Yep, I like these Fotons a lot because they are very clear and neutral. Everything sounds to me "natural", or at least this is what I think I hear. I managed to obtain 6 pieces, 4x '55 and 2 x '53 and tried them with 5998, 6H13C, EL3N, EL12N and in the end I stopped at Mullard 6080. Now I was thinking that it could be nice to have a 2nd pair of 6080 for these.
But I will decide in a few days what to order since very soon I will be able to test EL32 and who knows, maybe I will like them and switch my preferences.
Hi OH.
Hopefully you won't need to bother with any other power tubes either...the CV1052/EL32 excels in both roles!...especially one driving the other.
But a couple of advisories (besides gluing down those metal top caps!) :
1. I personally have found that the amp itself can take a quite a while adjusting to triode-strapped pentodes - I was once rather (unpleasantly!) surprised at the initial change from 'stock' tubes, but later pleasantly so lol...
2. These EL tubes - as with all NOS especially - need long burn-in to really shine. Mine were still improving well after 50 hours...
So please take these factors into account...and ENJOY!...