education needed please on vintage telefunken tubes

Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:06 pm by angelod307

so, i see there is quite a spread in price on these tubes. i see some go for up to 400 each, gold pinned and what not. i also saw someone mention that his tele's are from germany and not west germany. how can there be such a wide range in price. are a tele a tele or what? other than the gold pin ones, i think i saw 803's somewhere with them. what say all that know more than me. f1, brian, toms, etc - what say you....

Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:52 am by Snoop65

angelod307 wrote:so, i see there is quite a spread in price on these tubes. i see some go for up to 400 each, gold pinned and what not. i also saw someone mention that his tele's are from germany and not west germany. how can there be such a wide range in price. are a tele a tele or what? other than the gold pin ones, i think i saw 803's somewhere with them. what say all that know more than me. f1, brian, toms, etc - what say you....

West Germany is Germany. Germany was split into East and West after WW2 creating the Berlin wall. The wall came down in the 80's reuniting east and west. Now to the tubes. Telefunkens should always have a diamond made into the bottom of the glass. The standard Telefunken 12AX7's should have steel pins. There are two flavors of these tubes ribbed plate and smooth plate. The smooth plates (the ones I own) are very detailed with a large soundstage and excellent extension. To my ears not very warm, they have a more neutral sound. Now the ribbed plates (I am going by what I have been told) sound pretty much the same as the smooth plates just warmer. Should be able to find a matched pair NOS for about $180.00. Now on to the Telefunken 12AX7 803s. This is the one with the gold pins. Damn good sounding tube. These babies can go for $1000.00 a tube!!! Never saw one cheaper than $700.00. Super rare. You can also find the ribbed plate and smooth plates relabled as OEM's for Fisher. These can be had cheaper. Pm Chauss he can give more info about Telefunkens. I learned a lot from him.

Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:07 am by Snoop65

Here are some Telefunkens from Tctubes. I have bought lots of tubes from them.

http://tctubes.com/Telefunken-12AX7-ECC ... -pair.aspx

http://tctubes.com/Telefunken-12AX7-ECC ... -pair.aspx

Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:24 pm by Chauss

posted response in another topic---
http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=16615&start=15#p176135

Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:11 pm by Snoop65

Chauss wrote:posted response in another topic---
http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=16615&start=15#p176135

Figures.

Thu Aug 23, 2012 8:29 pm by angelod307

got my tele today, time to swap it into the sonic pre and hear the music.

Thu Aug 23, 2012 8:49 pm by Chauss

Snoop65 wrote:Figures.

Thanks for that vote of confidence Snoop! :-$

Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:47 pm by angelod307

thanks guys

now for the next question, i popped my cover on the sonic frontier, only to find that i have a 12at7 or 6dj8 depending on the jumper setting. so, at the moment i have a mullard cv 4024, which sonic said is a great tube in there pre. i don't have any other 12at7 , but do have a few ecc88/6dj8 tubes. who has used such tubes, and what is the shizznit a guy can have here.

Fri Aug 24, 2012 12:20 am by Snoop65

angelod307 wrote:thanks guys

now for the next question, i popped my cover on the sonic frontier, only to find that i have a 12at7 or 6dj8 depending on the jumper setting. so, at the moment i have a mullard cv 4024, which sonic said is a great tube in there pre. i don't have any other 12at7 , but do have a few ecc88/6dj8 tubes. who has used such tubes, and what is the shizznit a guy can have here.

Well with 12AT7's I would check with Chauss again. I have no experience with that tube. Now with the 6DJ8/6922 family there are lots of choices. It all depends what you are looking for. There are Telefunken 6922's . Expect to pay$ 190 and up per tube. Then there is the Siemens tubes which is another German tube. The Siemens Cca 6922 is the one to have. Expect to pay $190.00 and up for these. I just sold my pair to MRHP. A killer tube. Detail is the orderof the day with Siemens with excellent imaging. Next is Amperex. My favorite from them is the 6922 PQ. These are the tubes I am using in my Sunfire pre. Big soundstage,detailed and warm. Next I like the Amperex 6DJ8 orange globe. Similar to the PQ tubes in sound but you can get two of these between $40-80. 1 PQ can run you $150.00. The Amperex bugle boy 6DJ8 is another nice tube. Classic Amperex warm sound with really extended highs. Philips and Sylvania has some really nice JAN 6922 tubes. I feel the Sylvania's sound the best of the two. Millard makes some nice tubes too but I have never tried them. I hope I helped you.

Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:37 am by Zoot Horn

Consider the Tele 5965 long plate--you might want to contact Brent Jesse,,it is touted as the best of the best 12AT7 varients,,if you are looking for detail,,then this is your tube. Good luck!!