Amperex HP 7316 ECC186 D-getter Matched Pair - Holland 1959 (Ct1 ⊿9F)

Description: Soundlumia's Opinion The "textbook Heerlen sound" has been referenced in several Soundlumia listings of Amperex Holland 7316/ECC186 tubes, and many tube enthusiasts asked what that all means. So this is the answer: the late 1950s and very early 1960s tone, the beginning of over a decade's excellence in sound, the classic tonal template for all the great (and greater) Amperex/Philips/Valvo/Miniwatt tubes to be made in the years to come, the timeless Philips radio tone that many of us grew up listening to. But there's also a "secret" version of the textbook Heerlen sound that very few have heard: ECC186 (aka 7316 or 12AUWA) tubes made in Holland (and ONLY in Holland.) As an improved version of 7316/ECC186 designed for computers, ECC186 has a a special cathode that allows the tube to be operated without anode current for long periods of time without damage. Remember the last time you heard people talking about the elusive "circuit tubes?" You are looking right at them! It would be fascinating to understand the technicality as to how this special design had made the the Heerlen sound so amazing, but our audiophile ears perhaps only care to know this is Amperex Holland's official answer to Telefunken's ECC802S and Mullard's 10M Series. In other words, these tubes compete and ONLY compete in the Holy Grail league of the 7316/ECC186 family. The most distinctive sound feature of the Amperex Holland ECC186's is the transparent, natural and expansive midrange presentation, with a slight touch of warmth that illuminates your music. Every piece of music you play through these tubes sounds like from a vinyl record, whether your sound source is phono or not. The sound stage is spacious, deep, structured and holographical. Bass is incredibly deep but well controlled and feels as accurate as on the high end German ECC82's (Siemens, Telefunken, Valvo Hamburg etc.) The stellar performance of ECC186 plus the d-getter take all these wonderful sound qualities to a whole new level: instrument separation is super clean, detail retrieval is surreal, and it goes without saying that the extremely low noise on these tubes is to the vanishing point. 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 This set was tested and certified by RoeTest V11 Professional Tube Testing System with the following result: Tube 1: Measured transconductance(GM): 2.06/1.89 mA/V - 94%/86% (100% = 2.20 mA/V)Measured plate current(IA): 10.817/9.52 mA - 103%/91% (100% = 10.5 mA) Tube 2: Measured transconductance(GM): 1.99/1.84 mA/V - 90%/84% (100% = 2.20 mA/V)Measured plate current(IA): 9.295/8.665 mA - 89%/83% (100% = 10.5 mA) NO shorts or grid leakage. NO noise or microphonics.Curve trace is also included in the original RoeTest report. Appearance & cosmetic condition Both tubes are in near pristine cosmetic condition - nearly 100% of the paint is still intact, and the identical etched Heerlen date code is perfectly visible: Ct1 ⊿9F (Ct3 = ECC186/7316 Production Gen #1, ⊿ = Heerlen, Holland, 9 = 1959, F = June) Packaging NEW reproduction Amperex tube boxes.Shipping Policy - US Shipping: Flat-rate USPS Ground Advantage (upgradable to flat-rate USPS Priority or FedEx 2nd Day for expedited delivery.) - International Shipping: (Please read carefully) USPS First Class International is used for all countries EXCEPT: Armenia, Chile, China, India, Latvia, Mauritius, Mexico, Serbia, Slovenia, Tuvalu, and Vietnam. If you prefer to use a different carrier or shipping service, please contact us first so we can establish shipping rates before you make payment. If you are a buyer in one of the excluded countries, you must contact us prior to purchase to arrange shipping. Soundlumia-sponsored 3-day guaranteed worldwide delivery program ($30 flat rate for ALL destinations in the world) via DHL Express is highly recommended to serious and committed buyers. - Same day shipping: Orders placed by 2:00PM US Pacific Time on weekdays are posted on the same day, otherwise the next business day. - Combined shipping available - request invoice for total before making payment or receive shipping credit after order ships. Return Policy - Please READ carefully Returns are acceptable if we made a mistake by delivering you wrong or defective products. Tubes we sell are guaranteed to work because we run professional tests and sound evaluation TWICE: before they are approved for listing AND before we ship them to customers. So the "defective item" case doesn't exist and please do not bother trying - this type of returns will NOT be accepted without proof that tubes are faulty and we will open disputes with eBay. Sound experience is very subjective and we do NOT accept returns because you do not like the tube's sound signature or because you changed your mind about your purchase. Please contact us to work things out before submitting return requests claiming "item is defective" or "item not as described" or "just didn't like it" or "changed my mind." Tube rollers abusing the return system will be reported to eBay immediately and negative feedback will be left to your account - that's guaranteed. We have already opened several dispute cases to report abusive buyers and eBay has always ruled in our favor. International buyers who request return or refund claiming your country's import duties or sales tax/GST/VAT are too high will be reported to eBay immediately for dishonesty and will be permanently blacklisted from purchasing from Soundlumia. We are committed to working closely with eBay to help rid the marketplace of dishonest, unjust, unreasonable, abusive buyers that are detrimental to the vintage tubes market and the audiophile community.

Price: 673.75 USD

Location: Torrance, California

End Time: 2024-09-26T06:34:35.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15 USD