Jan Phillips 12AU7 upgrade

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Dizzie

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My VAC Essence 80iQ monoblocks shipped with Jan Phillips 12AU7s. I would appreciate suggestions for upgrades that won't break the bank. New production preferred since I am not a tube aficionado. I don't want to chase some exotic and rare tube where the best ones were made Wednesday afternoon. ;) I need 4 tubes. They are paired with KT88s.
 
Dizzie said:
My VAC Essence 80iQ monoblocks shipped with Jan Phillips 12AU7s. I would appreciate suggestions for upgrades that won't break the bank. New production preferred since I am not a tube aficionado. I don't want to chase some exotic and rare tube where the best ones were made Wednesday afternoon. ;) I need 4 tubes. They are paired with KT88s.
Click to expand...

If you'd like new production - the best new production tubes I've tested for my tastes that aren't expensive are the Psvane Horizon.

A noticeable improvement from their past tubes.
 
Dizzie said:
My VAC Essence 80iQ monoblocks shipped with Jan Phillips 12AU7s. I would appreciate suggestions for upgrades that won't break the bank. New production preferred since I am not a tube aficionado. I don't want to chase some exotic and rare tube where the best ones were made Wednesday afternoon. ;) I need 4 tubes. They are paired with KT88s.
Click to expand...

The best 12AU7s weren't made last Wednesday.
 
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The new Gold Lions made in Russia sound nice, but I haven't used them much as I haven't used up all of my old American & European NOS 12AU7s yet. (That'll be a sad day). I may be crazy or have unique ears, heck I guess we all do, but lately I'm loving the NOS GE 6189s (12AU7s). They're not super expensive, they seem to do everything right to my ears. Tube Depot has them I think.
 
JDC said:
The new Gold Lions made in Russia sound nice, but I haven't used them much as I haven't used up all of my old American & European NOS 12AU7s yet. (That'll be a sad day). I may be crazy or have unique ears, heck I guess we all do, but lately I'm loving the NOS GE 6189s (12AU7s). They're not super expensive, they seem to do everything right to my ears. Tube Depot has them I think.
Click to expand...

I have a fairly good stash of 12AU7s in my tube caddy. One of my favorite U.S. made 12AU7 tubes is the RCA Cleartop.
 
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