Preferred Series 7025 / 12AX7 Preamp Vacuum Tube
This 7025 is a high quality and very rugged custom 12AX7 tube produced for us in China by the Shuguang factory. The plates are manufactured out of a premium metal imported from Germany and supported with extra thick mica spacers to insure against microphonics. They are burned in and tested at the factory and then again on our digital high voltage equipment to make sure the tubes selected for you will provide outstanding tone and performance.
From our review: "A great sounding 12AX7 tube type that reminds me a little more of the ECC83 that Ei made in the old days. That's a pretty nice compliment. I compared this tube against an old Ei and Telefunken smooth plate and there was very little difference. Lots of gain with a rather low noise floor. No microphonics issues at all. Very good considering the large plate size. Spot welding may be better for microphonics than crimped plates. I tried it in all the standard guitar amp duties and it was fine. Fabulous in Blackface Fender amps. We tried this 7025 in a 66 Vibrolux reverb 2x10 combo and the tones were all there. Light and shimmering or really aggressive, it's all good."
Warranty: The Preferred Series 7025 tubes carry a 6 month extended warranty.
Other Preferred Series tubes 
12AX7 TypesAdditional Information and Downloads
Reviews:
12AX7 Tube Review
Tube Matching Information:
Matched Sections Service
Downloads:
Preferred Series 7025 Datasheet (PDF)
Download Adobe Acrobat PDF reader
Warranty Information and Return Policy
Warranty Period: 6 monthsPreferred Series tubes have a 6 month warranty from 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 6 months, or are returned improperly.
These guidelines may be updated without notice.
Ratings & Reviews
86 reviews
This quad got noisy
by Ken
I purchased a matched quad of these preferred 12ax7 for the phono stage in my Copland preamp in Dec 2014. While they weren't the quietest tubes, I liked the tone and so there they have stayed for the past 10 months. In recent weeks I have noticed the my phono input has gotten noisy. Unlistenably noisy. I'll be trying something else this time around. I think they should be good for more than a few hundred hours.
7025
by Ken Harris
Great service and feedback from thetubestore. I found an original SWR Silverado 212 bass amp. After cleaning the scratchy pots I wanted a new tube just for preventive maintenance. I immediately noticed a drop in gain/volume compared to the stock tube. It was however very clean and quiet. The sound a little heavy in the mid range. I have used it at some very loud concert venues with great success. Loads of punch and clarity.
mixed review
by dang
first off: thetubestore.com customer service is OUTSTANDING! they are reliable, and highly ethical in their transactions. I had mixed experiences with The Preferred Series 7025 tubes. One was bad immediately; one went microphonic after very light duty usage. Jon sent me 2 replacements. So far, one sounds quite good, the other sounds even better: fuller, sweeter, nice balance of bright sparkle and sweet lows. I'd give the best tube a 5 star rating; because of inconsistent tubes, I rated them 3 1/2 stars overall. Modern tubes can be inconsistent. that seems to be the current situation. In any case, I will buy from thetubestore.com for future purchases again. Integrity counts.
Not good for high gain guitar :S
by Andy
The tube looks to be a fairly long plate and has nowhere near the gain of JJ's Engl, Sovtek. Overall a warm, soft tone.I do like high Gain Rock/metal but also look for warm chimey liquid cleans and nice low gain breakup / crunch, but it didn't do any of this for me in my gear.Engl E530 - V2 ( gain channel position ) - Gain dropped off, Sounded flat, blanket over the amp. JJ's stock 12AX7 killed it here.Engl E530 - V1 - Clean channel - flat, un-involving. Dirty Channel - Mehh smoothed of the frizzy top end with the stock Engl in V2, but dropped the gain overall and it lost some punch or power or something, Still not doing it for me.Blackstar HT Dist-X preamp pedal - Lower gain, flat, muddy. Didn't bother trying in my Blackstar HT-5.
Wow
by Chad Lewis
Let me start by saying that the Tube Store customer service is hands down, the best. I received two Preferred Series tubes. One went bad, but they gave me no hassle at all about replacing it. Now, my review on the one that is currently in V1 of my Pro Jr. I do not find the tube harsh at all. I find it to be very balanced in tone. I had a chance to crank the amp last night at church. After hearing my tone, it is now replacing my Marshall DSL that i have been using with Mullard preamp tubes. The Preferred Series 7025 tube was made for crunchy goodness!!!