Sooooo.......I have had the stock JJs rolled in for around a week or so.
WONDERFUL !! They clearly are a better fit sound wise in this particular setup than the Mullards. Now i'm not going to say they are a better tube because that simply is not the case. It just works better in this setup... thats all.
It is NOT on par with the Amperex ,but for the price it is GREAT in this Phono stage.
The bass is as with the Amperex Very impactful and quick.
The midbass area is a little round sounding and a little" blurred". But quite nice sounding and easy on the ears.
Lower mids on up are smooth and detailed but is NOT on par with the Amperex
by any stretch of the imagination. It just doesn't have the refinement of the NOS tubes. But NOT bad overall and still very very listenable and enjoyable.
Various horns and wind instument sound great but a little lifeless in comparison to the Amperex. Overall very nice and if one never heard them with the other tubes you would never know you were missing a thing.
Cymbals etc. are detailed but a very tiny bit "crispy" sounding for lack of a better word. (again in comparison to the Amperex) but I have heard much worse.
The soundstage is wide left to right but is lacking a bit of depth.(again in comparison to the Amperex)
I at this point wish I hadn't listened to the Amperex first, as it really kind of spoiled the experience of reviewing the stock unit. Don't get me wrong, the JJs are a really great sounding tube in this unit.
The negative points pointed out above are very very minor, and as said before if I had not listened to the Amperex first I would have still been absolutely floored with this little unit. I hope it does not seem that this review comes off as negative as there is nothing negative about this phono stage.(at all)
Even with the stock new production tubes this thing plays WAY out of it's pricerange. I will be sad to see it go. But very much look forward to the next reviewers thoughts and listening impressions.
Now it's time to put the Amperex back in and enjoy my remaining time with this bad boy.