[speltz]

I purchased a PS Audio BHK Signature preamplifier and it is my first piece of tubed gear. It's feeding a Bryston 4B3.

I'm delighted to say that the tubes eliminate the glassy treble tone that is hard to escape in a purely solid state system. Now to experiment with some tube rolling. I have a matched pair of 1950s E88CC Philips tubes on order.

[Chewbacca]

Welcome to AC!

I found a tube preamp with a solid state amp to be my favorite combo! With 12au7 tubes I leaned towards the Amperex line.

I gave a quick overview of my impressions of different tubes I used to the buyer of my Odyssey Candela:

RCA Cleartop: great highs, and high end shimmer. I found them light on the mid and low bass. Didn’t have the punch I wanted.

Brimar: these are very similar to Mullards. Classic British tube! Great mids! Really punch where the cleartops don’t. But I think they’re missing the sub-sonic bass region. Top end is there, but they don’t extend as far as the RCAs. Very good for rock music!

Amperex: probably my favorite tubes. They are very good all around. Probably the best for imaging. They have very good bass. May be lacking in mid details possibly. Very good for electronic music!

CBS Hytrons: these guys are amazing! I have two or three pairs. BUT, I don’t have any that are in good condition. I believe all of them buzz. These are basically extinct, and if you can find a pair, I’d HIGHLY suggest it!

Telefunken: the most expensive tubes I have. Definitely one of the best. Possibly the most balanced of all the tubes. If they excel in anything I’d say micro detail. And they just do everything else very well. But mine are on the back end of their life unfortunately.

I'm sure this is VERY subjective to what preamp you use specifically. So YMMV, but I'm sure it's "generally" the same....ish

Hope that gives you a little insight to your tube rolling journey!

[speltz]

Welcome to AC!

… a quick overview of my impressions of different tubes I used to the buyer of my Odyssey Candela:

… I'm sure this is VERY subjective to what preamp you use specifically. So YMMV, but I'm sure it's "generally" the same....ish

Hope that gives you a little insight to your tube rolling journey!

Thanks, Chewbacca! I found a PS Audio forum where users are commenting on the tubes they’ve tried. At least some of those folks were particularly impressed by Brimar tubes.

I’ll keep the Amperex in mind, though, as one worth trying. Thanks for sharing!

[Chewbacca]

Thanks, Chewbacca! I found a PS Audio forum where users are commenting on the tubes they’ve tried. At least some of those folks were particularly impressed by Brimar tubes.

I’ll keep the Amperex in mind, though, as one worth trying. Thanks for sharing!

Personally, I think the Brimars were the most music dependent tube. Like... If I only listened to organic instrument/vocal/rock/classical type of music, it would probably be my go to!

But given my totally random range of music... I may throw on some Mark Knopfler, then immediately after listen to some Infected Mushroom, then Zeppelin, then Massive Attack, then Beethoven... It just didn't do EVERYTHING good like the amperex... Mainly missed the 30hz and lower region of bass, so for electronic music it just fell flat on those sub-sonic notes especially. BUT, if you only do listen to organic instrunments, the Brimar should be on your short list!

Currently I have a pair of 1960 Amperex 7308 tubes in my Dodd pre... oh boy, those are nice!

[Delta77]

Here are some Tubes that I bought from Brent Jesse and I'm completely happy with..

From Brent Jesse web site..
"(New Old Stock France military Box. MORE JUST IN! These are the most difficult to find in the 7308/6922 NOS family. Ultra low noise, matched triode sections, thickly plated gold pins, nice warm sound. Nice Mullard British made 7308 tubes for the French Signal Corps military, with RTC labels (have the Mullard factory code) are very difficult to find in the USA. Made at the Mitchum, UK factory which made tubes for the British military, and a few of these are marked with military CV numbers. SINGLE TUBES, WHEN AVAILABLE, ARE $175.00.)"

Pretty Expensive..
I bought 3 pair (1) for Modwright/Oppo 205 (2) for my Decware preamp (3) for my Decware Mystery amp..

Please don't buy them I want them available as I needed..

[Chewbacca]

Just to make sure it's clear... the OP asked about E88CC/12au7 tubes. I just mentioned the 7308's because it's currently what my preamp runs.

Which I think the 6DJ8/6922/7308 follows the 12ax7 parameters? Slightly different voltages/gain than a 12au7 I think? I haven't experimented with swapping them though.

Maybe someone with more knowledge than me would know if they're interchangeable?

Pretty sure I accidentally swapped them in a guitar amp once... It didn't blow up

[speltz]

Hi, Delta77. Brent Jesse is where I ordered the tubes I’m waiting for.

I chose tubes that are matched within 1% (according to Jesse), meaning both triodes within each tube are within 1% of each other, and so are the two tubes.

And yes, mine were expensive too! But I’m sure they’ll be worth it.

Thanks, Chewbacca, for your additional comments on the Brimar and Amperex tubes. I range from classical to jazz to rock myself, so that’s useful information.

[Chewbacca]

I'm not sure why I totally missed this in your original post.. You said you have some 50's Philips coming... which if they're pre 1955 they're most likely Amperex tubes!

Amperex was originally the US company formed in the 20's (thanks wiki) then it was bought out by Philips (Holland/Netherlands/Dutch) around 1955.

So I learned something new... I thought Philips was the US company and Amperex was the Dutch company. Got that mixed up. I guess I thought Amperex just sounds like something from the EU to me

So basically you have Amperex tubes on the way! (at least the same family of tubes I was referring to!)

I'm sure you'll love them!

[speltz]

I believe they’re in the same family, as you suggested. Here’s part of the description:

Fabulous original 1950s vintage made Special Quality (SQ) type tubes. All have the rare top "D" shape getter, said to sound better than any other 6922! Ultra low noise, heavily plated gold pins. Incredibly tight match, within 1 percent internally and from tube to tube. These have been rated by audiophiles as as good if not better than the famous Amperex, and rivalling the famed Amperex 7308 white label tubes!

Let’s hope they live up to the promise! But I’m sure I’ll be happy with them.

[Chewbacca]

Sweet! Those’ll be some nice tubes! My 7308’s are apparently the same internals as some of the white labels (also d-getters), without the white labels. So, same tube, at about half the price

Enjoy!!

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome to AC Mr.Speltz 

[ArthurDent]

Greetings & Welcome to AC speltz   

[JakeJ]

Welcome to AC and tub-o-philia.

[twitch54]

I'm delighted to say that the tubes eliminate the glassy treble tone that is hard to escape in a purely solid state system.

First off welcome aboard !

I had a good chuckle at your sentence above, considering tubes are made out of glass !! All in good fun, but for the record a quality SS set up does not produce 'glassy treble tone'. That would be speakers, room acoustics or the interaction of the two.

[Brantp1981]

I just bought a primaluna integrated and I love the tube sound but prefer the solid state ooomph. So I am now on a hunt for a primaluna or other tubed preamp and a nice solid state amp. I have legacy focus se speakers and those subs love the oooomph!!

[FullRangeMan]

I just bought a primaluna integrated and I love the tube sound but prefer the solid state ooomph. So I am now on a hunt for a primaluna or other tubed preamp and a nice solid state amp. I have legacy focus se speakers and those subs love the oooomph!!

Low efficiency speaker and low impedance is a prob, do always can change for a Klipsch or a FR driver around 100db to solve this prob with no expense in a poweful SS amp.

[speltz]

Welcome to AC Mr.Speltz 

Greetings & Welcome to AC speltz   

Welcome to AC and tub-o-philia.

Thanks, guys, for welcoming me to the forum!

[speltz]

First off welcome aboard !

I had a good chuckle at your sentence above, considering tubes are made out of glass !! All in good fun, but for the record a quality SS set up does not produce 'glassy treble tone'. That would be speakers, room acoustics or the interaction of the two.

Room acoustics ... there's an issue I haven't even begun to get my head around. I wish I had the money to build an anechoic room, just to see how it sounds!