StickMan
Experienced
I know this has been mentioned here before, but I was surprised how big a difference the preamp hardness made on the sound when comparing preamp tube types. I was auditioning the Sylvania v. JJ 12AX7A, and I noticed that the hardness reset when you changed the tube type. The JJ was running at 7.0 and the Sylvania at 8.4. This really evens out the differences between the tube types, and if you pick some fixed spot to set the hardness at and reset it each time you change the tube types you can really hear the differences between the tubes better.
I feels like a harder preamp leads to a smoother, creamier distortion to me. Lowering the hardness yields a chimier, more brittle distortion.
I found that the JJ tubes in a CA Triptik Modern with the hardness pushed up over 8 was whole pile of smooth creamy goodness.
It's worth experimenting. I need to try it out in the Shiva model. I have a friend who has one of these, and the real thing has always struck me having that kind of distortion characteristic. Hopefully the AFX model does the same.
I feels like a harder preamp leads to a smoother, creamier distortion to me. Lowering the hardness yields a chimier, more brittle distortion.
I found that the JJ tubes in a CA Triptik Modern with the hardness pushed up over 8 was whole pile of smooth creamy goodness.
It's worth experimenting. I need to try it out in the Shiva model. I have a friend who has one of these, and the real thing has always struck me having that kind of distortion characteristic. Hopefully the AFX model does the same.