Northern Electric 12AX7 Preamp Vacuum Tube
The Northern Electric 12AX7 preamp tube is made with the highest quality materials. Everything is designed to give you unsurpassed audio quality. This tube has very large smooth plates. This design is much like a Telefunken 12AX7 / ECC83 smooth plate but a bit shorter. This design provides plenty of gain while maintaining an extremely low noise floor. It has been torture tested in a JTM 45, a Deluxe Reverb, anOrange 50 watt combo, and Bandmaster Reverb, with no failures or noise problems after hundreds of hours in clubs and studios. It doesn’t matter if you use an American or British design, this tube works.
In our listening tests it was easy to hear that the tube did not change the voice of the amplifier as some preamp tubes do. The Northern Electric enhances the sound across the entire spectrum. Our testers have reported no noticeable spikes or weakness in the lows, mids, or high end. The highs are very smooth with a balanced midrange response and warm, full bottom end.
Other Northern Electric tubes
12AX7 TypesAdditional Information and Downloads
Reviews:
12AX7 Tube Review
Tube Matching Information:
Matched Sections Service
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
40 reviews
Northern Electric Cool 12AX7's
by Mark Kinney -
I got these tubes today and they sound great! I have them in the v1 v2 very pleased with the tone of the 12ax7's. I have been using JJ ECC83 -S I love them too! So being that said I have the best of both now. The Tube Store rocks!
YES
by Barry
Just installed the matched pair on my fisher x202b in the preamp section….very nice, listening to one of my favorite Eric Clapton cds….Crystal clear…from my Klipsch fortes
Very good transparent,full frequency ,amazing tube.
by Gord Pritchard -
I have bought 3 of these Northern Electric 12ax7's over the last couple of years. One goes into V1 of a VoxAC30, another in an EVH V1 position, another in a recent Marshall Silver Jubilee combo. The Jube is the amp I just bought the Northern Electric 12ax7 for, and man ,does it shine ! I thought that amp sounded good before but now it really has some spank to it. This tube is cool because it really doesn't colour your amp...it is quite transparent. I know these seem expensive for a Chinese built tube, but believe me, they are worth every penny. I will continue to buy more in the years to come.
Big upgrade from the stock phono pre-amp tubes
by Scott -
Love these tubes. I'm on my second matched pair in a Pro-Ject Tube Box DS phono pre.
First set purchased in March of 2020. Put a lot of hours (at least 1500) spinning records during Covid-19. Noticed the set losing it's punch and dynamics, and more hiss from having to increase volume. Figured it was the tubes.
Ordered the second set of these NE's, matched, and within an hour of running them it was an obvious improvement -the system had it's mojo back and the music once again had that full, rich, vibrant sound, with noticeable instrument separation and dynamics.
I had put the stock tubes (maybe 50-80 hours on them) (not sure what brand they are) back in for reference and no comparison, the stock tubes are lifeless and harsh in comparison with the lush sound of the NE's.
Shout out the TheTubeStore support, too. I called to learn more about the gain ratings in relation to my pre-amp and the gentleman I spoke with was incredibly patient and informative. Couldn't be happier.
Poor reliability
by ivan
The poorest quality tube I’ve ever purchased. I purchase 2 of these to try in my zesto phono stage. The first problem was the output on one of the tubes was half the power of the other one as soon as it was plugged in. The service from Tube Store was fantastic. They replaced it quickly. Installed them back in again put about 5 hours on them. Then another tube became very noisy (major tube rush even at lower volume settings. I didn’t ask for another one cause I’m concerned this will never end. Too bad cause I think they may have been good sounding tubes.