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Valvo

Philips ECC83 12AX7 Matched Pair Long Plates Foil D 45° Getter - DX mCP (Valvo Hamburg, 1953-1954) - NOS

Philips ECC83 12AX7 Matched Pair Long Plates Foil D 45° Getter - DX mCP (Valvo Hamburg, 1953-1954) - NOS

$1,160.00 USD
$1,160.00 USD
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Tubes Summary

As much as they are known for their super power in revealing details in sound, these tubes can get punishing to lossy digital sound sources such as streaming video (not even 4K!), HD audio streaming, MP3 (not even 320kbps) playback and distortions in sound will be amplified and displayed with no mercy! Dedicated CD transport or lossless play back on PC/Mac (not on mobile devices) are recommended if you want to fully unleash these tubes' amazing power in your system. Phono, if available, is highly recommended to be used as sound source because analog input is lossless by definition.

Sound Qualities 

Under the commanding pose of the 45° angled getter support lies the ultimate clarity of sound: everything can be heard, whether you knew they existed before or not, or whether you think they should exist or not. 

To get everyone on the same page, we will be comparing these to the Hamburg-made Valvo ECC83's with regular getter support version only, which is already an excellent choice for audiophiles looking for distinctive German tube sound: the grip is tighter with a ton of weight added to the overall sound presentation, especially to the midrange, which feels much warmer and more intimate; the sound stage is expanded in all three dimensions (wider, taller and deeper) and almost feels like projected from a 45-degree angle somewhere (but that's probably only in your head) as you get to "see" more information from the same angle - the true holographic sound stage presentation; the naturalness of sound is not heard on any other tubes in the sense that these tubes tell you what IS and what IS NOT in your sound, e.g. you can tell the sound of natural rain in some movies from the sound of fake rain (water poured from hoses above movie scenes) in other movies; the clarity of sound is "clinical" - as in how your doctor would say you are either sick or not sick and there's absolutely no muddiness or ambiguity in between and perhaps this is why they can get punishing to lossy digital sound sources; the musicality is unequalled as by now the only thing left in your music for you to hear is EVERYTHING in your music as long as the sound source is right. 

Professional Tube Testing 

Both tubes tested Strong NOS (110%+ nominal mutual conductance) on a reliable recently calibrated Mercury 2000 tube tester with the following results (mutual conductance both in uMhos and in percentage of nominal):

Tube 1: 1,200/1,150 (120%/115%)
Tube 2: 1,180/1,100 (118%/110%)

Good tubes start at 700 and new tubes (incl. NOS/NIB) 1,000, and the Mercury 2000's rated mutual conductance (nominal) for new tubes is 1,000. Test result can also be seen in the pictures. In case you wonder what all these numbers mean to your sound experience, it's actually quite straightforward: mutual conductance directly translates to a tube's ability to amplify sound, so the higher these numbers the stronger. 

Appearance & cosmetic condition

Besides the world-class sound characteristics, we treasure this pair also because the excellent condition of inscriptions on the tubes given its age. The identical painted date code between pins are perfectly visible on both tubes: 

DX mCP (Hamburg, 1953 - 1954)
 
Packaging

This pair of tubes will be packaged in the new Valvo tube boxes, secured by a handmade paper ribbon (by courtesy of Soundlumia.)
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