The new Electro-Harmonix EF86 tubes are REALLY nice!

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I wasn't expecting much from the Electro-Harmonix EF86. Bought some out of curiosity. WOW was I surprised! I find modern 6922s simply useless, the Groove Mullard 12AX7 is tolerable, but the rest are not of much use to me. BUT, I liked the design of the E-H, and decided what the hell. I was expecting a SLIGHTLY better tube than those awful Sovtek/Svetlanas with the perforated nickle RF shield (or "plate" as it usually called) Instead, I got tubes that, right out of the box, reminded me just a little bit of NOS <> bottom Telefunkens. They were a long way off from that gold standard, but the were NOT obnoxious, and had real potential. After 100 hours of use, they have TOTALLY changed; they have a unique sonic character-- some of the hyper-analytical Telefunken quality, but also depth and soundstaging that I associate with Dutch Amperex. The treble is also reminiscent of Dutch Amperex; plenty of extension and great "ambience" I'm not saying they equal those fabled "best of breed" tubes, but they are really, really nice. They are especially good with vocals (Sinatra was right in the room!)and have killer bass. If every NOS EF86 on the planet vanished, I could be happy with these tubes. Best of all was the way they maintained a cohesive image with great micro detail and dynamics. This tube was a real shocker; while I would give Telefunken EF86 an A, Mullards and Dutch Amperex an A-, GEC CV4085 an A++, and Tungsram/Tesla/RFT (surprisingly good if you haven't tried them) a solid B, the E-H was actually a B+! Amazing tubes; they do clean tone superble and distort beautifully as demonstrated by a guitarist friend. If you own ef86 gear and are disheartened by crazy NOS prices, give these a try!

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Topic - The new Electro-Harmonix EF86 tubes are REALLY nice! - ARC 16:26:59 07/23/06 (1)

Re: The new Electro-Harmonix EF86 tubes are REALLY nice! - Eli Duttman 18:24:06 07/23/06 (0)

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