Northern Electric 12AU7 Preamp Vacuum Tube

These NE-12AU7 tubes, to me, are kind of puzzling. When I first listened to them they were somewhat unlistenable. Very harsh vocal and highs. However I was determined to figure them out, so I just gave them more hours of play, so they did smooth out somewhat, but they sound different at different volumes. At low volume they're not too bad and the harshness isn't too noticeable, at moderate volume the harshness becomes noticeable again but now, at high volume they really shine. The soundstage isn't too wide but is deep. Separation of instruments is easy to detect and vocals are close to being spot on, both male and female. One can feel as though they're in the studio, or a club, A strong robust sound, nothing delicate about them. I have JJ, Mullard, Bugle Boy, RCA Cleartop, Gold Lion and National tubes to compare these to so from experience I reviewed the best that I could. YMMV. happy listening!

If a picture paints a thousand words, playing this Northern Electric 12AU7 tube produces a thousand reasons why you should buy these. How about balanced, airy, delicate, musical, quiet, great value, seductive, huge soundstage and better than about 90% of the NOS 12AU7 tubes I own? And again, all for a price that destroys the current pricing of NOS tubes. While I own well over 600 NOS tubes, I want current production tubes that are affordable and attainable because lets face it, NOS tubes are pricey, can be noisy, difficult to acquire and due to their age, prone to failure. And the Northern Electric 12AU7 is simply excellent. It is a musical tube that delivers on all fronts, and has you wondering why people spend a lot on NOS tubes when the NE 12AU7 is a true game changer. Let other people talk about their "Holy Grail" tubes, just get these and be done with the chase. After all, the NE 12AU7 has already won the race, the other tubes just don't know it but you will when you listen. Highly recommended!

I bought this NE-12AU7 preamp tube based on the existing reviews, and oh boy people were right about this one! I replaced a Genalex Gold Lion in my Bottlehead Mainline that was starting to reach the end of its life. Granted, an old tube will sound a little muddy, but I haven't ever gotten output this clear from my amp in the entire year I've owned it. ... And that's after only about 8-10 hours of usage on this particular tube. I'm really looking forward to hearing how it burns in!

These NE-12AU7 tubes really astound and provide beautiful midrange and texture. I appreciate the quality and reputation of this Canadian based company. Finally, I was overwhelmed by the packaging and everything reflected an impressive contribution to audio!

Good sound but short lived or poor QA.

Used on a Elekit TU8600s as pre-amp.

The sound is natural, clear, and musical.

As a matched pair, the right channel one faded to merely audible after 8 months of use, about 1200 hours, far under 12AU7 expected life of 5000-10000 hours (google 12AU7 life expectancy). Switching to another brand of similar price. Will bump the star back if same thing happened again - that could be my circuity problem. Will knock one more star if 12AX7 faded as well.

The other 12AU7, 12AX7 (also NE), and 300Bs (Genalex) all perform strong.