Spinning the wheel occasionally when I see something that looks interesting.
I picked up a NOS white box special for $16.
Never heard of it, little in the way of reviews, but it seemed a nice price, so I added it to the order. Best I can find is it seems Marconi was a re-brander and didn't make their own tubes. It's labeled "Made in Canada", so that leaves General Electric or Westinghouse. Trace some history, and Marconi-Osram was a British company wholly owned by GE. Then again, rumor has it that Mullard made 12AU7's for GE, so ... Black plate with a square top getter and a date code of "C5" if that helps any.
PS ... I just saw a used GE branded 12AU7 go for $65 on that auction place!
Anyway ... came across it cleaning up the shop and figured what da hey. Pulled the RCA clear top I've been using as a center driver and ... wOw ... just ... wOW ... sound stage is much wider, and everything is much tighter top to bottom. Great combination that makes it sound like a whole new amp.
Well ... it IS a whole new amp, but ...
So, right now, the magic combo is the Marconi in the middle, RCA clear tops on the sides, a quad of Psvane KT88's, and the WZ68 copper cap. I think I'll be keeping this set for a bit ...
Anyone wants to give it a try ...
http://www.partsconnexion.com/cgi-bin/sc/productsearch.cgi?search_field=marconi%2012au7
I picked up a NOS white box special for $16.
Never heard of it, little in the way of reviews, but it seemed a nice price, so I added it to the order. Best I can find is it seems Marconi was a re-brander and didn't make their own tubes. It's labeled "Made in Canada", so that leaves General Electric or Westinghouse. Trace some history, and Marconi-Osram was a British company wholly owned by GE. Then again, rumor has it that Mullard made 12AU7's for GE, so ... Black plate with a square top getter and a date code of "C5" if that helps any.
PS ... I just saw a used GE branded 12AU7 go for $65 on that auction place!
Anyway ... came across it cleaning up the shop and figured what da hey. Pulled the RCA clear top I've been using as a center driver and ... wOw ... just ... wOW ... sound stage is much wider, and everything is much tighter top to bottom. Great combination that makes it sound like a whole new amp.
Well ... it IS a whole new amp, but ...
So, right now, the magic combo is the Marconi in the middle, RCA clear tops on the sides, a quad of Psvane KT88's, and the WZ68 copper cap. I think I'll be keeping this set for a bit ...
Anyone wants to give it a try ...
http://www.partsconnexion.com/cgi-bin/sc/productsearch.cgi?search_field=marconi%2012au7