Tubes Asylum

'Such dense tones and textures.' Very well described! *

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In Reply to: RCA 5963 BP posted by Jon L on February 18, 2007 at 12:08:21:

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Re: 'Such dense tones and textures.' Very well described! * - posbwp55@msn.com 17:27:37 02/18/07 (2)
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.
Bart
- Re: 'Such dense tones and textures.' Very well described! * - tvr2500m 14:23:28 02/21/07 (0)
  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
- Great post. My experience has been that .... - PureAudio 06:02:44 02/19/07 (0)
  ...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.

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