[Vinnie R.]

I just recieved the  Amperex 7308. I only got a chance to spend about 15 minutes and only one peice of music with them so far.  I listened to Ammie Mann and all I will to say at this point is it is a huge improvement over the stock tubes in my system.  I will try and post more details after I get some more time.

A pipe burst and my basement flooded.  All of my stuff is okay, but I am out of the game until I can get the drywallers and new carpet down. 

Hi Afterimage,

Sorry to hear about your basement blues.  Luckily your gear is ok, and hopefully you'll be up and running again soon.  The Amp 7308s are gems!

Vinnie

[Eadron]

 
[/quote]

  The Amp 7308s are gems!
[/quote]
 aa We'll see. Ordered a pair from Steve also. Good guy!

[Afterimage]

I just recieved the  Amperex 7308. I only got a chance to spend about 15 minutes and only one peice of music with them so far.  I listened to Ammie Mann and all I will to say at this point is it is a huge improvement over the stock tubes in my system.  I will try and post more details after I get some more time.

A pipe burst and my basement flooded.  All of my stuff is okay, but I am out of the game until I can get the drywallers and new carpet down. 

Hi Afterimage,

Sorry to hear about your basement blues.  Luckily your gear is ok, and hopefully you'll be up and running again soon.  The Amp 7308s are gems!

Vinnie

Hey Vinnie, remember when I kept having trouble with chargers?  Well the reason  chargers did not appear to be working in my system was the moisture in the walls was causing shorts.  At least that is what they told me anyway.

[6rs]

I got the Siemens CCa. I compared their sound the Amperex 7308 usn from Steve.
The Amperex have a nice "earthy" sound. It is like coming home, very welcoming, and giving a sense of familiarity.
The Siemens however give the music a heavenly touch of beauty which is just irresistible. No coloration or sugar coating -  it is just easier to emotionally connect to the music. They have less slam, and their midbass is less prominent. However, their authority in deep bass is amazing: very quick and with pressure. Also, they are extremely smooth and liquid. I was expecting them to be a bit "teutonic", that is providing resolution at the price of some harshness. But not at all.
The problem with the pair I got off ebay: one tube is louder than the other.
However, for me it is a clear case: I prefer the Siemens, and I am willing to spend the money to get a really nice and matched pair.
But don't get me wrong. You could get perfectly happy with the Amperex. For electric guitar and rock, they might be perferable.

[Vinnie R.]

I got the Siemens CCa. I compared their sound the Amperex 7308 usn from Steve.
The Amperex have a nice "earthy" sound. It is like coming home, very welcoming, and giving a sense of familiarity.
The Siemens however give the music a heavenly touch of beauty which is just irresistible. No coloration or sugar coating -  it is just easier to emotionally connect to the music. They have less slam, and their midbass is less prominent. However, their authority in deep bass is amazing: very quick and with pressure. Also, they are extremely smooth and liquid. I was expecting them to be a bit "teutonic", that is providing resolution at the price of some harshness. But not at all.
The problem with the pair I got off ebay: one tube is louder than the other.
However, for me it is a clear case: I prefer the Siemens, and I am willing to spend the money to get a really nice and matched pair.
But don't get me wrong. You could get perfectly happy with the Amperex. For electric guitar and rock, they might be perferable.

Hi 6rs,

Thanks for the comparison!  At some point I am going to have to give those a try  aa

Right now I'm listening to a pair of the "orange globe" Amperex 6DJ8s that Steve has a few pair of - also very nice indeed!  I'll do a comparison to the Amperex 7308s after RMAF...

Vinnie

[Eadron]

Got A 7308s today from Steve. If you read this, thanks a lot  . From the very first listening impressions it was obvious that they are definitely an improvement over JJs. At this point - it was well worth it  . Thanks to you also, Vinnie! Carsten, if you read this: I live in Finland and if you happened to have those rare Siemenses - please, hit me with pm!

jouni

[carsten_chr]

Got A 7308s today from Steve. If you read this, thanks a lot  . From the very first listening impressions it was obvious that they are definitely an improvement over JJs. At this point - it was well worth it  . Thanks to you also, Vinnie! Carsten, if you read this: I live in Finland and if you happened to have those rare Siemenses - please, hit me with pm!

jouni

Hi !.......

Happy to see that you are tube rolling !.........

If I possibly could, I would be more than happy to help you with some Siemens Cca's !....... Unfortunately I only have a few lef for my self !.......

Right now Winnie Rossie are playing on a pair of Siemens Cca's !........

Cant wait to hear what he thinks about these wonderful tubes !......

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Carsten,

The Siemens Cca's you sent me are indeed very good! 
They seem to do a good job in offering a lot of detail and extension, but still offering a rich tone and
solid bass.  Seems like you get just about the best of everything with these!  What do the Cca's usually sell for if you can
find them?

I wish I had a pair of Amperex Pinched Waist tubes to compare them to.  I heard these at Steve's and they
were my favorite, but very expensive and Steve only had one pair. 

I will say that the beauty of tube rolling is that you can fine-tune the sound to best suit your system, and your tastes.  For
some, the stock JJ's will actually be one of the best choices in their system.  I really depends on the rest of the equipment, such
as the power amp, speakers, cables, and of course the listening room and the tastes of the listener. 

Having said all that, the Siemens Cca's and Amperex Pinched Waists are the best I have heard (my tastes), followed by the Amperex 7308s gold-pins that Steve used to sell (he sold out already, but still has some NOS Amperex orange globe 6DJ8s, some Amperex "A frames" and a bunch of GE "smoked glass" type which I hope to listen to soon).

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to listen to these!

Vinnie

[6rs]

What do the Cca's usually sell for if you can
find them?

It is my impression that the Siemens CCa are not that rare. I paid 330$ for a NOS matched pair (O-getter, gray plates, sixities) that measures 140% of published minimal new values. Found on ebay, from a German seller.
Bruno

[6rs]

For some, the stock JJ's will actually be one of the best choices in their system.  I really depends on the rest of the equipment, such
as the power amp, speakers, cables, and of course the listening room and the tastes of the listener. 

Sure, the stock tubes do sound nice already - however I bet if Jeff from Tonepub would have had some really nice tubes at hand (he does not mention which ones he tried) he would have noticed an improvement as well...

[Alwayswantmore]

Hi Carsten,

The Siemens Cca's you sent me are indeed very good! 
They seem to do a good job in offering a lot of detail and extension, but still offering a rich tone and
solid bass.  Seems like you get just about the best of everything with these!  What do the Cca's usually sell for if you can
find them?

I wish I had a pair of Amperex Pinched Waist tubes to compare them to.  I heard these at Steve's and they
were my favorite, but very expensive and Steve only had one pair. 

I will say that the beauty of tube rolling is that you can fine-tune the sound to best suit your system, and your tastes.  For
some, the stock JJ's will actually be one of the best choices in their system.  I really depends on the rest of the equipment, such
as the power amp, speakers, cables, and of course the listening room and the tastes of the listener. 

Having said all that, the Siemens Cca's and Amperex Pinched Waists are the best I have heard (my tastes), followed by the Amperex 7308s gold-pins that Steve used to sell (he sold out already, but still has some NOS Amperex orange globe 6DJ8s, some Amperex "A frames" and a bunch of GE "smoked glass" type which I hope to listen to soon).

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to listen to these!

Vinnie

Any suggestions on where to go to get a good matched set of Siemens Cca's from a reliable source?

[Fork]

I’ve been listening to a set of the Amperex 7308s for about 2 months now.  I find the best way for me to evaluate tubes is to leave the new ones in for a month or two to get used to them, then throw the old ones back in and see if I miss the others (as opposed to alternating listening sessions with each pair).  My verdict is that I didn’t really miss the Amperex; the character is more open and airy and the stock tubes seemed to have more body.  However the contrast wasn’t striking.  I rolled combinations of many types and varieties of tubes in a Singlepower headphone amp, before I sold it, and had much more dramatic results.  Overall, I’ll probably stick with the stock tubes for now, as they sound a little better with my Cain & Cain speakers (which use Fostex drivers).  I like Vinnie’s advice, that the system (especially the speaker) is going to decide…whether your $100-400 tube purchase is going to be an improvement or no improvement at all.  For drivers like Foxtex and Lowther, you might do just as well with the stock.  I may switch to some Zu in the future and evaluate again.

If your Isabella doesn’t already sound amazing, I’m inclined to think there are other areas where you need to dial in your system that will have a greater impact than rolling tubes.  See my comment about Sorbothane in the Footer topic.

[Alwayswantmore]

Got A 7308s today from Steve. If you read this, thanks a lot  . From the very first listening impressions it was obvious that they are definitely an improvement over JJs. At this point - it was well worth it  . Thanks to you also, Vinnie! Carsten, if you read this: I live in Finland and if you happened to have those rare Siemenses - please, hit me with pm!

jouni

Hi !.......

Happy to see that you are tube rolling !.........

If I possibly could, I would be more than happy to help you with some Siemens Cca's !....... Unfortunately I only have a few lef for my self !.......

Right now Winnie Rossie are playing on a pair of Siemens Cca's !........

Cant wait to hear what he thinks about these wonderful tubes !......

Carsten, if you're still watching this. I'm still trying to figure out the whole naming thing with tubes. Apparently different manufactures use different names / numbers for essentially the same tube, correct? So with Siemens, is "Siemens Cca" the entire model number? Thanks for any help you can provide. Kent

[united1]

Here's a well known review of various tubes for those who haven't read it yet.  It covers 6922, 7308 to 12ax7, etc...I believe this review alone drove up the prices of the Amperex pinched waist and Sylvania 3 mica 5751's (better version of 12ax7's).

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/faq/joes-tubes.html

IMO, Amperex and Siemens make the best tubes in the 6dj8 (6922/7308) family.  To me, general differences between the two are Amperexes tend to be slightly more relaxed, euphoric, have more texture, and more bounce at the extremes: top (splashy) and bottom (punchy).  Siemens tend to be tighter at the extremes, while the soundstage appears more upfront and brings you closer to the music.  One word to describe it would be intimate.  The review (joe) describes the differences as Siemens throwing out bigger images, while Amperexes throwing out smaller images, and this is similar to my findings overall (just expressed differently).  Closer/intimate = bigger images = front row = less focused.  Synergy has as much to do with tube choice IMO.  Personally I prefer Siemens for its intimacy to the slightly more relaxed but focused Amperexes.  Both are awesome though!  Happy tube rolling folks.

[Eadron]

Hi,

well, after three months of extensive listening using Amperex 7308 tubes from Steve (good tubes), I decided to swap the stock tubes in place and hey, they aren't bad at all  . In fact, they brought some more midrange flesh and tamed also the upper end a bit that my Omegas definitely liked that  . In a word, more common tubelike presentation overall.  I think I'll let them stay in place for a while  . So, the system synergy seems to be the key word when choosing and ultimately judging the tubes for the equipment..

(Btw, waiting the 8" Alnico XRSs.. )

Jouni

[6rs]

Reading above posts where people went back to stock tubes, I did the same experiment and exchanged the Siemens CCa with the JJs.
Well, I much prefer the Siemens. I also tried the Amperex 7308. I also preferred these to the stock tubes. I concur with above post regarding the difference between Siemens and Amperex: The Amperex present the music like in a showcase, whereas the Siemens put you more inside the music (front row). I feel that deep bass has more impact with the Siemens, however seems leaner at the same time.
Bruno

[Eadron]

Well, after one day of listening the stock JJs I was tempted to swap the Amperexes back. The stock JJs offers more lush, softer presentation overall and the Amperexes definitely bring more definition, control, dynamics, speed and better 3D  . So, am I deaf or stupid  ? Maybe both, but I think the Amperexes are for sure better tubes of the two, but to my ears, with some records, the stock tubes makes definitely more music. The better isn't always and necessarily the better. So, ultimately, it depends..

Ok, happy with both set of tubes  . Wish I had those Siemenses..

Jouni

[wilsynet]

Vinnie just upgraded my Isabellina to the Isabella.  It's very nice indeed.  There is a healthy measure of body and density that the Isabellina DAC alone doesn't deliver.  While I'm very happy with the upgrade, I think I'd like more high frequency sparkle.  If I can get that with a little more dimensionality and texture, and not lose the smooth, analogue-like quality of the Isabella, then so much the better.

From reading this thread, it looks like the Siemens CCA are the tubes to get.

Also, how does the Amperex 7308 compare to the stock JJs when it comes to high frequency extension?

[dspringham]

Hey Wilson,

Congrats on the upgrade to the Isabella! I didn't expect that you would be moving up the food chain quite so quickly.

Regarding your Sig 30.2, did you have it converted to the power amp version or are you still using it with the Isabella as an integrated?

Also, with the Druids are you operating the Isabella in the full gain mode or at 0 db (no gain)?

Dave

[Mariusz]

Dave ........it would be silly to add extra gain on Isabella and Zu Druids.
They can be easily driven with as little as 5wpc and 8-10wpc is plenty.

If I may,
higher gain setting does add distortion (noise) no question about it.
I would use it ONLY with speakers with sensitivity lower then 90db IF NEEDED.
It is a very nice feature but use it with caution.
You will be better of with more capable amp then compensating with the gain switch.IMO
The difference is subtle but noticeable.

As to the original topic, IMO JJ are very nice tubes for the money and as you can tell/know the Isabella was voiced using them. I prefer richer, warmer presentation but would love to try the Siemens to compare.

Can you post the pics by any chance or revile the source where they can be purchase?

Thanks
Mariusz