Tung-Sol 12AX7 (ECC83) Preamp Vacuum Tube
From our review of this tube: "There are only so many ways to describe vacuum tube tone and most have become cliches. The Tung Sol 12AX7 preamp tube has the gain and drive of a Chinese 12AX7 and the pure tone of a Mullard or Brimar."
According to the manufacturer, this Tungsol 12AX7 is the Ultimate 12AX7. Big, warm, and musical. High Gain, ultra-low microphonics, and superb linearity with a dynamic 3-D sound.
One other note about the construction of these audio tubes is they have filaments that are almost completely encased in the plate structure. They don't "light up" brightly when working properly.
Note to audiophiles: These tubes are great for linestage preamps, but generally not phono stages where a very low noise floor is required.
Other Tung-Sol tubes 
12AX7 TypesAdditional Information and Downloads
Reviews:
12AX7 Tube Review
Tube Matching Information:
Matched Sections Service
Downloads:
Tung-Sol 12AX7 Datasheet (PDF)
Download Adobe Acrobat PDF reader
Warranty Information and Return Policy
Warranty Period: 3 monthsAll our tubes are guaranteed for 3 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 90 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
41 reviews
Warmth and Emotion
by Michael A.
This is my choice in 12AX7 tubes for the pre’ section drivers of my twin stereo power amps… I’ve tried a few including the Tung-Sol Gold (see my review of the Golds) but these tubes continue to delight me. They have very nice extended and articulate bass (maybe too much for some listeners) with beautiful lower midrange and an upper midrange and treble that I find very good. The soundstage is nice and open with height, width and depth. In my system these tubes present a warmth and an emotion that completely engage me and that I can listen to tirelessly. I highly recommend them.
Not good in Engl E530
by Andre R.
I’ve try these in my E530 preamp and they do really sound like crap
It’s horrible!
The clean chanel became harsh and awful and the overdrive chanel was even worse , couldn’t stand that crappy sound any longer so I replaced the TS by JJ ECC83’s gold pins and Wow 😮 Sooo much better ! Everything is perfect now.
I do not recommend this Tung-Sol for anyone using Engl preamps at all and stay away from them.
Thanks to thetubestore for the awesome customer service
Killer tone for all kind of metal
by Andre R.
Little noisy when pushed really hard but what a F***g killer tone WoW 😮
Really impressed
By the way: Awesome customers services at TS
Ok, but .... too many issues
by Vinny
It sounds good, but nothing magical about it. The problem is everyone I ever had either died in the cathode follower position, started humming or became microphonic. Save your money and buy the Preferred Series 7025. It's a much better sounding tube and seems to last.
The Missing Piece
by Jake D.
I was shopping around for the perfect V1 tube to shape the tone of my Soldano Hot Rod 100+ and found The Tube Store had these Tung-Sol 12AX7s in stock so I ordered one of them and some other tubes to complete the retube job. All I can say is that I will no longer have to shop around because this tube has created the very sound I had in my head. Absolutely perfect! This tube released the true beast inside this amp and I'll never use a different combination ever again! Thanks to The Tube Store I found the only store I'll ever need for amp tubes! The shipping was incredibly fast too!