E88CC recommendations?

[Batty]

Well you could go for a NOS Mullard E88CC-01 but that will cost you around £70.

I can only go by what my ears tell me - for £23 the JJ is a very good valve indeed.

I use a pair of these in my Copland CSA-14, loverly an smooove

[Yomanze]

Thanks Neil,

Re. p&p, bear in mind that I live in Italy tho' it shouldn't make a huge difference.

Could you hold on for a few days? It would be wise to check to be sure there are no incompatibilities with the Audion. I'll pm you after the weekend if that's OK.
I think I'll probably take the opportunity here to try both a pair of russian valves and a couple suggested by Phil if economics allow - presumably there is more than hype to NOS glassware...

No problem they're not going anywhere.

[Simon]

I use a pair of these in my Copland CSA-14, loverly an smooove

A second ringing endorsement bodes well then.

There's such a lot of disinformation out there regarding tubes, it can turn the head of the unwary. For the record, I consulted Joe's Tube Lore
which is where the slur re. JJ's not matching up to Tesla standards originated. The tube jungle can be a daunting place for the inexperienced I have to say.

So... we have on our list of options an ECC88/62JD/6N1p (and -EV) morphing into E88CC/CV2492/6922, E188CC/7308, ECC88CCa, not to mention the 6N23p (and -EV)

I realise you have to occasionally kiss a few frogs before finding your ideal partner but swimming with the toads can be a time-consuming business. I suppose the moral of the story is not to succumb to the irresistable itch to grab at the nobbly allsorts being routinely proffered on eBay and to, well, listen to unbiased advice.

Thanks chaps.

[Simon]

62JD

What I meant of course was 6DJ8.

[Slawts]

I don't know about the valve you want but I'm using JJ ecc82's in my pre. I swapped them for some old yellow label Mullards but swapped them back as the Mullards were noisier.

They're a good quality valve.

Steve

[OneyedK]

Any chance that we could examine the schematic of the Audion Sterling?
This might help narrowing down selections.
Most of the time I use russian 6N1P instead of 6DJ8 and E88CC.
Avirtual trip to the Tube Amp Doctor.de might solve your problems...

[Simon]

Any chance that we could examine the schematic of the Audion Sterling?
This might help narrowing down selections.
Most of the time I use russian 6N1P instead of 6DJ8 and E88CC.
Avirtual trip to the Tube Amp Doctor.de might solve your problems...

Short answer to that Karl is no, unfortunately I have no plans to open up the Sterling. But, bearing in mind that 6N1P's can be had so cheaply, I may well have a go - presumably no damage to the amp will occur due to the slight variation in plate voltage? Would you happen to know the answer to that? How do you find the sound of them?

[OneyedK]

presumably no damage to the amp will occur due to the slight variation in plate voltage? Would you happen to know the answer to that? How do you find the sound of them?

The higher allowed plate voltage is a big plus, if the circuit is less than ideal, you won't damage the tube or anything else.
I've compared them to RCA 6DJ8 cleartop en Telefunken and Siemens NOS E88CC, not much difference to my ears (at least not in the used circuit, grounded cathode followed by split load phase splitter driving a couple of EL84's).
The 6DJ8 sounded sweetest, Siemens a little "harder", Telefunken was very neutral and musical. I'd say the 6N1P-EV I used sounded like the Telefunkens.
When driven harder, the 6N1P-EV seems to distort less.

But it all boils down to the circuit they are used in.
Oh, and one tip, if you buy from our russian friend, take 10 tubes or so, very often, 8 tubes are perfect, 2 are out of spec.
If you want tubes "on spec", the tube amp doctor is the place to be...

[Simon]

The higher allowed plate voltage is a big plus, if the circuit is less than ideal, you won't damage the tube or anything else.
I've compared them to RCA 6DJ8 cleartop en Telefunken and Siemens NOS E88CC, not much difference to my ears (at least not in the used circuit, grounded cathode followed by split load phase splitter driving a couple of EL84's).
The 6DJ8 sounded sweetest, Siemens a little "harder", Telefunken was very neutral and musical. I'd say the 6N1P-EV I used sounded like the Telefunkens.
When driven harder, the 6N1P-EV seems to distort less.

But it all boils down to the circuit they are used in.
Oh, and one tip, if you buy from our russian friend, take 10 tubes or so, very often, 8 tubes are perfect, 2 are out of spec.
If you want tubes "on spec", the tube amp doctor is the place to be...

Well in the past I've had some success with Russian valves - courtesy of info via the Lampizator website - including x2 6N6P's as drivers in a 300B integrated as well as using one as a replacement for a 6H30 in a tube buffered player where the relative laidbackness of the variant works wonderfully well in tandem with a frisky Bantam Gold amp. Also, I have tried a pair of 6N23P's in the Sterling which were a huge improvement over the JAN Philips 6922 it came with but which broke up over a relatively short time, matter of months.
I've never tried the 6N23P-EV but I probably will.
Anyway, interesting about the 6N1P-EV, I think I'll give those a shot as well. Thoroughly agree about the need to exercise particular caution when eBaying these Russian tubes which I suppose is the trade-off for their affordability. So off to the tube amp doctor for a wee butcher's...

[OneyedK]

I've never tried the 6N23P-EV but I probably will.

Have a look here:
6n23p
It seems the measured 6N23P is not an exact substitute for ECC88.

In circuits designed with GlassWare TubeCAD for the ECC88, an actual 6N1P measures the same...