Aune T1 USB Tube DAC+ SS Amp Discussion Thread ***See first post for FAQ--Updated on 02/14/15***

[CoiL]

Great news! Hope you like it

 

[icecap]

I pulled the plug and get the Amperex orange globe with dimple-disc and a Tungsram E88CC red label for S$50.. seems so popular this Amperex orange globe that I pop in immediately to try..
 
the first reaction I got was the similarity in immersion to the Gold Lion E88CC! very warm and thick sounding.. on careful audition, the highs roll-off abit too much for my liking though.. as a result mids are quite forward.. the strength of this tube lies in wrapping you with the sound, which I like for classical.. but it is not as layered as Gold Lion, and thus becoming too congested for me.. overall is more suitable for pop and rock, which I think Coil mentioned it before if I remembered correctly..
 
then came this Tungsram E88CC which the seller from Quartz Acoustic mentioned it came quite close to the Amperex 7380 except less sparkle, at a fraction of the price! the red label is the industrial grade, compare to the yellow consumer grade..
 
listening to this, oh man, kinda hard to believe this has not get any mention here!! love it! I can hear layers now! slight air gives the overall a light and transparent nature.. bass is tighter and not boomy as a result of this.. mids might be slightly recessed, but the clear timbre and dynamics is what I enjoy.. great soundstage too!
 
my Philips A-frame ECC88 is like a hybrid between Gold Lion and Tunsgram now I feel.. but in no way are they too similar to each other.. quite glad now I can enjoy each of their strength and flavours..
 
edit: oh and by the way, I got these tubes when I was enquiring Quartz Acoustic a few days ago on any chances of Amperex A-frame coming in.. he told me about the coming round of dimple-disc and also the Tungsram.. these tubes are not up yet in the store, as he mentioned about the arrival of a tube tester coming in a few days time for better guarantee, before officially putting them up..

 

[icecap]

 
the Tungsram E88CC.. not the best image taken, hah.. wordings abit fade though.. but luckily the sound is good..

 

[Salvatore]

Quote:

the first reaction I got was the similarity in immersion to the Gold Lion E88CC! very warm and thick sounding.. on careful audition, the highs roll-off abit too much for my liking though.. as a result mids are quite forward.. the strength of this tube lies in wrapping you with the sound, which I like for classical.. but it is not as layered as Gold Lion, and thus becoming too congested for me.. overall is more suitable for pop and rock, which I think Coil mentioned it before if I remembered correctly..

 
You really seem to like that gold lion. Maybe I should use it more often to break it in more. Nevertheless I feel like there is no way it's worth $40.
 
Quote:

then came this Tungsram E88CC which the seller from Quartz Acoustic mentioned it came quite close to the Amperex 7380 except less sparkle, at a fraction of the price! the red label is the industrial grade, compare to the yellow consumer grade..

 
You the one who got that 7308 from quartz? I was also interested in that but somebody got it few hours before me
 
E: any other tubes than dimples and tungs coming to quartz?

 

[icecap]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salvatore /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
You the one who got that 7308 from quartz? I was also interested in that but somebody got it few hours before me
 
E: any other tubes than dimples and tungs coming to quartz?

 
No, I didn't get the Amperex 7308 from them.. that is gonna be quite an investment I guess.. but definitely the Tungsram is tempting me to hear how well this 7308 seems to be..
 
the seller only mentioned this two to me.. he was saying the Tungsram is similarly priced as the orange globe since that's what I initially was interested in.. the comparison with 7308 was what gave me in to temptation..

 

[CoiL]

 

mids might be slightly recessed, but the clear timbre and dynamics is what I enjoy

Now, was maybe going to pull trigger on that one but idea of recessed mids holds me back now. Also ~20£ including shipping is too expensive imo. More likely will prefer stocking up on Ultron PCC189, seriously love this tube! 

 
Last Tungsram E88CC available @ eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270930408564?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
 
E: Great deal for 3x Philips PCC189 + 1 RTC PCC189 -> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-radio-valves-new-old-stock-PCC189-x-4-/321093631636?pt=UK_Collectables_RadioTelevision_Telephony_SM&hash=item4ac2abfe94
 
Get it while you can
 
Another deal, anyone willing to try those PCC189`s ? : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-X-PCC189-RFT-NOS-TUBES-/310635452392?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item485350d7e8
 
E3: Red labeled Tungsram E88CC available from Germany for ~29€ + post: http://classic-tubeshop-kunisch.de/shop/article_306/E88CC-TUNGSRAM.html?sessid=Wj5dsQ1MvUOZUEdMh3F0Zqu6AHFpvOCyMTSTV7pWA01JFde4ESaGlbWrg6zxcqFE&shop_param=cid%3D26%26aid%3D306%26
 
E4:
 
I found a place where to get Ultron PCC189 for only 1.5€ but the catch is - I have to order at least for 50€ and post is another 20€ -.-
They offer lots of other cheap PCC189, PCC88 & ECC88 NOS tubes (some of them are much more worth!). I put my basket together with 20 tubes (at least 2 of each)... but am I going to buy all these? Especially if I take into consider that I already have a lot of good tubes with backups... hmmm.... I want to do it but rational thinking says no ;D 
 
Btw, I`m starting to like Ultron PCC189 same or even more than my Amperex GAC ;P

 

[Salvatore]

Quote:

I found a place where to get Ultron PCC189 for only 1.5€ but the catch is - I have to order at least for 50€ and post is another 20€ -.-
They offer lots of other cheap PCC189, PCC88 & ECC88 NOS tubes (some of them are much more worth!). I put my basket together with 20 tubes (at least 2 of each)... but am I going to buy all these? Especially if I take into consider that I already have a lot of good tubes with backups... hmmm.... I want to do it but rational thinking says no ;D 
 
Btw, I`m starting to like Ultron PCC189 same or even more than my Amperex GAC ;P

 
Hold your horses man. If that's Ultron and JJ you're after I can order them from that Finnish shop and send them to you. I'll get Ultron for myself since it seems like a nice tube to own. OR If this place you have found has really nice tubes I might be interested of doing joint order. Got to finish my 10 collection soon just because it takes too much time and patience to monitor these ebay auctions.

 

[CoiL]

Yeah, basically I have only 3 tubes "short" from "enough" (20)... JJ E88CC & Some PCC88`s would be great to fill those places but when I look at those prices on that shop then I`m scratching my neck. Joint order is maybe good idea but I have to think about my financials atm, got to buy also new summer wheels for my car -.-

 

[InCreD1Ble]

Is Amperex GAC the same thing as Amperex Orange Globe?

 

[CoiL]

Yes. GAC coded orange globe difference is single support leg dimple disc getter. GAC coded orange globe is harder to find but should be same sounding than A-frame dimple disc orange globe. Not sure though, I don`t have both versions.
 
But yeah, my tube hoarding result atm (copy-paste from rockgrotto):

Mike, I have some good findings (at least to me) - Ultron PCC189 & Miniwatt/Dario PCC189. 

Ultron is quite easy to get and very cheap (In EU at least, cheapest I know atm is 1.5€ 

and it`s unused NOS) but Dario is hard to find. Anyway, Dario has the best tight bass & kick out of my tubes, has littlebit larger soundstage & tinybit less mids than Amperex GAC and Ultron. It`s the best tube I have for absolutely every genre music. 

Ultron PCC189 has similiar soundstage to Amperex GAC (maybe tinybit larger) but has more "air" and transparency, mids are better than Dario`s (maybe even same good as GAC) and tinybit less bass tightness & kick than Dario (but better than GAC). I`m starting to like Ultron same or even more than GAC but it depends very much on band`s sound & style. Both, GAC and Ultron PCC189 are best tubes for rock/metal/jazz alongside with Mullard ECC88 (which I find tinybit lacking @ highs being "dry & flat").

Also, found new best tube for atmospheric electronic music - JAN Sylvania 6922. It has tinybit larger/airy soundstage than 6922EH but tighter bass & kick. 

Miniwatt/Dario PCC189 & Ultron PCC189 are two top bang-for-a-buck recommendations from me! Seriously, if I`d know this in the beginning of "tube hoarding", would have stopped right there (+ 6922EH upgrade tube). 

Atm having eargasm with Miniwatt/Dario PCC189 + HD-681 mkII + Dead Letter Circus - This is The Warning 

Read more: http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/thread/8297/aune-bit-valve-tube-dac?page=19#ixzz2ODCm7XgV
 

 
E: Note, Miniwatt/Dario PCC189 looks like this: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330861699249?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648
It`s not same as Miniwatt PCC189.
 

 

[Salvatore]

Quote:

Is Amperex GAC the same thing as Amperex Orange Globe?

 
Some Amperex orange print info from tubeworld:
 
 
"6DJ8 Amperex Holland "PQ" 1968-1976 with orange printing (PQ=premium quality, tubes will most likely have a "o" getter halo from 1968-1970 and a "A" frame getter halo after 1970. PQ and orange globe typically look and sound the same."
 
https://www.tubeworld.com/6dj8.htm#6DJ8PQ68
 
 
"6DJ8 Amperex Holland "globe logo" 1968-1975 orange printing (all have either small "o" getter halo, "dimpled disc" getter halo or "A" frame getter halo)."
 
https://www.tubeworld.com/6dj8.htm#6DJ8GLOBE
 
 
Then there is also those white label 6DJ8 tubes. "6DJ8 Amperex Holland 1966-1970 white printing (all have a small "o" getter halo) and 1970-1976 white printing (all have a "dimpled disc" getter halo or "A" frame getter halo)."
 
https://www.tubeworld.com/6dj8.htm#6DJ8WHITE66
 
--------------
 
Coil has single leg support while I have A-frame. A-frame has /\ shaped dual leg support. In my understanding they sound similar, but A-frames are newer production and should be less susceptible to microphonics. Quote from wikipedia: "When electronic equipment was built using vacuum tubes, microphonics were often a serious design problem. The charged elements in the vacuum tubes can mechanically vibrate, changing the distance between the elements, producing charge flows in and out of the tube in a manner identical to a capacitor microphone. A system sufficiently susceptible to microphonics could experience audio feedback, and make noises if jarred or bumped. Certain vacuum tubes were made with thicker internal insulating plates and more supports to minimize these effects").
 
You can easily find both versions from ebay. Here are some photos I stole from ebay auctions:
 
 

 
In the left hand side photo you can see that the disc (below the silvery top) has small dimples around it. That's why it's called dimpled disc or dimpled disc getter. Again quote from wikipedia: "A getter is a deposit of reactive material that is placed inside a vacuum system, for the purpose of completing and maintaining the vacuum. When gas molecules strike the getter material, they combine with it chemically or by adsorption. Thus the getter removes small amounts of gas from the evacuated space".
 
These getters can be ring (or halo) shaped, D-shaped and discs like in this particular case. There can also be double rings and the rings come in different sizes (like Bugle Boy can have small, medium and large halo getters from which the large halos seems to be the most wanted) etc.
 
On the Right hand side photo you can easily see the different disc support systems (A-frame vs single leg).

 

[BluesDaddy]

The saga of my two Voskhods continues. After ordering them on February 23, according to Russian post tracking, they have finally hit something called "Export of International Mail". This as of yesterday 11:30 PM what I can only assume to be Moscow time. As I said, never again will I order something from Russia. This makes anything I've ever ordered from China look speedy!! 

 

[CoiL]

Salvatore, Single legged disc getters are only ones coded as GAC as far as I know. Your left hand picture A frame has GAG codes Imo that microphonics thingy is something to not worry much about since they are not placed into guitar amps that vibrate and shake, in this case. And if you don`t put them under or near other electronic things then it's ok.

 

[Salvatore]

Oh seems like you are right. To be honest it was kind of strange to me that they had the same code. Seems like I just didn't pay enough attention to the details. Thanks for pointing that out!

 

[InCreD1Ble]

Quote:

 
They both have orange print, globe logo and dimpled disc. It seems like they both have the same GAC codes as well. Coil has single leg support while I have A-frame. A-frame has /\ shaped dual leg support. In my understanding they sound the same, but A-frames are more sought after because they should be less susceptible to microphonics. Quote from wikipedia: "When electronic equipment was built using vacuum tubes, microphonics were often a serious design problem. The charged elements in the vacuum tubes can mechanically vibrate, changing the distance between the elements, producing charge flows in and out of the tube in a manner identical to a capacitor microphone. A system sufficiently susceptible to microphonics could experience audio feedback, and make noises if jarred or bumped. Certain vacuum tubes were made with thicker internal insulating plates and more supports to minimize these effects").
 
You can easily find both versions from ebay. Here are some photos I stole from ebay auctions:
 
 

 
In the left hand side photo you can see that both tubes have GAC codes and the disc (below the silvery top) has small dimples around it. That's why it's called dimpled disc or dimpled disc getter. Again quote from wikipedia: "A getter is a deposit of reactive material that is placed inside a vacuum system, for the purpose of completing and maintaining the vacuum. When gas molecules strike the getter material, they combine with it chemically or by adsorption. Thus the getter removes small amounts of gas from the evacuated space".
 
These getters can be ring (or halo) shaped, D-shaped and discs like in this particular case. There can also be double rings and the rings come in different sizes (like Bugle Boy can have small, medium and large halo getters from which the large halos are the most wanted) etc.
 
On the Right hand side photo you can easily see the different disc support systems (A-frame vs single leg). Hope this helps and happy tube hunting!
 
E: It seems that I wasn't paying enough attention to the details and, as Coil pointed out, the single leg version has GAC code where the A-frame has GAG code. It's actually easily visible in the photo

Thank you, that was very informative!