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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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In Reply to: Favorite 6DJ8 twin triode valves/ tubes posted by kathrynatrand@hotmail.com on March 22, 2014 at 17:43:25:
I have 2 preamps that use E88CC tubes, the Juicy Music Peach 2 in my main rig and a modified Vacuum Soundstage 2 in my system at work. It never ceases to amaze me how a specific tube will sound stellar in one while lack something in the other. I, like yourself have tried many of the numerous tubes from this family. At one time after I had bought the Peach back in 2008 I went about acquiring tubes to roll. Over about 8 months I bagged some nice used tubes as is my habit and then find out what I like and then stock up on it. These pairs were as follows:
Siemens E188CC halo getter
Siemens E188CC A frame getter
Siemens CCA halo getter
Valvo (made in germany) E188CC halo getter
Amperex-Heerlen E188CC VR0 D getter
Amperex-Heerlen E188CC VR1 D getter
Amperex-Heerlen E88CC 7L3 Pinched Waist D getter
Amperex-Heerlen E88CC 7L3 Straight Bottle D getter - extremely rare tube
Amperex-Heerlen E88CC 7L4 Straight Bottle D getter
Amperex-USA 7308 VR5 USN-CEP halo getter
Amperex-USA 6922 7L6 USN-CEP halo getter same as white label PQ
Amperex-USA 6922 7L8 green label halo getter
Amperex-Heerlen 6DJ8 GA2 Bugle Boy D getter
Amperex-Heerlen PCC-88 DJ2 7DJ8 Pinched Waist D getter
Phillips-Heerlen E188CC VR3 halo getter
Telefunken E88CC halo getter
I thoroughly listened to all of these in both preamps over a period of months and I came to these conclusions. Without getting too long winded :
1 : All the German tubes regardless of label were a little too cold and analytical for my taste. They certainly were great tubes that brought different things to the table you could kind of paint them with the same brush.
2 : In the Peach (which is a much more resolving component) the 7L3 and 7L4 tubes shined the brighest. They have the right mix of detail, dynamics,voicing and bottom end. Incredibly to me the VR0 and VR1 tubes sounded just the slightest bit veiled. The 7L6 and 7L8 tubes while being more dynamic than the German tubes leaned too far in that direction. The GA2 6DJ8's sounded a lot like the 7L4 E88CC's just not quite as refined. The DJ2 7DJ8's sounded a little veiled while having a little too fat and wooly bottom end. All the E188CC's sounded just the slightest bit thin when compared to the 7L3 and 7L4 tubes.
3 : In the Soundstage all the above observations pretty much were the same except here the 7L3 and 7L4 tubes sounded just the slightest bit soft and the Heerlen E188CC and the Hicksville 7308 tubes winning here. The E188CC are a smidge more dynamic while the 7308's have the slightest amount more detail.
After narrowing the finalists for the Peach I settled on the 7L3 and 7L4 straight bottles over the 7L3 Pinched Waist tubes. There is not enough difference in my rig to justify the cost of the PW tubes over that of the straight bottle D getters. Mind you the PW have a very slightly more refined sound and a little more bottom end, but not enough when balanced against cost. That being said there are 2 tubes that I would love to try if I can ever find and afford them: 1st is the 1st or 2nd revision Amperex PW marked 7L0 OR 7L1 with the 45 degree inclined D getter and made in Eindhoven as signified by a 6 where Heerlen uses the delta symbol. These are supposed to be just incredible tubes but are EXTREMELY rare and are $800.00 - $1200.00/pair when available. I have talked to people who have or have had these and they all claim a huge difference as opposed to the later 7L2 and 7L3 PW tubes due to different internal use of more precious metals in the construction. The other is the earliest Siemens E88CC, that being the one with the 45 degree inclined D getter. It supposedly has all the detail that German tubes are known for while being more Dynamic and not as sterile, $600.00 - $800.00 when you can find them.
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- RE: Favorite 6DJ8 twin triode valves/ tubes - wood1 11:54:04 03/23/14 (0)
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