Telefunken CCa (E88CC+) PostRöhre - Ulm

To fully recognize and appreciate Telefunken CCa, one must go back to the First Principle for evaluating any audio equipment/component: what was it made for and why does the world need it?  Made for and rigorously selected by BP (Bundespost - German Federal Post of Berlin), CCa (a.k.a. PostRöhre) was born a “sound” tube...maybe not for the high-end audio per se by today’s standard, but the objective was very clear: to be able to amplify and broadcast the analog sound in its most original form, live or recorded, instrument or human. 

For most of us, a proper sound evaluation session for Telefunken CCa should begin with the familiar Ulm E88CC tone – lively, transparent, holographical and analytical, and that is the normal expectation.  But then suddenly, those lively beats in your sound get super charged and begin to rush towards you from all directions all at once; suddenly, that final “invisible veil” that we unjustifiably believe has prevented Ulm E88CC from delivering the total transparency has disappeared and nothing is left between you and undisputed purity and fineness in sound; suddenly, we feel humbled by the new (and the correct) definition of holographic sound stage, which differs from what we know in all physical dimensions – you’re no longer sitting in front of a curvy and wide screen but encompassed by a giant sphere where sound doesn’t have to travel from left to right or up and down but in any direction that makes the most “sonic” sense, i.e. how the sound travels from its source to your ears in the real world; suddenly the track ends with a slight aftertaste of sweetness, which is surprising given the tube is supposed to be even more analytical than its pedigree, but maybe we are just confusing the “sweetness” with the taste of true analogue sound that can only be delivered by a tube so analytical that can precisely dig up the last tiny bit of detail in sound but doesn’t just stop there.   

There’s no shortage of material one can find to discover the sound characteristics of Telefunken CCa. No high-fidelity audiophile tracks are required, either. We only used a 30-minute live ZOOM call. Remember the First Principle.