NOS tubes for Sonic Frontiers Line 1

Tubes came today. Did not get the Siemens E188CC 7803. By the time I made up my mind to buy them they were gone, already sold. I bought a matched pair of Siemens CCa gold pin tubes from the 60s. The sound, different from the Amperex PQs. The CCas are warmer, I think smoother, Still eary to tell. Little hard to do an A/B comparison with tubes. So far I really like the CCa. I will report back in a couple of days.

Jim

Well, I like the Amperex PQ tubes better. The PQs are cleaner, quieter, more lively than the Siemens CCa. The CCa is warm and smooth but I found myself dosing off.
Now my search for a matched pair of USA made white label Amperex PQ 6922 gold pin early 60s.
Anybody want to buy a pair of very slightly used NOS NIB Siemens CCa gold pin tubes?

Jim

Jea48,Both myself and a pal are on the prowl for 6-12 Amperex PQ 6922's.May the best man win the race!!!

I owe the Siemens CCa tubes an apology. It took about 25 hour of break-in time for the CCa to start to open up and come alive. I now have about 30 hours on them and I am impressed. So much so I cancelled my add on Agon. I couldn't replace them for the $180.00 I was asking. After I get about 50 hours on them I will compare them again to the PQs. I will report back then.

Jim

In my system the Siemens CCa sounds best. To think I tried to sell them. Compared to the orange label USA made Amperex 6922 PQs the CCa is cleaner, quieter, more air, larger sound stage, deeper tighter bass. I cannot speak for how they would stand up to the early 60s white lable PQ 6922 USA made tubes. This is after 50 hrs on the CCas.

In another subject I have been emailing back in forth with an Agon member that has a line 1 preamp. The topic was which tube spots were the most important in the Line one. He emailed "Sonic Frontiers" and they told him the second row LV2--V2 would yield the greatest sound difference. I was confused to say the least. I even changed the positions of the CCas and the PQs to have a listen. Needless to say I did not care for what I was hearing. In our emails I asked him to email Chris Johnson at Parts Connexion about the tube positioning. I mean who would better know than the designer. He emailed me back, Chris said the back row first then the second row then the front row. That made sense to me, that explained the difference I heard when I switch the tubes around. I asked him if he would post the great info he got from Chris Johnson, I hope when he gets the time he will. Bill, a fellow Agon member is using a pair of early 60s 7308 Telefunken in the back row. Might have to try that.

My tube placement now in the Line one,

LV1..V1... Siemens 60s NOS CCa 6922 gold pin tubes.

LV2..V2...Amperex 60s NOS PQ 6922 USA gold pin org label.

LV3..V3...Amperex 60s NOS PQ 6922 USA gold pin org label.

My system,

Arcam Alpha 9 CDp
AudioQuest power cord
AudioQuest Diamond X2 ICs

AR ES-1 TT, Rega RB300 arm, Clear Audio Aurum Beta Mk 2 cart
Grado PH-1 phono preamp.
AudioQuest Lapis X2 ICs

Sonic Frontiers Line 1 preamp
AudioQuest Diamond X2 ICs
Audio Research VT 50 power amp
AudioQuest Sterling 3 ...8' pair speaker cables
ProAc Studio 200 loudspeakers

3 dedicated circuits with hosp grade 20 amp levington duplex recepts, on the same phase in the panel.