Tube Experiences with specifically ET7 and possibly ET5 pre's

The PV-1 to now...
Post Reply
User avatar
jahatl513
Master Apprentice
Master Apprentice
Posts: 157
Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:59 pm
Location: Atlanta, Ga USA

Tube Experiences with specifically ET7 and possibly ET5 pre's

Post by jahatl513 »

This is not about issues with but about listening experiences with Tube swaps with ET7 or ET5? If you have swapped stock and had an experience worth discussing please post.
User avatar
roberto
Ultimate
Ultimate
Posts: 2330
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:02 am
Location: Costa Rica.

Re: Tube Experiences with specifically ET7 and possibly ET5 pre's

Post by roberto »

It looks that I am going to be the first one to say about it. Well, I do believe there are differences in the overall sound. As an example, I have three different brands and are equivalent replacement for the original, the 6922. I have the E88CC, the PCC88 and the 6922. I bought two plus the one that comes with my preamp ET-7. I chose the PCC88 by Philips, its warmer and very good in details and resolution. I do like a lot the sense of 3D and wide stage. The noise is very low too. Others were similar, the sound quality was not a dramatic change, but I do not know why I kept using this Philips PCC-88. I chose three types of music, classical, jazz and vocal. In classical, the piano, single instrument. I listen to Valentina Lisitsa playing Beethoven, Morzart and Brahms. On jazz, I played Four Play, Cesar Camargo Mariano, and Steve Davis. On vocals, I listened Lynn Stanley, Diana Krall and Jacintha. I did not play big orchestras or symphonic music. To my ears, they do like simple things...not too complex passages on the music.

Jona, I do believe too, everything it is a matter of liking.

Happy listening!
ML CLX BF-210 Stage X Motion 4. CJ 120SE amp ET7V2 pre, Holo May Kte Dac. Mac Pro. Power Cond. BPT Signature+ 3.5, Gaia II Feet. USB Lush^V3. Nordost SPM IC and Spk. Shun Mook, BCanto CD2 CD3. Linn LP-12/Unitrack tonearm/Denon DL103R MC.
Bill Stevenson
Pro
Pro
Posts: 98
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 3:36 pm

Re: Tube Experiences with specifically ET7 and possibly ET5 pre's

Post by Bill Stevenson »

For my ET5 the Philips PCC88 has proven to be the best so far. These sound a bit smoother and warmer than the OEM tube did, while offering good life. The OEM tube is not bad, though, and perhaps offers the best durability of any tried so far. I have also tried E88CC/6922 Genelex Golden Lion tubes that sound smooth and warm, but don't last very long, a surprisingly short 75-100 hours before starting to get noisy. The Philips PCC88 has acceptable life of at least 200-300 hours before starting to get noisy, which for me is the best compromise. The ET5 is hard on tubes, which has to be taken into account. On the other hand, the ET5 has a sound, which for small ensemble jazz, and vocals in particular, is nonparallel. I had the chance to compare it to a GAT recently and even the GAT is only equal, but not better for this type of music. I have not had an opportunity to audition an ET7 yet. So the tube game continues.
Post Reply