Tube rolling in GAT/2

[Bill Stevenson]

I have rolled tubes in my GAT/2 with surprising results. The Gold Lions sound almost the same as the Philips ECC88s! I was expecting they would be warmer and maybe they are, but not really enough to notice. Equally quiet, it will be interesting to see how long they stay quiet. I intend to switch back to the Philips soon and will report back if my impressions change. This outcome is not at all what I expected. Has anyone tried Telefunkens, either NOS or current production? The Philips tubes seem to be the best choice for both the GAT and ET series and there is no reason to mess around with tubes really. I am just curious.

[roberto]

Hola Bill,
I got the same results...I do like a lot the Philips E88CC. I just tried the gold pins 6922 JJ Electronics, and the Tungsram, and my liking goes for the Philips. I hear more harmonics definition with it..but sometimes all of them are great...
Difficult task my friend,
Happy listening!

[XCop5089]

I have owned a GAT Series 2 since 2016 and it came fitted with the Philips PCC88/7DJ8 tubes. I am a UK customer and reported to the distributor/importer shortly after purchase, that one of the tubes was rather noisy!

Two Philips PCC88 tubes were ordered from CJ and these have been in circuit ever since. I have obtained another couple of spare matched pairs of Philips PCC88's from the internet, as well as a pair of Telefunken PCC88's from a UK supplier.

I noticed late last year, that the Philips tube in the left channel was getting noisy and last week, I swapped out both Philips tubes and currently have the Telefunken PCC88's fitted.

The Telefunken tubes are very quiet and sound a bit more dynamic than the Philips, with more bottom end punch. It's early days, but I like what I am hearing, so these will be staying until a change is required in another couple of years or so.

[Joe Appierto]

Although it came stock with 6922 tubes I used PCC88 tubes in my 16LS2 to good effect. Among my favorites were those made by Telefunken and Siemens manufactured/Telefunken labelled PCC88s.

[Bill Stevenson]

I would like to try the Telefunkens, have read wonderful things about them, but they cost a king's ransom everywhere I look. Any suggested source that you know of?

[StewartMac]

What do people say though? Are they worth the price?

[Joe Appierto]

Bill, not sure what you consider a king's ransom but have you considered Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio? I dealt with him many times in the past and always considered him to be a square shooter. He has in stock, according to his web site, West German made Telefunken PCC 88 manufactured by Siemens. He lists the Gold Grade as $105 and Platinum Grade as $125.

I purchased a set from Kevin (left in the photo) that were manufactured in the Siemens Munich plant in 1973. I compared them to a 1968 set (pictured right) purchased from the TubeMonger. The latter bear the hallmark diamond in the base. I found both to be delightful.

[Bill Stevenson]

Thanks Joe.

[joeinid]

Are 6922 tubes and equivalents being ruled out for use in the GAT2?

I’ve seen early GAT2 ship with the 6922 tubes but more recent GAT2 preamps definitely ship with 7DJ8 and equivalent.