Mesa Owners..Tubes

[Casper]

I ordered a whole compliment of Mesa tubes for my DC-5 (6) 12AX7s and (2) 6L6s. I plugged them all in last night and was mildly dissapointed at the amount tof hiss/noise I am getting even at bedroom volumes.
Now I have read that Mesas tubes are as good as any on the market, but other posts say JJ's and GTs are quieter.
For those with more experience than I, what do you recommend. My tech just went through the amp and didn't find anything suspicious, so I am assuming its the tubechoice I made. Looking for a quiet/durable situation. Your thoughts are appreciated..
Shaun

[ConnemaraGuitar]

Hiya, Casper. Bummer.

If you really want to get overwhelmed by choices go the the TubeDepot web site and check out their offerings. You can pay between $18 and $100 for a matched pair of 6L6s and between $12 and $150 for a single 12AX7!

You did the right thing to seek advice from forum members...they're real pros at this stuff!

These reviews from the TubeDepot web site:

http://www.tubedepot.com/6l6reviews.html
http://www.tubedepot.com/12ax7reviews.html

[csd]

did your tech re bias the amp with the new power amp tubes? even though they are matched, it may need biasing.

[Ahess86]

Unless I'm mistaken, a DC-5 doesn't have an adjustable bias. Mesa recommends that you buy their matched tubes to replace what it came w/ from the factory. I always thought it seemed like they were trying as hard as they could to make you think that you should buy tubes from them and only them.

[dannopelli]

Mesa's are like a lot of amps that "don't need biasing." Not so sure how true that really is. I am also not sure they even have bias pots inside. You'll have to ask Tommy.

But for what it's worth Shaun, I went through the same thing with Mesa tubes. I had a Nomad for a while, (I KNOW! DON'T LAUGH), as well as have had a few Mark I's. I also have a bunch of Mesa tubes that I use as "temporary replacements." In other words, if a tube goes bad it is in my gig bag to pop in for the night, until I can get a better one. I just don't know why I buy from them every time I get a Mesa amp, because I have no luck.

For my money I have had consistent quality from Groove tubes. I really like their 12AX7 C's for preamps in Mesa amps. And the their Mullard is pretty cool too.

[Stevenems]

I just bought new tubes for my Crate and I couldn't be happier.

I read reviews of different tubes at http://thetubestore.com/12ax7review.html and then bought a matched set of JAN-Philips 5751s to replace the SovTech 12AX7s that the amp came with. The 5751s were much quieter and, IMHO, have a very nice sounding distortion too, which is pretty much what the review said.

I also bought a matched set of JJ EL84s that are also a step up from the GTs that were stock. My amp is now extremely quiet and has a very nice, voxy chime on the clean channel. It's a completely different and better amp now than when it was new.

You can read thetubestore's 6L6 review here: http://thetubestore.com/6l6templeton.html

~Steve

[pipedwho]

Mesa uses a fixed bias arrangement for the power tubes and gets away without bias pots by supplying tubes that have been pre-tested to be within the appropriate bias range for their circuit topology.

You can order any power tube from the Tubestore/Tubedepot/Tubedoctor/etc, but make sure you tell them which amp its for. If you say Mesa DC-5, they'll send you a set of tubes that match Mesa's specs.

For preamp tubes, it doesn't matter, any tube will do.

I really liked the sound of the Tung-sol reissues in my DC-3, but that's an EL84 amp, so YMMV. Also, +1 on the JJ-EL84s, they are my 'go to' tube for this amp.

[Babow2]

Hi,
I live in Petaluma, home of Mesa, and have played Mesa amps exclusively since 1981. I've owned two Mark series, two Recto series, a Lonestar, a Nomad and my Heartbreaker over the years. I have never used Mesa tubes to replace older tubes. In fact, (and don't tell this to my buddies down the street at MB) usually the first thing I do is swap out the Mesa tubes for JJ's or TADs. So, I have 27 years of defying Randy Smith's assertion that you should use Mesa tubes. I find JJ's and TAD's to be smoother, quieter and more natural sounding than Mesa tubes. In fact, my current favorite is the TAD 6L6-GC.

So, for what it is worth, try other tubes.
Brent

[Suriel Zayas]

Not so sure how true that really is.

their amps leave the factory with what i call "cold bias settings," mesa calls it self-biasing. in other words, the tubes run at the coldest level of the bias spectrum, which defeats the purposes of installing good tubes, if you'll never run the tubes in warmer to the hotter side of the biasing spectrum.

[Casper]

Wow! Thanks so much for everyones input. When I sent this out to you folks yesterday I also sent the same message out to eurotubes and dougs tubes.
Thier respective responses are interesting and I'll share those in a sec.
I forgot I had a box of various 12AX7s from years past (for my C30) in my closet and pulled them out.
I set the amp to slightly hotter than bedroom volume, flat eq and plugged in.
Let the current Mesa setup burn in for about 6 hours and would listen to it variably. I then started swapping out V1 & V2 with JJ, Sovtek and GTs that I happen to have 2 of each (I actually have enough to have a different brand in every socket!) The GTs appear to quiet the hiss down noticably. JJs less and sovteks even less..which makes me wonder if GTs might be the deal?

Bob at eurotubes is wonderful and was very informative as always. JJs are great tubes and he makes a good case. Doug at dougs tubes recommended an amalgamation of Tungsol, JJ, Penta, Sovtek and SEDs (for 6L6), but his recomms were for highgain/metal..which I don't play..and he wasn't very forthcoming on why I need these.
I am going to look into the tubedepot as well. Just thought I would share my quest. I don't know much beyond my ears and I appreciate everyone's opinion and will weigh accordingly..updates to follow! Cheers! Shaun

[irish blues]

some others I have dealt with:

http://www.tejastubes.com/

http://www.kcanostubes.com/content/

http://www.audiotubes.com/

http://www.cryoset.com/catalog/

[ConnemaraGuitar]

Shaun-
Knowledge that extends beyond your own ears is useless knowledge. Unless you're a consultant, in which case you need no knowledge whatsoever. Probably don't even need ears.

[mdrs]

Shaun-
Knowledge that extends beyond your own ears is useless knowledge. Unless you're a consultant, in which case you need no knowledge whatsoever. Probably don't even need ears.

LOL :D Love it!!

[Casper]

Well, after hearing from various guru's on here and dealers. I have decided to use what I have. I put 2 JJ ECC83s in V1 and V2, 2 GT12AX7A in V3 and V4 and left the mesas in V5&V6. It is considerably quieter. I may switch the GTs and JJs around in a few weeks to see if I hear any difference. Since I've not had the amp long enough to make informed judgements, I thought it better just to wait and see how this arrangement plays out for a few gigs. If anything, I'll try the SED 6L6GCs, three dealers suggested they are consistently better than most old 6L6s out there and have gotten great reviews.
Thank you everyone for your help and advice :D
Shaun

[barfly]

I had no luck with the MESA tubes. Personally I think their tubes stink. I heard of a guy (doug's tubes, you can google his site) and spoke with him.. got his recommendations for my Lonestar and for my David Bray modified Marshall JCM-800-2210 and have not looked back! I also got preamp tubes for my Soldano Supercharger GTO from Doug. I am very happy with the switch. :)