The MkII just jumped in value! They are now officially rare.
No, from PS Audio.
Ah right, you said that. My apologies.
I landed some vivatubes from amazon. Look okay at first glance.
edit: I returned them without even trying them because of the news that they are…whatever, going away?
Did you get the Psvanes or the Gold Lions? Rather, which did you return?
I bought both, returned the PSV Art Series. I went with the GL 6922s for my stand-by tubes for the M1200s and the BHK Pre, I suppose. I have a few others that could work their way if need be. No need to change anything yet.
My M1200’s came with the Psvanes Art tubes. I switched to Brimar NOS. I’m thinking about giving the Gold Lions a try in the M1200’s. I also run the Brimar currently in my BHK Preamp.
These are still singing like new at about 1200 hours. Psvanes started fading at about 800, by 1000 they sounded like a bland dish
I recently replaced the stock psvanes in the BHK with the Gold Lions with some improvement. Still intrigued with NOS options like the Brimar. How do you like them?
I really like the brimar in the BHK Pre personally. IMO it gives the bhk a more realistic sound and seems more natural to my ears. What I didn’t like about the Psvanes is they can be a little harsh and bright on the top end for me and my system. The Brimar’s are laid back and smoother. I just put another set in the M1200’s. The brimar definitely controlled the brightness in the M1200’s but also seemed to have removed a little of its detail. I only have about 20 hours on the M1200 tubes so I don’t want to sound to critical with them yet. If the Brimars don’t work out on the M1200’s I might try the Gold Lions and use the Brimars as my back up set for the BHK.
Thanks for the feedback. I think Kevin at Upscale is a fan of these tubes.
They do sound great! I recommend them if you want to try NOS tubes!
Recently put in a pair of current production of Telefunken 12AU7. They sounded great in my system. I know they are not the same as NOS and use the same name only. But these are good tubes and at much lower prices than the NOS.
Do you know if there’s Brimar 6922 tube for the BHK amps?
I’m definitely not a tube expert but doing a quick search I didn’t find Brimar 6922’s.
Assuming you own a BHK amp, is there a tube you found that you like?
Unfortunately I don’t own a BHK amp. I currently own a pair of Stellar M-1200’s which use the same size tubes as the BHK Preamp. I hope to own a pair of BHK amps some day soon! I use the Gold Lion tubes in my M1200’s and I’m very pleased with them. If you do a search for BHK amplifier tube rolling rolling I’m sure you will find plenty of info!
Buy NOS, those are “small tubes” so unexpensive one.
Unless you want transfigurate your préamp with the 12AU7 ever : Telefunken NOS ECC802S
Look for NOS E82CC, or 4003 or ECC802S.
There are a lot of NOS of truly Great quality (some amperex are great).
Get NOS from the 50’s or first half of the 60’s
Your pre is great, the tubes will last 8000 hours if pessimistic, it is really worth putting money on them. You pre deserves $250-350 (minimum) 12AU7 (per valve)
Why a Brimar ? If you only want Brimar, look for a CV2492
Just inquiring, not just interested in one particular tube.