eric343
Member of the Trade: Audiogeek: The "E" in META42
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2001
- Posts
- 6,038
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- 17
Rayethon Windmill Getter 5751:(blackplate, 2mica, "windmill"-shaped getter, red label) {$unknown/ultra-rare, eBay}
A bit longer on the decay than the Sylvie. More air, even after about 10min warmup vs. 4hours. Lots of authority... The bass just goes and goes and goes and goes and goes. Definitely the deepest I've heard yet- cellos and double basses sound amazing. This tube makes the Head a much better amp. In fact, it's my new reference tube (NOT FOR SALE!). I really really love Dvorak on this tube.
Switching to Pink Floyd, this tube has the bass slam of the Rayethon 12ax7, without the treble distortion, although it has the same sensitivity to tape hiss. In fact, this is the FIRST and ONLY tube I've ever owned/heard where the schoolboy chorus in Another Brick in the wall pt.2 had no distortion whatsoever - even at the relatively loud "reviewing" volume I play it at! Guitar work is smooth and forward. In fact, this tube doesn't distort at all! This tube also has the best soundstage and openness of the bunch... After an hour or so of warmup, the vocals get a depth to them that I've never heard before, they sound *real*. Come to think of it, the guitar work gets this depth too - I guess it's something with the midrange. It's so 3-D!
Moving on to Elton John, the opening drum shots sound sharp and cutting - like the gunshots they're supposed to be. Everything has space around it, space I've never heard before. Definitely, definitely the best and most three-dimensional tube I've ever heard - it's almost like doing the Wing/NF mod. And the detail! The clarity! Listening to "Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Bros, I hear that same space around the guitars and voice - lots of air too. The vocals are a bit recessed - maybe it's the recording... But the vocals are pleasantly warm and smooth, with no loss of clarity or detail in the guitar/drum work. In fact, everything I throw at it has this really amazing blackness between the notes, and a palatable realism to the instrumental work.
Throwing on Art Pepper meets the Rhythm Section, a recording with stereo separation out the wazoo, I find it more listenable than I've ever heard it before - with a bit of crossfeed, it would sound like I'm listening to it live. The piano/drums/bass mesh so well, and the bass' bass goes and goes, while Art Pepper's sax is schweet.. the piano sounds so damn NATURAL! On "Jazz Me Blues", a track with lots of drums, the drums sound really fantastic, like real drums and not just a background beat. The detail of this tube is amazing - I can actually hear the attack and decay of the drumhead vibrations, the subtle variations of the the drumsticks while tapping the rims of the drums that tell whether the drummer is tapping on the snare or the floor toms. The cymbals don't sound like generic "cymbal" sounds, they sound like a Paiste (sp?) crash and maybe a Zildjan(sp, again? it's been ages since I played drums) ride, but not a terribly big one. Everything's natural, effortless - kind of like the various R10 review/descriptions I've read, just with better bass.
Switching to a German recording of various Bach bits ("Johann Sebastian Bach: edition bachakademie", Hanssler-Verlag), I hear the most liquid-sounding horns I've ever heard in my life. I'm a big fan of horns (what can I say, I play trumpet) and I didn't know they could sound so good.
Overall the choral voices are smooth and liquid. Flute work is CLEAR and absolutely beautiful, with air out the wazoo. Dainty and precise? Definitely. But not laid back at all.
Organ work is absofriggenlutely amazing. You like organs? You'll like this tube. It reproduces perfectly the combination of the treble work and the deep harmonics of the "big tubes"... Schweet midrange, and as clear as Waterford crystal.
Does it beat the Sylvie? Yep. Definitely. The ultra-clear, undistorted highs, the deep bass, the AIR and clarity, the SPACE, the WAY shorter warmup... I just wish this wasn't my only one and that it was NOS. This tube IMHO is equal or better to the ETA42 I use as a solid-state home amp.
A bit longer on the decay than the Sylvie. More air, even after about 10min warmup vs. 4hours. Lots of authority... The bass just goes and goes and goes and goes and goes. Definitely the deepest I've heard yet- cellos and double basses sound amazing. This tube makes the Head a much better amp. In fact, it's my new reference tube (NOT FOR SALE!). I really really love Dvorak on this tube.
Switching to Pink Floyd, this tube has the bass slam of the Rayethon 12ax7, without the treble distortion, although it has the same sensitivity to tape hiss. In fact, this is the FIRST and ONLY tube I've ever owned/heard where the schoolboy chorus in Another Brick in the wall pt.2 had no distortion whatsoever - even at the relatively loud "reviewing" volume I play it at! Guitar work is smooth and forward. In fact, this tube doesn't distort at all! This tube also has the best soundstage and openness of the bunch... After an hour or so of warmup, the vocals get a depth to them that I've never heard before, they sound *real*. Come to think of it, the guitar work gets this depth too - I guess it's something with the midrange. It's so 3-D!
Moving on to Elton John, the opening drum shots sound sharp and cutting - like the gunshots they're supposed to be. Everything has space around it, space I've never heard before. Definitely, definitely the best and most three-dimensional tube I've ever heard - it's almost like doing the Wing/NF mod. And the detail! The clarity! Listening to "Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Bros, I hear that same space around the guitars and voice - lots of air too. The vocals are a bit recessed - maybe it's the recording... But the vocals are pleasantly warm and smooth, with no loss of clarity or detail in the guitar/drum work. In fact, everything I throw at it has this really amazing blackness between the notes, and a palatable realism to the instrumental work.
Throwing on Art Pepper meets the Rhythm Section, a recording with stereo separation out the wazoo, I find it more listenable than I've ever heard it before - with a bit of crossfeed, it would sound like I'm listening to it live. The piano/drums/bass mesh so well, and the bass' bass goes and goes, while Art Pepper's sax is schweet.. the piano sounds so damn NATURAL! On "Jazz Me Blues", a track with lots of drums, the drums sound really fantastic, like real drums and not just a background beat. The detail of this tube is amazing - I can actually hear the attack and decay of the drumhead vibrations, the subtle variations of the the drumsticks while tapping the rims of the drums that tell whether the drummer is tapping on the snare or the floor toms. The cymbals don't sound like generic "cymbal" sounds, they sound like a Paiste (sp?) crash and maybe a Zildjan(sp, again? it's been ages since I played drums) ride, but not a terribly big one. Everything's natural, effortless - kind of like the various R10 review/descriptions I've read, just with better bass.
Switching to a German recording of various Bach bits ("Johann Sebastian Bach: edition bachakademie", Hanssler-Verlag), I hear the most liquid-sounding horns I've ever heard in my life. I'm a big fan of horns (what can I say, I play trumpet) and I didn't know they could sound so good.
Overall the choral voices are smooth and liquid. Flute work is CLEAR and absolutely beautiful, with air out the wazoo. Dainty and precise? Definitely. But not laid back at all.
Organ work is absofriggenlutely amazing. You like organs? You'll like this tube. It reproduces perfectly the combination of the treble work and the deep harmonics of the "big tubes"... Schweet midrange, and as clear as Waterford crystal.
Does it beat the Sylvie? Yep. Definitely. The ultra-clear, undistorted highs, the deep bass, the AIR and clarity, the SPACE, the WAY shorter warmup... I just wish this wasn't my only one and that it was NOS. This tube IMHO is equal or better to the ETA42 I use as a solid-state home amp.