[Tubegear]

I have quickly tried two gold frame grid Telefunken PCC88's. First impression is that these are nice sounding tubes (maybe a bit thin in the bass/lower midrange) but nothing special. I have to give these tubes some more time but I think I like the 1960 Philips E88CC "PTT" better. I still need to try the Tesla's and RFT's as well, should make a nice comparison.

Meanwhile did find some decent testing unicorn tubes in my stash:

Siemens PCC88 with angled D-getters and DJO/≠6K and DJO/≠6L date codes. These codes would date the PCC88's at 1956 and therefore these are likely some of the very first 6DJ8/ECC88/E88CC/PCC88 types ever produced. Strange thing is the Siemens do not have pinched waists. Very limited info online on the DJ0 PCC88's, I do own a 1957 Valvo DJ0 but this does have a PW and normal D-getter. Need some more time on these Siemens PCC88's to form an opinion on the sound.

 

[Zulkr9]

Does anyone have a lyr1 or 2 for sale ?

 

[Tubegear]

Have been testing 6DJ8/ECC88/E88CC/6922/PCC88 tubes from my collection quite extensively last couple of weeks. And although most of them produce solid results on the AVO tester, this unfortunately does not guarantee flawless operation in my amp. Even though the tubes have nicely balanced sections and (very) good levels of mA/V, noise remains a serious issue with a susbtantial percentage of these tubes compared to other ECCxx tubes. I think that approx. 15-20% do not meet my zero noise tolerance level, even after using tube dampers. Does anyone know whether noise levels with these tubes is circuit related? Is a noisy tube in one amp a noisy tube in all amps/circuits? Hate to throw away good testing tubes...

Initial listening impressions indicate that early 60's Valvo PCC88 (DJ1 / DJ2) and 1960's Telefunken ECC88 gold grid's are very solid performers and still a good budget option compared to all the unicorn / holy grail tubes mentioned in this thread.

 

[mordy]

Have been testing 6DJ8/ECC88/E88CC/6922/PCC88 tubes from my collection quite extensively last couple of weeks. And although most of them produce solid results on the AVO tester, this unfortunately does not guarantee flawless operation in my amp. Even though the tubes have nicely balanced sections and (very) good levels of mA/V, noise remains a serious issue with a susbtantial percentage of these tubes compared to other ECCxx tubes. I think that approx. 15-20% do not meet my zero noise tolerance level, even after using tube dampers. Does anyone know whether noise levels with these tubes is circuit related? Is a noisy tube in one amp a noisy tube in all amps/circuits? Hate to throw away good testing tubes...

Initial listening impressions indicate that early 60's Valvo PCC88 (DJ1 / DJ2) and 1960's Telefunken ECC88 gold grid's are very solid performers and still a good budget option compared to all the unicorn / holy grail tubes mentioned in this thread.

In my experience tube noise levels are definitely linked to the equipment that you have.
In one amp the tube is noisy; in another quiet. Some amps are
much more sensitive than others.
If you plan to throw away good testing tubes, please send them to me…

 

[Pondoro]

Have been testing 6DJ8/ECC88/E88CC/6922/PCC88 tubes from my collection quite extensively last couple of weeks. And although most of them produce solid results on the AVO tester, this unfortunately does not guarantee flawless operation in my amp. Even though the tubes have nicely balanced sections and (very) good levels of mA/V, noise remains a serious issue with a susbtantial percentage of these tubes compared to other ECCxx tubes. I think that approx. 15-20% do not meet my zero noise tolerance level, even after using tube dampers. Does anyone know whether noise levels with these tubes is circuit related? Is a noisy tube in one amp a noisy tube in all amps/circuits? Hate to throw away good testing tubes...

Initial listening impressions indicate that early 60's Valvo PCC88 (DJ1 / DJ2) and 1960's Telefunken ECC88 gold grid's are very solid performers and still a good budget option compared to all the unicorn / holy grail tubes mentioned in this thread.

I’m not in any way negating your search for low noise. But at some point I think we become so good at detecting noise that it destroys enjoyment. My vintage tube amps make audible noise when no music is playing, audible if I put my ear close to the speaker. I am 100% sure that that noise remains during the music, but it doesn’t matter to me. By the way I don’t listen to classical pieces that go down to near-zero volume. So some of your tubes may be good for some people.

 

[Paladin79]

I’m not in any way negating your search for low noise. But at some point I think we become so good at detecting noise that it destroys enjoyment. My vintage tube amps make audible noise when no music is playing, audible if I put my ear close to the speaker. I am 100% sure that that noise remains during the music, but it doesn’t matter to me. By the way I don’t listen to classical pieces that go down to near-zero volume. So some of your tubes may be good for some people.

My older tube amp is a Cary and it is pretty much noise free once I re-capped it. My newer amp is noise free by design, a PrimaLuna. I have much more trouble with tube phono amps since they are very sensitive. On older receivers I tend to use loads on each phono input to reduce cross talk.

As far as tubes I prefer, I only kept Reflektor silver shields, 1974, 1975, and 1976 6n23p.

I use those in a Melos SHA-1, one of the earliest headphone amps ever made.

 

[billerb1]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my old Head-Fi friends !!!