Thank You Snow!

inspiredsports

I'd planned on rolling back through my lineup of 12AT7 / ECC801S's to give the Telefunkens a rest anyway, . . .

. . . then it "Snowed" !!! :biggrin: Dan made me an offer I couldn't refuse on a perfect matched quad of Siemens ECC801S's.

They arrived late yesterday, and I just plugged them in this AM. I've been enjoying them for hours now and these make for some mighty fine signal tubes in front of my NOS GE 6L6GC blackplate power tubes. I'm just getting to know their sonic signature right now and will post more later.

(interesting note as to how closely the Siemens are matched: I bias the VTL at 285mv and it rarely moves even over very long periods of time (George noted the same when he owned it). I warmed up the Siemens tubes and the bias readings were 282, 279, 283, 283.

inspiredsports

The four 12AT7/ECC81/ECC801S/7062/6414/M1862/CV4024 used on my VTL ST-50 are the signal tubes and that's where these Siemens ECC801S's play.

I also have the following matched quads for the VTL:

Amperex 7062 foil getters
Valvo (generic) ECC81
Valvo (Hamburg) ECC81
Telefunken ECC801S
GE 6414
Sovtek 12AT7
RCA 12AT7WA 3 mica blackplate
Mullard Mitchum Shield Logo M1862/CV4024/12AT7/ECC81

In my humble opinion, the Telefunkens still hold the top spot, with the Mullard's/RCA's/Valvo (Hamburg's) in a close 3-way tie for second. The Siemens are very, very close to the three 2nd place contenders coming in at 5th, but the difference fro 1st to 5th is subtle.

The Siemens ECC801S's are great-sounding, affordable tubes!

falconcry72

Congrats, man!

I'm just getting into rollin' myself, and it has added a totally new dimension to the hobby. Fun stuff. Expensive stuff. Ah, who cares, you only go around once, might as well roll some tubes.

F1nut

Ah, tube talk......how refreshing!

heiney9

Greg,

I believe I mentioned this before in a PM but you really need to seek out some early GE 6829 industrial tubes. They are similar or identical to the E180CC/7062 family. The GE 5 Star are 3 mica, long plate and they can be microphonic. These were used primarily in computers. I have 2/pr from the late 50's, a 5 Star version and a "JG" version. I was able to corral the microphonics using 2 sets of dampers.

These sound fantastic, similar to the TFK 5965. Huge, I mean HUGE soundstage, great bass, vivid vocals and detailed yet laid back highs. The highs remind me of what the ring radiator tweeter sounds like in the LSi's. They aren't super common, but they are inexpensive.

I am close to pulling the trigger on a pair of TFK 6211's, another rare long plate TFK similar to the TFK 5965 and rarely available stateside. But Jim McShane states, like 5965's, they are highly microphonic for Hi-Fi use. They aren't cheap so I'm not sure I want to lay out a lot $$$ for a pair if they are microphonic.

H9

heiney9

Another absolute must try is the 50's Raytheon 6414 3-mica, black plate with the "D" or Horseshoe getter. These are another fantastic tube and early Raytheon tubes are the bomb. The prices for these can be all over the place, but in general they aren't really expensive if you hunt around. Some sellers are dreaming when they ask $110 for a pair. I didn't pay more than $45 for each pair I have.

When you state Valvo (generic) what does that mean? They are a Philips tube so there is only a handful of places they can be made. Although some Siemens Munich tubes have been known to have a Valvo logo.

The Hamburg made Valvo's are special, but the other Valvo tubes are excellent as well since they were made in Holland or England or Munich.

If you are looking for a tube with some extra soundstage capabilities don't over look the 50's GE 6201 3 mica 5 Star tubes. The bass can be just a tad sloppy, but the soundstage with SDA's is almost unreal.

H9

inspiredsports

heiney9 wrote: »

Greg,

I believe I mentioned this before in a PM but you really need to seek out some early GE 6829 industrial tubes. They are similar or identical to the E180CC/7062 family. The GE 5 Star are 3 mica, long plate and they can be microphonic. These were used primarily in computers. I have 2/pr from the late 50's, a 5 Star version and a "JG" version. I was able to corral the microphonics using 2 sets of dampers.

These sound fantastic, similar to the TFK 5965. Huge, I mean HUGE soundstage, great bass, vivid vocals and detailed yet laid back highs. The highs remind me of what the ring radiator tweeter sounds like in the LSi's. They aren't super common, but they are inexpensive.

I am close to pulling the trigger on a pair of TFK 6211's, another rare long plate TFK similar to the TFK 5965 and rarely available stateside. But Jim McShane states, like 5965's, they are highly microphonic for Hi-Fi use. They aren't cheap so I'm not sure I want to lay out a lot $$$ for a pair if they are microphonic.

H9

Hey Brock, I've got a line on some GE JG-6829 triple mica's as pictured below. Is this what you are talking about ??

heiney9

inspiredsports wrote: »

Hey Brock, I've got a line on some GE JG-6829 triple mica's as pictured below. Is this what you are talking about ??

Yep, those or the 5 Star's. Warning, they tend to be microphonic so be sure to have a couple pairs of dampers on hand and perhaps ask the seller if they test for microphonics. They shouldn't be too awfully expensive so if you can't tame them you won't be out a lot of $$$.

H9

inspiredsports

Thanks. I have an arsenal of Herbie's on hand, and I think I will have under $6 a tube invested if this deal comes together so it's all good.

inspiredsports

Post #10 mannsingh4567 reported as spam

inspiredsports

heiney9 wrote: »

Yep, those or the 5 Star's. Warning, they tend to be microphonic so be sure to have a couple pairs of dampers on hand and perhaps ask the seller if they test for microphonics. They shouldn't be too awfully expensive so if you can't tame them you won't be out a lot of $$$.

H9

Oh my! The Matched quad of "Industrial/Military" GE 6829's arrived last night.

Not a hint of microphonics (don't know how they could be with those short plates, copper support rods and triple mica construction).

They are smooth, precise and accurate.

Brock, you are right on again! I had a quad of Valvo ECC81's in there which challenge my Telefunken's and I've considered the Valvo's/Mullard's/RCA's close equivalent seconds.

I don't have enough time in to make a final judgement, but the early line is these just may be sitting in the #2 spot all by themselves (for an amazing 7-10% of what you will pay for a tightly matched quad of the ECC801S Telefunkens).

I need to revisit the Mullards again as they are very secial tubes also.

inspiredsports

The seller offered me another quad of the GE's (tube pictured in my post #7 above).

The quad is almost perfectly matched, but measures about 10% less than the first NOS quad and she priced so cheap she almost gave them to me.

This quad is slightly microphonic if you give them a tap with a pencil, but absolutely quiet with a single Herbie's Ti9 damper. The irony is that they actualy sound better (deeper soundstage) than the NOS quad. I'm thinking the NOS quad isn't broken in as I've only had them in place for about 20 hours of listening.

At any rate, my question is, "How in the bloody heck can a short, compact, triple plate tube be microphonic ???"

heiney9

I dunno why you think these are short plates...............compare them to and tiny wing type 12AT7 plate. They are long plates for this type of tube configuration same as the 7062, E180CC, 6414 and 5965 and I would even suspect the same size plate as a 6211. Nothing compact about those plates, the tube envelope is 20% taller to accomidate the plates, etc.

They are a very sweet sounding and excellent tube considering most audiophiles haven't really discovered them yet. They have a lot similarities to the 3 mica GE 6201 5 Star tubes. Just a workhorse computer tube in it's former life. :cheesygrin:

H9

inspiredsports

I guess you are right about them not being as short as I'm making them out to be. I've been working with some tall, thin Valvo 9-pin ECL 82 tubes in my Akai 1710 Reel to Reel amp section that are the same diameter and the plates are about 2" long. It makes these look short by comparison.

I've got my Dire Straits "On Every Street" CD popped in right now and it sounds might fine on these 6829's !!