"Telefunken" tubes back in production ??

It will be interesting. In the 70's I discovered there 12AX7 for my personally modified PAS 2 and 3. They stood head and shoulders above everything else and cost about $3. It will be interesting to hear the sound of the reproductions. My understanding was when Telefunken got out of the tube business they sold there tube making machines to EI but they are also out of business and didn't have the tight controls of the German tube. If the sound doesn't sparkle they aren't Telefunkens. I sure hope they do.

I know I should make a list of these things, but perhaps you can confirm . . . Telefunken was one of tubes that reached "other worldly" status for its staggeringly good sound. Or do I have it confused.

I think I just have JJs flanking a single Mullard on my driver board right now.

$76 for a pair of AX12's... I might be game to try it. Let's say if my new client shows up tomorrow, I'll promise to order a pair and give'em a try, with full report to follow here.

I am going to use T for Telefunken.
OK, did some research. First the JJ ECC83 is a short plate tube like the T-ECC803 which was suppose to be a better tube, which I have never heard. JJ ECC-803 is a long plate similar to the T-ECC83 go figure. If you compare the new T to the old T they have nothing in common. However if you compare the JJ gold ECC83 with the new T you will have a match. So my guess is you are getting gold JJ 12AX7 that is double tested and frozen. I have a set of standard JJ 12ax7 they are OK tubes but they are not Telefunkens. So they may be called Telefunkens but there is little chance they will sound like Telefunkens. To bad.

Bob Latino wrote:A company in South Windsor, CT is now distributing "Telefunken" tubes ... Link below ..

New production "Telefunken" tubes

The reason for the quote marks is that it appears that JJ in the Slovak Republic is actually making these new "Telefunken" tubes. Kind of like the Russians now make "Mullard" tubes. If anyone gets a hold of one of these tubes, maybe you can report here in this thread about how the tube sounds, pricing etc. ?

Bob

As reseller of JJ tubes i'm not surprised. I have virtually no returns, and my vta sound very musical.
And, to be frank, if telefunken wanted something to rebrand is there any other factory that has the complete range and is expected to stay committed ? Fancy ad's is one thing, delivering quality products week after week is another more difficult task.

I got a Tele ECC82 (12AU7) for the center driver on my ST120 and quite frankly prefer the sound of an RCA clear top.

The 1960s iterations of RCA clear-tops, 12Au7s or 6CG7s, are "clearly" the best. They are the equivalent of the New Jersey-made Tung-Sol 6550s of that era. The Russians are trying, but they ain't there yet.

Are they remaking ribbed or smooth plate 12AX7 telefunkens?

Looked at link...smooth plates from what I can tell....hmmm. Do any of the remakes have a reputation of sounding as good or better than the originals yet? No particular tube/brand just in general.

Well my new customer showed up, but I'm now thinking RCA clear tops might sound better than these funky nuveau Telefunkens. For an extra few bucks, a pair can be had from Tubeworld.

Any advice?

ac2 You might want to read my above post. They aren't remaking either Telefunken 12AX7. They are taking the present production JJ gold 12AX7 and calling it a Telefunken. The only thing that they are doing different is double testing and cryogenic treating the JJ tube. So it can't sound like a Telefunken 12AX7 smooth or ribbed plate because it is a totally different tube. Compare the picture of the new 12AX7 Telefunken to the JJ gold and you will see that they are the same tube. Then compare it to a true Telefunken on ebay, totally different.

Oh....okay sorry....I should not read and post when im tired

I agree 100%.....its not the label on the tube that makes a smooth plate tele sound the way it does... I can see this causing a lot of problems for some who are not aware. Over ten years ago I was getting big bucks for the smooth plates I was selling and they were good used tubes, not NOS. I must admit though.... the Telefunken label sure is a pretty label, I would buy some just for that alone!

Tube nube,

The 12XA7 smooth plate Telefunken...not the ribbed plate.

12AX7, posting from my phone...ugh

I shall continue to raid my junkbox which has dozens of REAL Telefunkens "rescued" from tube equipment from the old days. They may have manufacturers' brand names such as DYNACO and THE FISHER on them...but at least they are REAL Telefunkens.

Ha, I recently traded a couple of JJ 12AT7s that I used when my ST70 was set up with the high gain board for a couple of matched Tele 12AU7s. The guy was a guitar player and had no need for low gain tubes. I'm using them in the phase splitter positions along with an RCA black plate 5963 for the voltage position and the sound is great. The teles in the voltage amp position sound very bright, however.

Bob mentioned a 'link' for more info on the reproduction Tele's in his original post, I can't seem to locate.  Can someone repost this link?
EDIT: ^ Never mind, found it


Can someone enlighten me as to what the 'TK' suffix designates in ECC83-TK (if anything?)?




-James

I guess the TK stands for Telefunken and means nothing.