I really disliked the Gold Lion E88CC, with their bright glare, grittiness and one dimensionality. So, a couple of years ago I took the plunge and bought some Japanese National PCC88s from Upscale Audio. They were a huge improvement over the Gold Lions and I was perfectly content with them. However, even though they still sound great, mine have around 2600 hours on them, so I started searching for another pair before they wore out. I couldn’t find them anywhere, so I researched other NOS brands. I ended up with some Seimen PC88s and some Amperex Holland PCC189s.
The Seimens are much better than the Gold Lions, but not as good as the Nationals. They’re very transparent, but lack some of the body and warmth that the Nationals provide. When I heard the Amperex, it was knocked out. They have the body & richness of the Nationals, but with a bit more detail, space around the instruments, better imaging and a touch of midrange warmth. Just a great sounding tube and synergy with my system. With the price of around $140 for a matched pair of Gold Lions, the Seimens and Mazdas are a good value at $180 and $210, respectively. Better sound and life expectancy than the Gold Lions.
The Amperex PCC189 are labeled Mazda and are industrial grade, with a 10,000 hour life expectancy. You can see the unusual, heavy duty “A Frame” getters. These are pretty hard to find right now, but you might get lucky. I’ve also seen them labeled as RTC. The Tube Store currently has the Seimens in stock. I just wanted to pass this along for anybody looking for tubes. If you like the Nationals, you’ll love the Amperex Hollands. They just have more of everything. If your system is on the darker side, the Seimens may work well.
System: Airlens, Directstream DAC, BHK Preamp, BHK 250, Furman Elite 15 line conditioner, Magnepan 3.7x, DH Labs interconnects, Wire World speaker cables, Audience Forte power cords.
