RCA 12AU7 Large Black Plates
Made by RCA-USA in the 1950s. Military spec tube with large/long charcoal black plates and square getters. One of the rare and best sounding 12AU7. If you are after a full bodied, creamy and warm sound... this is the tube for you!! Matched pairs available.
Price: €48.00/each; €99.00/matched pair
Excellent advice from Koray. Great warm and ample sound with deep bass, clear mid-range and crisp trebles. Excellent for "classical" and contemporary from Purcell to Bartok and beyond. Excellent for opera. Much more comfortable listening than the original Philips JAN's.
ReplyDeleteLast but not least: very reasonable prices.
I shall certainly get back to you when I shall decide to change other tubes. Cheers,
Serge B.
Dear Mr Kural,
ReplyDeleteThese are really excellent tubes!
They are warm sounding, but with lots of detail and with an involving sound that makes you sit back and listen for yet another record... and presenting a great soundstage in my system.
Details are very good, sound is very little bright to me, but you can not go back to your old tubes after listening these. And if you want to test a few more tubes, research carefully because you may not use other tubes when you hear these. I think it is very hard to beat this tube in this price range.
ReplyDeleteExactly what the others comment. Warm and detail in a good way. And good price at this level of performance.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm already happy with these RCA tubes, Koray also advised me some of the Westinghouse 12AU7 1950s that he has in stock. Thought they are similar in plate construction, they do have quite a different presentation. The Westinghouse are Rock & Roll. Very Dynamic. Thunderous Bass. A little edgy in the mid (very little) but I feel that gives excitement to the music. Body of vocal and inistruments are bigger and meatier. The RCA are more polite over all and smaller sound stage. For my taste, I give a notch to the Westinghouse.
ReplyDelete