zachchen1996
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2012
- Posts
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- 158
So I have about twenty five hours on the Ken Rad 3S4 and Raytheon 1U4's now. Both Mil-Spec from the mid 1940's, both date match and matched technically as well.
They have opened up nicely and have been deadly silent from day one. What can I say about them? Well, I think the best thing I can say is that I have simply forgotten to think about what are their strong points as I have simply been immersed in music!
They excel at everything, Bass, rich, deep, tight. Mids, creamy, detailed and atmospheric. Treble, extended, crisp,detailed, sweet and airy.
Beautiful soundstage, just right in width and depth. Instruments and vocals are easy to place and yet at the same time they feel as a whole with the performance. There is also a wonderful up and down sense with these tubes by which I mean you can feel the placement of the instruments or vocal lower or higher in the soundstage.
I have been listening a lot to two rips of CD's which are just wonderful for orchestral music. The first is an old Ted Heath recording of Glenn Miller's music and the other is James Horner's Bicentennial Man soundtrack. I just get lost in both, Horner's soundtrack is almost transcendental and these tubes make that even more so.
The Ted Heath album is the best I have heard it. Millers arrangements have never sounded better. Horns have punch and speed and yet one can hear the fruitiness of the trombones so well, rich and detailed. On Pennsylvania 6-5000 The bells which are rung were right in the center and just a little low, it felt like they were lodged in the middle of my neck!
Without a shadow of a doubt this combination of tubes is the best I have used yet and to be honest I simply see no point in changing them out again. Everything is there. They allow the amp to really shine. Just stunning tubes, I am quite taken aback actually at how good they sound and how they simply get out of the way and allow a recording to show its all!
can you pm the purchase link for these tubes?