darrenv1070 said
I have purchased a pair of of Tungstrem PCC88 premiums with cryo treatment from Upscale Audio and let them play all day ( 10 hrs ) with a burn in cd. Boy was I impressed when I got home. The amp has an even bigger sound stage, deeper and detailed. I am loving the BHK 250. Don't miss my Emo XPA-1 gen 1's monos at all!
That's one of the things I love about the BHK tube products. Seriously. Like Ted Smith's DirectStream and the upogrades we do every few months, the BHK can take on an entirely new character with the choice of a different tube and each of us can experiment a bit to make it even better.
Please let us know, particularly about how these tubes work in the pre. A number of people, including me, have found great results when installing the PCC88s in the BHK amps. I haven't seen reports about how they work in the pre and would like to find out.
Please let us know, particularly about how these tubes work in the pre. A number of people, including me, have found great results when installing the PCC88s in the BHK amps. I haven’t seen reports about how they work in the pre and would like to find out.
I posted my impressions of the BHK preamp with the Tungsram 7DJ8’s on July 5th, post 248, in the Beta Testing the new BHK preamp thread. Several others have also posted their impressions after making the substitution. IMHO the Tungsrams moved the BHK pre up another level in SQ over the stock tubes (YMMV). They aren’t that expensive and are a tweak that makes absolute sense to me. Bascom preferred them also, but they are only available as NOS. Upscale Audio is a good source for matched pairs. I’m also using them in my BHK 300’s and along with the BHK preamp it is a match made in heaven.
Thanks, DenisD. I probably read your post back in July but at the time I was not thinking about replacing my preamp. I’m enjoying the BHK 250 so much that getting the matching pre is awfully tempting.
magister said
The PCC88 works fine in the BHK amp and sounds wonderful.
The PCC88 is also known as 7DJ8, which shows that it is a seven-volt tube. See page 10 of the manual for how to change the preamp to use a lower voltage tube (it is supplied with twelve-volt tubes).
I am trying to change the existing tubes of the BHK preamp to PCC88s. The manual states to change the filament voltage by " moving two jumpers, labeled J11A and J12A". By moving, does it mean to remove the jumpers entirely or moving the jumpers over the the J9A and J10A slots towards the left side on the circuit board where it has a 6V marking?
Just purchased a pair of Tugsram PCC88 from Kevin at Upscale Audio, sound immediately opened up. Midrange and bass both improve tremendously! It would be perfect if vocal can be a little bit more smoother.
I also found a real overall improvement with the Tungsrams. They produce a little more bass, which in my room is not always a good thing, but in general are outstanding.
I have a spare second set of Matsushita PCC88s that I bought to use in my c-j preamp (about to be replaced by a BHK pre) but never installed. These are very smooth-sounding tubes and someday I will try them in the BHK. I haven’t thought vocals needed smoothing but the Matsushitas would be a move in that direction, if they sound in the BHK anything like they do in my c-j. (See Kevin’s description of these tubes on the Upscale Audio website.)
a25105 said
Just purchased a pair of Tugsram PCC88 from Kevin at Upscale Audio, sound immediately opened up. Midrange and bass both improve tremendously! It would be perfect if vocal can be a little bit more smoother.
I would try different speaker cables. I used to own two pair of the older 4TC and replacing them I got rid of a glare. First with Mapleshade's basic Clearviews and now AQ Rocket 88s. If I could afford to upgrade, the Rocket 88s would be the last thing on my list to replace, I like them that much. Depending on budget, you could try with a money back guarantee Clear Day Cables, or work with the Cable Company.
The reason I would try the Clear Day’s is I really like silver ICs, and would like to see how silver speaker cables would do.
Thx Jeff for your suggestion. But I heard silver cables will make the sound even more forward and bright. I know that the old Cardas cables were very musical but will wait for a while since my BHK 250 is still burning in (less than 100 hrs).
a25105 said
Thx Jeff for your suggestion. But I heard silver cables will make the sound even more forward and bright. I know that the old Cardas cables were very musical but will wait for a while since my BHK 250 is still burning in (less than 100 hrs).
Yeah, you are still burning it in, too early to be sure of final sound. I have never found good silver ICs to be bright. People think that because it is silver it must be bright. All my ICs from dac, phono preamp, and preamp to amp are silver. Rocket 88s are copper though.
Reviews from users at the Cable Asylum on the Clear Day have all been positive.
If it doesn’t get smoother after a 200 hours, I would see if you can borrow a different speaker cable, just to see if it is the Kimbers. The only Kimber cable I kind of wish I still had was a .5m AGDL digital cable, that was a good cable. Years ago I had PBJs, which were bettered by the Siglynx silver cables, like the 15ft pair from preamp to amp that I use.
Can you guys please help me with these two tube choices re: the Tungsram tubes from Upscale Audio. It looks to me like one is a 7 volt version and the other is a 6 volt version, but I don’t know what the other differences are and what would be better in the BHK amps/preamp. This is probably pretty basic knowledge, but I just want to consider the “best” tubes for my gear. Also, would these both be useable/interchangeable (as complete sets, of course) in the amp and preamp?
