Greetings Everyone: As y'all know, I am in the process of working out some dates for an audio soiree here in the Shawnee Forest of Southern Illinois. However, this post is not about that. I am responding to both Scott F. and Electricbear's call for participation.
So... I'd like to tell you about a new tube that I just tried in my Eastern Electric MiniMax CDP. It is a NOS Cryo-treated Russian Vokshod "Rocket Logo" 6H23. The Russian 6H23 substitutes for 6922 and ECC88 varieties. This tube bettered my NOS 1968 ECC88 Telefunken as well as my NOS 1969 Amperex-Phillips ECC88s in that particular player by a significant margin. This is not a light claim, as the above tubes are well known, highly respected, often sought and pricey to boot. Oh... I found the Russian tubes from a seller in Florida for only $35 a pair. Sweet!
The seller's name is Tom Scata and his moniker is
thetubeguy1954@yahoo.com. Here's an excerpt from my email to Tom after he requested my personal feedback:
The 6H23 are smoother and more natural sounding. To my ear the 6H23 tubes resolve better and provide a more coherent presentation across the board. This is not a light claim, especially against the Telefunkens. Also, I believe that the soundstage is deeper and the background noise is quieter with the 6H23. The presentation of the 6H23 Russian tubes is one of texture, sparkle, depth, air plus punch and coherency.
Perhaps the Telefunkens reveal a bit more detail, but it is at the expense of a greater sense of "musicality"... that the 6H23s offer. Dare I say, because I don't really want to, but the Telefunkens almost sound etched or a little edgy in comparison to the 6H23s. This not the impression that I previously had of the Tele's, that was until I heard the 6H23s. The Amperex variety, which I also thought was a superior tube, sounds "harsh" compared to the 6H23. Mind you, I don't want to admit this. I stumbled into Tom through my readings on Tube Asylum and Audiogon. I had no affiliation with Tom until I bought his tubes, and his Russian 6H23 tubes replaced the only 6922 variety of tubes that I use in only one piece of equipment. My other tube gear use 12AU7s and 12AX7s.
If you want anymore info or my other experience with these tubes, just drop me a line. Or... I guess you can email Tom in Florida; he responds quickly.
Best regards,
Din
