Mullard and Brimar tubes sound different enough to me that I
would not put them together under the same "sugary and glazed" umbrella.
I have rolled Mullard Blackburn production tubes with Amperex 6922 white
label tubes and Siemens CCa, ECC88, E88CC and E188CC. To my ears, these
tubes sound more alike than not. The Siemens have the least coloration, and
the Mullard have the most coloration, but the differences between them are
not nearly as pronounced as between even the Mullard and Brimar (which to
my ears sound quite colored and rolled-off).
I like Mullards. They round off the sharp edges with a very slight burnish
while still maintaining the air and detail of Siemens and Amperex.
IMO...but this is a bit off topic.
Back on topic, perhaps Tje experimented with a tube preamp that did not
have an output impedance that was a good match for the Ayre amplifier. This
would explain the lack of dynamics. Using a properly matched tube preamp
with Mullard tubes could definitely warm things up a little (but not a great
extent). Installing Brimar tubes could warm things up a great deal, but the
sound is going to be very different than the clean and neutral SS Ayre sound.
would not put them together under the same "sugary and glazed" umbrella.
I have rolled Mullard Blackburn production tubes with Amperex 6922 white
label tubes and Siemens CCa, ECC88, E88CC and E188CC. To my ears, these
tubes sound more alike than not. The Siemens have the least coloration, and
the Mullard have the most coloration, but the differences between them are
not nearly as pronounced as between even the Mullard and Brimar (which to
my ears sound quite colored and rolled-off).
I like Mullards. They round off the sharp edges with a very slight burnish
while still maintaining the air and detail of Siemens and Amperex.
IMO...but this is a bit off topic.
Back on topic, perhaps Tje experimented with a tube preamp that did not
have an output impedance that was a good match for the Ayre amplifier. This
would explain the lack of dynamics. Using a properly matched tube preamp
with Mullard tubes could definitely warm things up a little (but not a great
extent). Installing Brimar tubes could warm things up a great deal, but the
sound is going to be very different than the clean and neutral SS Ayre sound.