matched quad to arrive were the Sylvania JAN-CHS 12AU7’s at $20/tube. This is when I realized my high’s were “rolled off”, I had no extension, and the system was very “solid state” sounding. I was missing tube magic, but had the ultimate Pre-Amp to showcase the uniqueness of new tube to come….
Electro-Harmonix 12AU7 – 3 Stars