As with any German tube, you should expect nothing but the best in sound from these bad boys, and you will not be disappointed. The top five sound qualities shared by German tubes are delivered with perfection by these lovely Red Label tubes, and especially on an ultra rare pair with the "G.Abl." label:
1) Holographic sound stage (leading brand: Telefunken)
2) Non-fatiguing top end extension (leading brand: Siemens)
3) Natural tone/flat midrange (leading brand: Valvo Hamburg)
4) Deeply controlled bass (leading brands: Siemens & Valvo Hamburg)
5) Ultra clarity and layered details (leading brand: Telefunken)
Sound Qualities
Over the years, we have found the bass on Valvo Hamburg even more appealing than on Siemens (allegedly the King of Bass and that's fine) for a very important reason: there's added substance and weight to the lower midrange that makes the bass more pronounced without being overpowering. This special sound characteristic can only be found on Valvo Hamburg tubes. And because of the added substance in sound, the overall tonality of these tubes feels sweet, warm and musical, and the ambient clues sound closer to your ears. One may find Telefunken's midrange thinner compared to Valvo Hamburg as a trade-off of a more enveloping and curvier holographical sound stage...the law of physics applies here as well - the shape of sound can only change in one direction.
Appearance and cosmetic condition
Both tubes are in excellent cosmetic condition. At leaset 95% of the inscription & lettering are still intact and the identical acid-etched Hamburg date codes are perfectly visible on both tubes.
7L1 D9L2 (7L1 = change code for E88CC, D = Hamburg, 9 = 1969, L = December, 2 = Week 2 of the production month.)
The super rare G.Abl. stamp are also on both tubes with the identical batch number 21259.
Professional Tube Testing
Both tubes tested NOS (100%+ mutual conductance) on a reliable and regularly calibrated Mercury 2000 tube tester with the following result (mutual conductance both in uMhos and in percentage of nominal):
Tube 1: 13,000/13,000(104%/104%)
Tube 2: 13,900/13,900(111%/111%)
Good tubes start at 7000 and new tubes (incl. NOS/NIB) 12,500 - 13,000, and the Mercury 2000's rated mutual conductance (nominal) for new tubes is 12,500. 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 better.
Packaging
This pair of tubes will be packaged in the Original old-style Valvo E88CC tube boxes, secured by a handmade paper ribbon (by courtesy of Soundlumia.)
Shipping Policy
- US Shipping: Flat-rate ($5.50) USPS Ground Advantage for ALL states.
- International Shipping: Flat-rate ($35.00) DHL Express Worldwide for ALL countries.
- Orders ship within 24 - 48 hours
