(12 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
Loading...“… having a wonderful 3D sense of space and it does!! The stage seems larger than
life. The only flaw it might have would be on bright systems it tends
to have a happy high end, but I can live with it.” Read
“Beautiful punch/dynamics, with the leading edge of the Telefunken’s without the “etch”. The body of the harmonic is not quite as full as the long plate Mullard’s/Amperex’s but more body then the Telefunken’s. “ Read
“…Mazda had an extreme makeover kind of outward beauty and a similarly aesthetically pleasing tonal beauty with perhaps a smidge more bass and impact than the Amperex…” Read
When I first got this tube, I completely dismissed it. It was very similar to 12ax7 Mazda. Good tube very nice sound stage, but I felt that it was way too bright for the music I listen to, which is vocal jazz. Lately, I started to listen to a new artist called Patrick Bruel. quite a few of his albums are recorded in concert with a lot of instrumental music. I decided to give Mazda another try. And WOW! Was I glad that I did. The sound stage, the transparency that Mazda was able to create was unmatched. Mazda presents a voice usually a bit upfront of the other instruments, which creates focus on the voice. I decided to double-check that what I’m hearing is correct, so I started to put other tubes instead of Mazda. I think I went through 20-25 tubes trying to find a match. Some of them came close – CBS, Sylvania JHS, but none of them could create the front projection of the voice and the 3d image of Mazda. None of them created the feeling of being there – Mazda did!!! This is a must-try tube. It wouldn’t work with all types of music – I still prefer WH or JHS with Vocal Jazz, but this tube shined with instrumental like no other tube in 12au7 family. One that came practically on top of Mazda was RCA 6sn7 Red Base – it provided a bit more bass and a fraction more projection of vocals.