Marco's 'tube rolling' and valve power amp adventure

[Cotlake]

Marco,

Personally I think those prices are highly inflated especially for part used. Can I suggest you contact Rob who trades on ebay as 'valvesetc'. He's not got listings at present but contact him, give my compliments and let him know what you want. You could be pleasantly suprised

Best wishes,

Greg

[Marco]

Absolutely I will, Greg. Cheers!

Marco.

[Marco]

Just a small update...

The TD Copper amp originally came with NOS GEC KT88s, but as it was mistakenly reported to me that they had "gone soft" with 1000s of hours of use (even though they still measure full output) I hadn't bothered trying them in the amp and instead had used my Cryo'd Svetlanas from the Yaqin.

Well after putting the GECs in at the weekend and listening to them extensively I can report most categorically the opposite - they have not "gone soft" at all; in fact they sound bloody amazing and are undoubtedly the best KT88s I have ever heard!

Consequently I now have no urgent need to buy a new set of GECs, although I'm sure that a brand new unused set would be better still, but that can wait for a little longer yet. I would urge anyone with the necessary funds (around £600-800) who runs a KT88 P/P amp to invest in a set of NOS GECs. They just have a different, more natural, effortless, sound than any other KT88s available.

I will attempt to describe the difference more eloquently later...

Right now I'm off to play more tunes!

Marco.

[Marco]

Just a further word then on the GECs...

The difference between them and any other KT88s I've used, including the excellent cryo'd Svetlanas, is quite significant.

I had expected the GEC KT88s to sound sweeter and perhaps more 'romantic' sounding than their modern counterparts, as many NOS valves do, but it's the exact opposite. Sure, they remove any hint of edge or 'grain' from the sound but they do so also by making the sound tighter, 'harder', more immediate, and 'bigger', but not bright in any way. Silences are 'blacker', which allows music to emerge naturally and 'breathe' more. Dynamic impact is significantly increased such that voices and instruments are projected into the room with so much verve, intensity, and 'attack' that one gets the feeling they're hard-wired to the speaker's voice coils. Anyone who's experienced what a Decca London cartridge does in the midrange will know exactly what I mean.

Tonally, bass is tighter and deeper, the top end is sweet as nut, having seemingly endless extension and incision, and the midrange... Oh my, that it something quite special. The GECs 'coat' female vocals in particular with a beguiling 'creamy' quality, the rendition of which caresses your ears with a velvety sumptuousness, eking out every last nuance and inflection in voices to allow performers their own individual acoustic space within the listening environment. Consequently, one is left with little sense whatsoever that the music is recorded and not real.

Make no mistake, the GECs are special. This is no audiophile 'tweak' where effects are at best subtle and often not of sufficient significance to warrant the outlay. What the GECs do is fundamental and gets right to the heart of the music. I can think of no other way of achieving their effect in a valve system by spending similar money elsewhere.

If you see a good pair for sale at a reasonable price, buy with confidence!

Marco.

[anthonyTD]

hi marco,
again, your observations are accurate, [spot on in fact] although the cryo-treated svetlanas get close, they’re still some way off the capability of the original GECs. it’s just a shame that stocks are being depleted at such an alarming rate lately that be before long the chance for the discerning and even sceptical audio enthusiasts to witness this in their own systems will have long passed as there won’t be any left, and the very few that can be sourced will be so far out of the reach of the everyday audio enthusiast that i fear the only people able to enjoy their capabilities will be the well off's of society.
anthony,TD...