Jbrrp, its good to hear that you are very much in favor with the Amperex 7308 tubes!
And being ‘besotted’ is a wonderful comment and commitment of your tubes of choice. I am pleased to hear it.
The finish line is getting so much closer in fact I think I can see it…
Lets turn up the volume and dance the night away.
Happy listening my friend, happy listening…
Well My friends, the news of the day as far as I am concerned is that I have finely stepped off the plank as it were, and ordered a pair of ‘Premium Grade with Cryo treated, Amperex 7308 tubes’ from Upscale Audio.
Both RonP and especially jbrrp1 pushed me over the edge in helping me make the decision to purchase the Amperex tubes.
Thanks to both of you for helping me cut-to-the-chase and buy right.
Also please don’t let me forget brett66 who is fully in the mix with his comments and deserves a nod for including the Amperex tubes in his personal choice of tubes.
Thank you all for your input, it has been a great ride and very much appreciated.
I am excited to get stuck-into the new tubes and will let you know sometime next week after I receive the tubes and get them somewhat burned-in as to how I feel about their sonics in my system.
Hot Doggies boys…
Happy listening my friends.
I know I am enjoying the ride like no other!!!
There are several types of Amperex 7308s - 1960s, 1970s, white label, green label, orange globe, USA made, Netherlands made, D getter, halo getter, etc. Most have different sound signatures. Exactly which type is being lauded as the preference of RonP and others?
uh-oh!!!
Read Kevin Deal’s description. I know nothing further than what he sells/says.
Mine have halo getters, labeling replaced by Roger Modjeski but he says they are from the 60s. I am very pleased with them. Roger gives 90 days to send it back if you don’t like it.
For what it’s worth, Kevin says they’re all the same. Seems a different shaped getter would change the characteristics for sure.
Wow, this is a little disconcerting to hear!
I agree with what RonP said above as to what Kevin said on his Upscale website regarding the Amperex 7308 tubes.
Well, they aren’t all the same. It benefits him to say that when that’s all he has in stock.
For one example, there is a big difference in the USA made and Dutch made vintage Amperex tubes.
Just one of the reasons I chose to not purchase from him.
For what it’s worth, from Upscale’s website:
Labelled PQ, JAN and USN, all US made. Typically 1960’s vintage. I have super premium for the truly obsessive. Ever so slightly relaxed on top. Liquid, smooth midband. Fabulous, slightly full bass. This tube used to be commonly counterfeited so be wary of others selling them at bargain prices. Price above is for a single tube.
A note regarding logos on the Amperex 7308: I want to dispel silly rumors: Some guys want only “JAN” because they were made for “Joint Army-Navy” or “USN-CEP” because they were made for Navy test equipment. Some want PQ because they think stands for “Premium Quality.” The logos may be white, orange, or green, as shows in the picture above. Regardless of all this… they’re all the same tube. Period. If you think that PQ is better, that would mean Amperex was selling lower-grade tubes into control systems that may have launched nuclear rockets? Get real. I’ve tested more of these personally and I’m telling you… they all test and sound the same. HOWEVER if you have a preference let us know. We pull from the best measuring first. But you can pick what you want, but we may not be able to accomodate your request based on available tested stocks.
The only way to really solve this mystery is for the truly curious/skeptical to try them all and let us know what you find. Make sense? That would be so very appreciated and a great experiment!
I replaced Electro-Harmonix 6922s (Russian) with the Amperex 7308s in my phono preamp and the sonic improvement blew me away. When the Tungsram PC88s wear out in my BHK preamp and BHK250, I will replace them with the 7308s. I have never heard that much improvement with a tube change before. I bought the 7308s from Kevin.
More info that some may find helpful. Brent Jessee’s site generally provides a good overview of a number of tube types. As all are aware, get smart and ask questions before you buy.
They are great, aren’t they! I just can’t find anything about their sound to fault.
What phono pre?
The new Jolida F159 Phono Preamp–absolutely stunning and a steal for the price:
I am using the Rogue Ares Magnum which uses 12ax7 tubes but I will have a Modwright 9.0 phono stage next week which uses 6922/7308 I am one of the Beta testers, so I will comparing 6922 to 12ax7 stages
So here’s a new one–to me: I had the Telefunken 7DJ8’s playing for a couple days and suddenly there’s a loud hisssssssssssss and before I could react to shut things down, the fuse blew in my BHK pre. I’ve never had a tube destruct so violently.
I eventually put the 7308’s in and it came back as sweet as ever.
And so glad it was a stock fuse!!
Tube pulling over current on its way to death?
I’ve popped two non-oem fuses. They don’t change the sound for me in a significant way over time, unlike tubes that definitely do.
One of the guys at PSA shot me a couple spares just in case, much appreciated.