mako44
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2012
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I never heard the Raytheon no but I guess it will improve with some more hours of using. If you're brave enough to read the whole discussions you can find many comments about tubes with havana (may be you already did it). Here's some from different people :
1) Bendix 6385 from 1964 - the most natural ever heard, detailed, very wide soundstage - the best
2) Bendix 6385 from fifties - to me dry and lifeless, It has very strange characteristic, but some people like it much.
3) JW 396a early fifties- very very nice sounding tube, my second favourite; May be a bit more enjoyable than Bendix 6385 50's
4) Ericsson 396a - dark but first class tube
5) tesla 6cc42 - warm, first class
Bendix 6385 - Widest soundstage, bit thin sounding compared to Bendix 2c51 or JW 396a
Bendix 2c51 - second widest soundstage, slightly fuller bodied middle than 6385
JW 396a (50') - still very wide soundstage, the sweetest middle, smooth, analogue sounding
Ericsson 2c51 (gold pin) - leaner sounding, balanced, fast, clear
1) The bendix white boxed from late 60's : Dry and lifeless sound but very detailed and widestaged, not common at all, the highs are excellent, your ears are not being stung when the music's very loud. They can kick your ears.
2) bendix 1964 - full of life and truthful sound, very analogue sounding tube, extremely detailed, widestaged, close to JW WE396A from eary fifties but much more accurate,faster bass response, better dynamics.
3) bendix from 1957, best in my opinion, refine and exquisite analogue very real sound. Probably superior to all 2c51's, very close to bendix 1964's
LM Ericsson 2C51 Gold Pin. My favorite, smooth, detailed an involving. Brent Jesse is asking $100 for this tube. At the $25 I paid it's an absolute steal!
GE 5-Star 5670WA - The detail champion, but this tube can sound a little thin an analytical on some vintage or vocal recordings.
Bendix 2C51- This tube provides a very happy middle ground between the Ericsson and the GE 5-Star.
1950's Raytheon JRP-5670 & 1964 CK-5670 Grey Plate Windmill Getter- A great tube top to bottom. Not quite as smooth or detailed as the Ericsson. For $7 this has the best price to performance I've found.
1950's Tungsol 2C51 - This is a very rich, balanced tube. It would rank higher if not for the loss in detail at both frequency extremes.
RCA Command - Maybe a notch below the Raytheon and Bendix in terms of detail. Overall a very good tube for the $7 these can be had for.
WE396a - Too much mid emphasis for me. However, to my ear no tube sounds better with Beatles recordings and some other recordings of that era. I may have got a crap pair off of Ebay though.
Havana stock tube - not bad at all, I used it for burn in.
* note : JJ 6386 is also much appreciated
1) Bendix 6385 from 1964 - the most natural ever heard, detailed, very wide soundstage - the best
2) Bendix 6385 from fifties - to me dry and lifeless, It has very strange characteristic, but some people like it much.
3) JW 396a early fifties- very very nice sounding tube, my second favourite; May be a bit more enjoyable than Bendix 6385 50's
4) Ericsson 396a - dark but first class tube
5) tesla 6cc42 - warm, first class
Bendix 6385 - Widest soundstage, bit thin sounding compared to Bendix 2c51 or JW 396a
Bendix 2c51 - second widest soundstage, slightly fuller bodied middle than 6385
JW 396a (50') - still very wide soundstage, the sweetest middle, smooth, analogue sounding
Ericsson 2c51 (gold pin) - leaner sounding, balanced, fast, clear
1) The bendix white boxed from late 60's : Dry and lifeless sound but very detailed and widestaged, not common at all, the highs are excellent, your ears are not being stung when the music's very loud. They can kick your ears.
2) bendix 1964 - full of life and truthful sound, very analogue sounding tube, extremely detailed, widestaged, close to JW WE396A from eary fifties but much more accurate,faster bass response, better dynamics.
3) bendix from 1957, best in my opinion, refine and exquisite analogue very real sound. Probably superior to all 2c51's, very close to bendix 1964's
LM Ericsson 2C51 Gold Pin. My favorite, smooth, detailed an involving. Brent Jesse is asking $100 for this tube. At the $25 I paid it's an absolute steal!
GE 5-Star 5670WA - The detail champion, but this tube can sound a little thin an analytical on some vintage or vocal recordings.
Bendix 2C51- This tube provides a very happy middle ground between the Ericsson and the GE 5-Star.
1950's Raytheon JRP-5670 & 1964 CK-5670 Grey Plate Windmill Getter- A great tube top to bottom. Not quite as smooth or detailed as the Ericsson. For $7 this has the best price to performance I've found.
1950's Tungsol 2C51 - This is a very rich, balanced tube. It would rank higher if not for the loss in detail at both frequency extremes.
RCA Command - Maybe a notch below the Raytheon and Bendix in terms of detail. Overall a very good tube for the $7 these can be had for.
WE396a - Too much mid emphasis for me. However, to my ear no tube sounds better with Beatles recordings and some other recordings of that era. I may have got a crap pair off of Ebay though.
Havana stock tube - not bad at all, I used it for burn in.
* note : JJ 6386 is also much appreciated