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Trying the Tungsram E88CC in the Audio Research SP10





PHOTO: Main System: Oracle III_SME V / Cambridge Audio 640C / McIntosh MR67 > Audio Research SP10 > ARC D115 > Vandersteen 2C. Oneac 11 amp power conditioner. No audio connection to TV,..

Chuck Y!

It happened that V9 and V10 were the reason I changed tubes on the SP10- V9, a Sovtek in the SP10 since 1991 was becoming noticeably noisy. When shopping for the 6922 I wanted to eventually use in the Audio Research SP10, I tried the original pair of Tungsram E88CC in V9 and V10, which are the line stage gain tubes. To evaluate the Tungsram, I used on the line level a Cambridge Audio 640C v.2 CD player and a 1989 Revox B160 solid state tuner. It was that positive experience that prompted me to buy a pile- 28- of the Tungsram.

However, when I eventually did my first major tube changes to the SP10, I used a pair of Amperex E188CC / 7308's in V3 and V4 and Valvo E188CC for V9 and V10 and Tungsrams for the 6- non-gain tubes, V5-V8 and V11, V12. V1 and V2- the first phono positions are Gold Aero MC phono selected Amperex E188CC that were put in about 1991- they're still almost 95%!

The Tungsram sound was dynamic and transparent generally, only a tiny bit warmish, one of the few tubes that seemed to have a lot of the qualities of the tube it was supposed to have been based on - the Siemens E88CC. Certainly, it had a deeper, wider image, and seemed more nimble and with a fuller timbre than the Sovtek. The energetic but slightly liquid quality of the Tungsram is the reason I thought it would do well in tube CD player output stages and it gave a very attractive quality to the very neutral B160 tuner. They are know to be tough too- supposedly lasting as well under the conditions as the Sovtek and EH. Then and still, I feel the Tungsram is probably too good for secondary, cathode follower use and the EH6922 would work as well. I think of the Tungsram as a serious gain position tube. They're very quiet too and the ones I bought dating from 1968 to 1979 had the triode sections measured by Zeitmann as equal to 1-3%, as close as I've ever seen.

In the right place, I think these are are a bargain. They do take a bit of time to burn-in perhaps 50-60 hours. As I have some new interconnects (Audioquest King Cobra) and speaker wires (AQ Rocket 88) on the main system- I changed too many things at once- I'm still waiting for everything to settle down, but I can hear the potential.

Cheers,

Bambi B




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