Telefunken

Telefunken E188CC = 7308 Matched Pair ◇ Bottom - Ulm 1968 - NOS

$1,293.75 USD

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Soundlumia's Opinion

Behold the illumination at night, write down how your music sounds the moment these tubes start glowing and keep your notes forever. The finest in the fleet, Telefunken E188CC is unequivocally the supreme commander of the entire E188CC/7308 tubes family. This gorgeous pair is from the 1960s' Ulm, Germany production - the most sought after Telefunken sound.

Like any other Telefunken tubes, these E188CC's are very pleasant to listen to: liquid, euphonic, with a slightly warmer midrange than many other German tubes, which makes your sound experience smooth and non-fatiguing, and all that happens on a unbelievably realistic holographic sound stage, where everything feels bigger, wider and taller. Sound texture can be felt through infinite levels of details, laying on top of each other, both in depth and in width. So your quest for superb sound clarity can end right here. Lastly, it never gets old to say that no other brand is even close to these when it comes to low noise - Telefunken tubes are "extremely" quiet just as legend has it.

Appearance & cosmetic condition

Beside the world-class sound characteristics, we treasure this pair also because the near pristine condition of inscriptions on the tubes. Ulm factory date codes are 100% visible on both tubes:

U4038102N (U = Ulm, Germany, 8 = 1968)

Uxxx8900 (U = Ulm, Germany, 8 = 1968)

And of course the diamond mark on bottom - the symbol of the best sound one can ever find on E188CC's.

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: Liquid Platinum Tube Amplifier by Alex Cavalli

- 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

This set was tested and certified by RoeTest V11 Professional Tube Testing System with the following result:

Tube 1:

Measured transconductance(GM): 13.79/13.4 mA/V - 110%/107% (100% = 12.50 mA/V)

Measured plate current(IA): 24.239/22.611 mA - 143%/133% (100% = 17 mA)

Tube 2:

Measured transconductance(GM): 12.05/12.45 mA/V - 96%/100% (100% = 12.50 mA/V)

Measured plate current(IA): 18.794/18.314 mA - 111%/108% (100% = 17 mA)

NO shorts, leakage or gas. NO noise or microphonics.

Curve trace is also included in the original RoeTest report.

Packaging

NEW reproduction Telefunken tube boxes.