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You don't really think Mullard 10M Tubes simply have gold pins...?

Posted by Interstage Tranny on June 25, 2012 at 18:33:26:
Mullard 10Ms might not sound special to you, in your systems, but they are definitely very special tubes.

For a manufacturer to guarantee a tube for two straight years and design for a 10,000 hour life, the gold pins are not a simple decoy. These tubes are indeed very special and commanded very stringent manufacturing tolerances. At the same time Mullard made these 10M tubes,(not the late '60s early '70s IEC branded tubes), Mullard also offered laboratory matched pairs of output tubes with a simple 90 day warranty. Obviously, to suggest we could use these 10M tubes for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, guaranteed for two solid years, in studios and sound reinforcement duty, these have got to be special tubes. Do the math and then you will say wow ! 8,760 hours over two years, which would not be uncommon in a 24/7 sound studio during the magical tube era, is quite a guarantee.

1000 hours a year represents something like 20 hours a week for 50 weeks. Ten years of this for 10,000 hours is quite a feat. Now, many of us know that vintage Mullards, both small plate and long plate, can last decades; easily. But, have we or the former owners of these classic tubes listened with those tubes for 4 hours a day for 50 weeks a year, ten years in a row ? I doubt it. The fact that Mullard specified great specs, like low noise, for 2 solid years, designed for 10K hours, these 10Ms must be special.

If you watch the prices on epay, 10M ECC83s, all small plate BTW, fetch some crazy prices; new or used. The end-user buyers are thrilled to score these tubes. These tubes are definitely not simply manufacturer tested pulls with gold pins.

Concerning their sonic value, they do sound like typical small plate Mullards, at most listening levels. However, step-up the gain to mic preamp or guitar amp overdrive usage and you will undoubtedly realize these are special low-noise tubes. These days, finding matched pairs of even good used ECC-83 or ECC-82 10M examples is quite a pricey expenditure.