Do different tubes really change the tonality of an amp...

[PhilR]

Hell yeah they make a big difference!

We switched our Diezel VH-4 from EL34's to KT77's and they sounded completely different. A much cleaner sounding distortion sound and ridiculously tight. Too tight in fact, we ended up going back to EL34's because we figured they would suit more of the musical styles we actually record. If we were recording Necrophagist every day we'd definitely recommend the KT's though!

 

[paladin shredder]

i've heard mesa tubes are just relabeled chinese tubes.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

From my experiences, the louder you go the more you can hear the difference. I swapped my ruby 6L6s out of my XXX for JJ el34s and noticed a difference in the aggression of the amp. As for pre amp tubes, I have a lot more differences in those, going from chinese shittas to the JJs made a big difference in my 5150.

You're talking about different types of tubes here with your XXX, which is a little OT.

I'd also like to add that biasing your amp, which directly affects the tubes will create a more noticeable change in tone than if you switch tube brands.

 

[poidaobi]

+@*#5q2935q728943089rtq7924875q38074398tp7423858490198574571-98457149-87598-4719-875968176894 (man, being a recent member at the boogie board, I always have to bite my tongue when I see such posts Though someone did make a good point about power tubes; namely that the differences may not show up at anything other than large gig volumes, when they're really pushed, and the breakup is subtly different; mostly I'd say that goes for EL34's vs. 6L6's though, rather than different brands of either)

I always look at it as "you've spent all this money on new tubes and to justify your purchase you've convinced yourself that your amp now sounds a lot better'

 

[Melodeath]

The general consensus is that the difference is subtle. However, I assuem this means the difference between tube brands when both are new.

Tubes do in fact "wear out" and start sounding poorer over time, yes?

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

I always look at it as "you've spent all this money on new tubes and to justify your purchase you've convinced yourself that your amp now sounds a lot better'

I would say "You've spent money on new tubes and your amp now sounds better"

"All this money" sounds like you've taken out a loan to pay for them" The JJs cost $128 AUS for the quartet,

"You've convinced yourself that your amp now sounds a lot better" sounds like a night and day comparison. There is a difference, and its a good difference, not only is my amp sounding new again, its all round thicker and ballsier, and for $128, that is a bargain.

 

[Jevil]

i've heard mesa tubes are just relabeled chinese tubes.

I read somewhere that are renamed Sovtek LPS.

 

[16S]

Tubes don't make a big difference but if you've dialed in the rest of your rig to be perfect, messing with the tubes is a good way to get it all the way there.

Here are some comparison clips I made a while back. Same performance, settings, signal chain, etc. each time, direct in with an impulse.

Sovtek LPS: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=442291&songID=6593626
Tung Sol: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=442291&songID=6593647
Shuguang: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=442291&songID=6593634
JAN Philips: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=442291&songID=6593641

All 12AX7s with the exception of the JAN Philips, which is a 12AT7. Tung Sols are relabeled Shuguangs, I believe, so it makes sense that they are very close, but the difference between the Russian tube and the Chinese are pretty obvious IMO, even with the mp3 compression and direct-in, not to mention the sub-par conversion/Hi-Z inputs/mic preamps of the Firepod that I did the test with.

..Hold On..most here are saying the differences are subtle but i would say the differences in clips Matt has posted here are more than subtle(and i am only listening at work on lappy speakers) if these were truely/scientifically the same settings. Check the clips!

 

[Mikaël-ange]

I read somewhere that are renamed Sovtek LPS.

It's that

You only have 2 tube company:

EH and JJ

EH is: EH, Sovtek, Svetlanna (C and S), Tung sol (now), Mullard

JJ only made JJ tube
Sloavakia vs Russian federation in fact

 

[Metaltastic]

What about all the Chinese tubes Mikael?

 

[Mikaël-ange]

What about all the Chinese tubes Mikael?

I just know EH bought Tung sol and now all this tubes are build at St Petersburg (Russian federation).

Shuguang tubes are always chinese (but generally relabeled)