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... I noticed in your 12au7/ecc82 offerings you don't have any 5963's. I've plenty of those so your other offerings got my attention. But I've always considered the 5963 RCA black-plate to be one of the all-around most enjoyable tubes where I need a 12au7, with the Japanese 5963's also very nice.Any particular reason you don't stock any of the various 5963's? Just curious, really.
Follow Ups:
is indeed a sleeper. Such dense tones and textures.. If it had a teeny more treble extension and a hair more refinement, it would BE the tube to beat IMHO...
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Wow what a timely discussion. I have gone through a bunch of rare and expensive 12AU7 types in the last year. I have sought and found the very rare Siemens triple mica silver plate, Mazda 6189 silverplate 3 mica, 7316 D getters, (several varieties of the this type), Amperex long plate ECC82 D getter, Siemens ECC82 silver plate,
Valvo 6189, Valvo ECC82 45 degree getter (D and round), Siemens 5814A (exact construction as E82CC but with gray plates instead of silver), CBS 7318, and others. Today I tried some 12AU7 types that have sat in my closet for months. The Raytheon 5814 triple mica blackplate bent square getter (this has displaced the Siemens triple mica silver plates and Mazda 6189 silver plate as my new favorite).
I also tried the RCA 5963 blackplate square getter and was wowed. I initiallly thought it better than the rest (intoxicating sound) but as the day wore on the Raytheon 5814's were still king. The RCA's as described by the original poster lack that final bit of refinement but what a huge luscious soundstage. A big time bargain and probably the perfect fit for an overly analytic system. The lesson is, before you chase the big buck legendary ultra rare tubes,
don't overlook the humble American tubes. They are truly the Rodney Dangerfield of tubes and commonly cream the big European names.
Wrote posbwp55@msn.com, "The lesson is, before you chase the big buck legendary ultra rare tubes, don't overlook the humble American tubes."Agreed. As much as possible, listen with an open mind and ears. And, it can take spending a lot of money to learn that you don't have to spend a lot of money to get the audio you enjoy. That cost of experience applies to so many things. Is there a way to convert experience equity to cash? Does the principle of the experience curve mean that life gets less costly as we gain greater experience? ;)
- SJ
...many of the tubes you describe (while certainly great tubes) draw my attention to specific strengths at which they excel quite noticeably. Tubes like the 5963 bp and the best 5814's provide a fine overall presentation in a way that I'm happy keeping them in my gear for a long time without feeling the urge to try something new.
5963 is a fine tube in many applications as you have mentioned. Since there are a lot of hidden costs in running a web store, it is not cost effective for us to sell tubes that in the $5-$15 range. This includes a lot of otherwise very fine American made 12AU7 variants from 1950s-1970s with a plenty of supply in the market.
as much as I have enjoyed the sound of many 5963s, I was surprised at how quickly they'd die on me. Of course, YMMV, but I have shied away from these for a long time now.
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