Home Tubes Asylum

Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ

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

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


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Kimber Kable  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups


You can not post to an archived thread.