I suspect some "expectation bias" may be at work. My ears tell me the Ultron I have is in no wise comparable to the Amperex GAC. I think folks are entitled to knowing there are different opinions. Honestly, it is simply not reasonable to expect that Ultron is sonically matching all these tubes...

Lots of talk about the Ultron, but, no offense to anyone, I have doubts as to whether tubes made in different countries and different factories all have similar, if not identical, sounds. I especially find it difficult to believe that tubes made in a factory in India sound the same as those made...

Quote: Hmmm, I seem to recall someone else having issues using it with the Mac OS. Try it with a Win7 machine, if you can, to nail down whether its the T1 or the Mac OS. 

Quote: Try it on a different computer and see if you have the same issues. Otherwise, it is an OS issue and not a T1 issue.

Quote: I think this is a pretty good price. When I bought mine, Pennybuying was the cheapest I could find at $160. It was going for right around the equivalent of $200 in the UK at that time. A week or two later Pennybuying had dropped its price to $139. My only regret is that I could have...

Quote: I've had mine on a few hours and it is hardly warm beyond the tube. Of course, it is situated on the top of my equipment rack so there's no heat build up around it.

Quote:   I'd say that it's not actually clear that everything labeled an Ultron is the same tube. Coil and I have markedly different opinions regarding the Ultron vis. the Amperex GAC and the Mullards. Honestly, I'd put my Voskhods ahead of the Phillips PCC189 and the Ultron in terms of...

Quote: If they are Holland SQ, they should be excellent. How do you know they are re-branded?  I'd just be careful with some tube sellers, not all of them are as honest as one might hope! 

Quote: IMO, the Orange Globe is a head above the Ultron.

Quote: The T1 is a DAC with Tube buffer that feeds into a headphone amp. If you use the line in only, then the Tube does not come into play. The tube is not part of the amplification signal path.

Quote: The cheapest I saw was 660 Yen, which is about $106 US. They've got to add in shipping, and to the US $50 is about right, maybe a little less. Seems about the cheapest legitimate you can get is in the $135 to $150 range. I'll be interested in see what the folks get for $60.  To be...

Quote:   I haven't even tried using the plastic protectors since installing the stock tube and listening for the first time. I start to install them, immediately ran into problems and realized I would either break the protectors or the tube and gave up. Since I swap out tubes so...

Quote: I agree. Also different ears!  Just took a look and there is nothing on the glass between the pins (i.e. the area around which the pins are situated in the bottom of the tube) - just clear glass.

Quote: Unfortunately the factory codes are mostly gone and what is left can barely be made out. I'm listening to my Mullard again, with Bill Evans just to validate that I still can hear what I thought I heard initially with this tube. It is, I believe, the best sounding tube I have. The...

Quote: Coil,   These are about the best pics I can get. Halo getter, gold lettering.