Northern Electric 12AU7 Preamp Vacuum Tube
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12AU7 TypesAdditional Information and Downloads
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Warranty Information and Return Policy
Warranty Period: 6 monthsAll our tubes are guaranteed for 6 months from the date of purchase. (Any exceptions will be noted on that tube's Warranty tab)
If you receive a tube that does not perform to the manufacturer's specifications, please do the following:
- contact us to get a return authorization
- return it via regular mail within 180 days from when we shipped it, and we will provide an exchange or refund of the full purchase price of the tube.
Returns not related to warranty or defect will be considered at our discretion, and are subject to a 15% restocking fee.
We can not accept returns that don't have an authorization, are past 3 month, or are returned improperly.
These guidelines may be updated without notice.
Ratings & Reviews
12 reviews
Northern Electric 12AU7 | Stunning clarity on my Bottlehead Mainline
by Joel -
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!
Northern Electric 12AU7 | My expectations were exceeded !
by Thomas F -
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!
Northern Electric 12AU7 | Great sound, short lived.
by Yi F.
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.
Northern Electric 12AU7 | Perfekte Röhre
by Dave -
Großartige Röhre, habe die Standardröhre im Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister Silver signature ersetzt.
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Great tube, replaced the standard tube in the Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister Silver signature.
Northern Electric 12AU7 | What a pleasant surprise!
by Ray M. -
I'm 62 and I've owned and rolled a LOT of tubes in my life. Like so, so many it's absolutely ridiculous not to mention expensive. But man, these babies are a certain kind of sweet. I'm astonished at how resolving they’ve become after a couple of weeks of break-in.
Two matched pairs of NE-12AU7 are currently in the signal path of an xDuoo T-20 balanced tube headphone amp fed by a Topping D90 DAC. At the opposite end is a pair of Hifiman Arya planar magnetic headphones. The sound is nothing short of glorious.
I hadn't heard of this tube manufacturer until I happened upon some glowing reviews. In my humble opinion, Northern Electric is a brand that can and does hold its own against the best of Mullard, Golden Lion, Psvane, Electro-Harmonix, and Tung-Sol. Nice job.
Finally, a special shoutout to the Tube Store for matching, carefully packaging and shipping these precious little gems to me. Much appreciated.