The 5 Best Chinese Vacuum Tubes (2023 reviews)

Compared with other tube in this category, the jj electronic chinese vacuum tube has a design with broader appeal. These are pretty much in the middle of the gain spectrum of EL84 tubes. It is great for hifi music and when pushed into distortion they have an amazing tone for guitar. The sound is exactly what you want in an EL84 and the tubes hold up very well. The pair of tubes have labels on them that say they are inspected and matched. The strings separation is more defined when playing chords.

This amp runs hotter than most, and even mesa's own EL84s end up redplating after a couple hours of playing, and sound mediocre up to then. The tube box is not bubble wrapped or secured against g-force stock. They are loud and clear but definitely show some mechanical noise and rattle. It is a great replacement for guitar amps or hi-fi.

Why We Like This:

Breath-taking, fuller low-end definitions when used with good, capable headphones
One of the new comers and featured product

Best Runner up: Kailas accessories Chinese Vacuum Tube

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The look and feel of this tubes are consistent with the high quality we're used to from the rest of Kailas Accessories's lineup. These little babies sound incredible. It is great to darken up a bright amp. They sound as nice as the Sovtek that they replaced in a guitar amp. They really add a nice warm thick tone but they still keep your overall tone incredibly clear. The clean gain stage sound very warm and present without any high-end harshness, but at about 12 o'clock on the gain, you start to get a rather nice break-up.

These are simply tubes pulled from available stock. It makes your amp sound new again. It provides is really pretty right on. It will be a great replacement in any amplifier requiring ecc83 or 12ax7 and many of their variants.

Why We Like This:

Not harsh, jagged distortion, but creamy, bluesy drive
Warm clean tones, nice gritty breakup
Great headroom and very musical, lush breakup
Good sounding tubes that have a ton of clean

Best For mic Preamp: Tung Sol Chinese Vacuum Tube

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The Tung-Sol ECC803s is a low noise version of the standard Tung-Sol 12AX. Compared to Electro-Harmonix, JJ Electronics, and the stock Chinese-manufactured tubes, these just have an unparalleled depth to them. The original tube sounds good, and the tungsol performs in clarity, warmth, punch, and detail. These are durable and will enhance your tone.

These are some of the best quality tubes you can get for pro-audio. The tube is quality made and sounds great. Warm in character with lots of detail, this tube is perfect for any hi-fi or musical instrument amp out there. This tube is such a gorgeous looking tube, and it sounds even better than it looks.

Why We Like This:

Works great nice mellow but with full tonal expression
Dual pedal, it comes stock with the sovtek
Gold pins adds a nice visual touch

Best sounding Tube: Genalex Chinese Vacuum Tube

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Genalex makes beautiful and great tube with classic and smartly choosen materials. THIS IS THE BEES KNEES,wonderful soundstage with Beyer Dynamics DT770 cans. This tube features superb linearity, balanced sections, and extremely low noise. It brings out the voices and the bass so it can take awhile to burn in the tube so if you are new to replacing the tube a week+ is normal. It also offers a great punch in the low end as well.

The high has some peaks that become rather fatiguing after 30 minutes or so of listening. There is great detail, instrument separation, and a punch to the bass that was not there before. The sound is bright and little forward. These are very noisy and unbalanced, and somehow run out life quickly. It is designed for the device you will use it in.

Why We Like This:

Sound is more rich and full
Great tube for rolling and experimenting
Super quiet, amazing detail and solid bottom end
Crystal clear sound with a wonderful defining character to it

Best longevity: Genalex Gold Lion Chinese Vacuum Tube

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These tubes are a considerable improvement over the 6N2 Chinese tube in a Dared MB-5BT headphone tube amp. Though the Tug Sol's is not bad sounding, these are just more detailed, cleaner, better/more detailed bass and still has that amazing tube sound. They sound better than the stock tubes but the bass is boomy, the highs are slightly lacking but the mids and vocals are more detailed. It reduces oxidation in the socket to add to that features balanced sections and gold plated pins.

If you want/need hot, these tubes are awesome. It will raise the height of the tubes so you can remove the tubes easily.

Why We Like This: