Valvo ECC83 12AX7 Short Plates Angled Getter

Soundlumia’s Opinion

Under the commanding pose of the angled getter support lies the ultimate clarity in sound. As much as we love the overwhelming details made possible by these bad boys, please be aware they show no mercy to any lossy digital sound sources such as high-definition streaming video/audio, and distortion in sound during playback can be heard. Dedicated CD transport or lossless formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAVE etc.) 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.

To get everyone on the same page, we will be comparing these to the Hamburg-made Valvo ECC83's with the regular getter support only, which is already an excellent choice for audiophiles looking for distinctive German tube sound: the grip is tighter with a great deal of substance added to the overall sound presentation, especially to the midrange, which feels much warmer and more intimate; the angled getter support seems to have "bent" the sound stage into a flattened panoramic view, which is still holographic but is much wider and holds so much more information about your sound: everything can be heard (or rather "seen"), whether you knew it existed before or not, or whether you think it should exist or not; 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 differences between the sound of natural rain in some movies and the sound of fake rain (water poured from hoses above the stage) in other movies; the clarity of sound is "clinical" - as in how your doctor would say you are either sick or not sick and absolutely no muddiness or ambiguity in between should be allowed - perhaps that's 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.