Siemens

Siemens ECC82 12AU7 RARE 14mm Chrome Plates Matched Pair - Munich 1962 - NOS

Name: Siemens ECC82 12AU7 RARE 14mm Chrome Plates Matched Pair - Munich 1962 - NOS
Brand: Siemens
SKU: 266645407797
Price: 283.75 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

$283.75 USD

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Siemens ECC82 12AU7 RARE 14mm Short Chrome Plates Matched Pair - Munich 1962 - Strong NOS

Product Summary

Stronger than time! This is the classic beauty in sound, admired by audiophiles for almost 60 years and will still be our top choice in the next 60 years. Particularly, the early '60s Siemens tone is considered the "reference sound" for serious classical listeners who need to upgrade the sound quality at phono stage. With the sound quality on par with Telefunken ECC802S (and even excel in certain areas,) the Siemens chrome plates tubes competes strongly in the finest league of the ECC82 tube family, and easily the sweetest sounding tube in Siemens' own ECC82 series. And at what price again?

Sound Characteristics

The airy and transparent sound produced by these vintage Siemens tubes has been unrivaled even to this day. The magically extended yet never tizzy highs, coupled with the slightly focused upper mid-range, deliver a clear presentation of the entire frequency spectrum, completed by the precise and deep controlled bass. And the most defining sound characteristic of Siemens ECC82 tubes is their ability to retrieve the deepest levels of detail in sound, and these hidden sonic layers can go a long way to revealing the subtle ambient clues that help complete building a truly 3D holographic presentation. While as quiet and analytical as the best Telefunken ECC82 tubes, Siemens tubes produce a warmer, smoother and more musical sound.

Professional Sound Evaluation

The pair worked wonderfully and sounded terrific in our professional studio setup for monitoring.

- Input: Cambridge Audio CXC V2 dedicated CD transport + Schiit Audio Bifrost 2 Multibit DAC

- Amplification: Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies (3rd gen) Balanced Headphone Amplifier

- Output: Focal Clear MG Pro open-back headphones

Our full tube sound review was written 100% based on the actual listening experience while this pair of tubes were running in the system described above.

Professional Tube Testing

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

Tube 1: 3,180/3,250 (106%/108%)

Tube 2: 3,000/3,010 (100%/100%)

Good tubes start at 2,000 and new tubes (incl. NOS/NIB) 3,000, and the Mercury 2000's rated mutual conductance (nominal) for new tubes is 3,000. 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 the numbers the stronger.

Appearance & cosmetic condition

This pair is in incredibly pristine cosmetic condition - at least 95% of the paint and lettering are well preserved, and the IDENTICAL acid etched Munich date codes are visible on both tubes (a bit fainted on the right tube):

#2D (# = Munich, 2 = 1962, D = April)

Packaging

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