Tube Rolling my ST-120

I won in Fantasy Football... And I've been spending more then I should on tubes. My 2011 New Years resolution is to not buy tubes (no I'm not kidding)

The sound is full and rich in detail. I put the new Shuguang Treasure KT88 tubes in Wednesday night. I have to admit the bass was a bit pudgy. I ran the amp for 48 hours. Friday night I sat and gave it a good listen and it is working out nicely. The bass is clean, full and fills the room. I'm digging it.

I don't know if these are better then the New Issue Gold Lion KT88.

I also got a Siemens 12AT7 in the VTA center spot. That is a nice tube in that spot. I'm not good with describing sound so I won't try... I just plugged this in and it sounded great.

++ Two Raytheon JAN CRP 12AT7WA Triple Mica Black Plates (matched pair in phase splitter spots)
++ 12AT7 / E81CC Siemens - triple mica, dual post getter (Voltage spot on VTA)
++ Sylvania 5AR4/GZ34 Big Bottle-Fat Boy
++ Shuguang Treasure 'Black Bottle' KT88-Z

PS -

I purchased the Raytheon JAN CRP 12AT7WA and the Sylvania Big Bottle GZ34 from -
http://www.nostubestore.com/

The 12AT7 tubes in particular were in great shape and the price was nice.

I also got a Really good price on the Sylvania GZ34 but that tube did have some signs of use.

If anyone is looking to try some new 12AT7's I'd look at this source. I don't see much for power tubes... Tons of 12AT7 options and good prices. I guess he is buying bulk cold war stock aroud Turkey where this business is (read his site for details)


It was a bit odd to order something from Turkey and it takes a while for the package to arrive but it is with the wait and the prices are nice. Koray is the guy running the business and is great to work with.

I also would go to www.tctubes.com as well. They sold me the 12AT7 / E81CC Siemens - triple mica, dual post getter. Not cheap but a perfect NOS tube. They operate out of St. Paul, MN and I met the couple who run it when I went to pick up the tube in person (work a few miles from them). They even invited me in to see the ST70 that they have. Not a VTA mod (Van Al-something) ;-)

I then got the Shuguang Treasure from Grant Fidelity of Canada. The woman working at Grant is the owner and she is nice to work with... Nice customer service.

Anyway.. thought I'd share... Tube rolling can be addictive! Quiting for a while is a must for my wife will soon kill me if I don't.