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Perfect matched & balanced pair of vintage Siemens E188CC/7308 Audio Tubes - Munich 1968/69 - Near NOS - Ultra Rare Tubes Summary Stronger than time! This is the classic beauty in sound, admired by audiophiles for almost 60 years and will still be our top choice in the next 60 years. Particularly, the 1960s Siemens tone is considered the reference sound for serious classical listeners who need to upgrade the sound quality at phono stage. Sound Characteristics The Siemens E188CC is not only a serious upgrade from E88CC but is rated as the jewel on par with the best CCa (military grade E88CC) tubes. The sound is more dynamic, the instrument separation is cleaner, the imaging is larger, the sound stage is much wider and the overall presentation is more vivid. All the great sonic features of the legendary E88CC are delivered effortlessly: airy and transparent nature tone, extended yet super smooth top end, slightly focused upper mid-range, and the precise and deep controlled bass. And the most defining sound characteristic of Siemens tubes is their ability to retrieve the deepest levels of detail in sound, and these hidden sonic layers can go a long way to revealing the subtle ambient clues that help complete building a truly 3D holographic presentation. Professional Sound Evaluation The pair worked wonderfully and sounded terrific in our professional studio setup for monitoring. - Input: Cambridge Audio CXC V2 dedicated CD transport + Schiit Audio Bifrost 2 Multibit DAC - Amplification: Liquid Platinum Tube Amplifier by Alex Cavalli - Output: Focal Clear MG Pro open-back headphones Our full tube sound review was written 100% based on the actual listening experience while this pair of tubes were running in the system described above. Professional Tube Testing The 1968 tube (left) tested NOS (100%+ mutual conductance) and the 1969 tube (right) tested Near NOS (95%+ mutual conductance) on a Mercury 2000 tube tester with the following result (both in mutual conductance in uMhos and in percentage of the nominal value): Tube 1(left): 12,700/12,900 (102%/103%)Tube 2(right): 11,900/12,200 (95%/98%) Good tubes start at 7000 and new tubes (incl. NOS/NIB) 12,500 - 13,000, and the Mercury 2000s rated mutual conductance (nominal) for new tubes is 12,500. Test result can also be seen in the pictures. In case you wonder what all these numbers mean to your sound experience, its actually quite straightforward: mutual conductance directly translates to a tubes ability to amplify sound so the higher the numbers the better. No shorts, gas grid leakages or microphonics. Appearance & Cosmetic condition Despite some loss of paint on one of the tubes, this pair overall is in good cosmetic condition. The Siemens date codes printed on the metal tag inside glass are perfectly clear. Tube 1(left): G3 8G (G3 = E188CC, 8 = 1968, G = June)Tube 2(right): G4 9K (G4 = E188CC, 9 = 1969, K = November) Packaging This pair of tubes will be packaged in the original Siemens tube boxes, secured by a hand-made paper ribbon (by courtesy of Soundlumia.) Shipping Policy - Ship worldwide! Flat-rate expedited shipping (USPS Priority) within the US. - One business day handling. Orders placed by 2:00PM US Pacific Time on weekdays are posted on the same day, otherwise the next business day. - Combined shipping available - request invoice for total before making payment or receive shipping credit after order ships. - Customers outside the US please pay extra attention: International shipping is through USPS Ground Advantage International by default. Its the least expensive option and customs declaration is automated but it may take longer than other carriers. If you prefer to use a different carrier please contact us first so we can get you the correct shipping rates before you make payment. Return Policy - Please READ carefully First of all, returns are acceptable as long as you are reasonable. Soundlumia sets extremely high quality standard for the products we deliver. Tubes we sell are guaranteed to work because we run professional tests and sound evaluation before they are approved for listing AND before we ship them to customers. So the defective item case doesnt exist and please do not bother trying - this type of returns will NOT be accepted without proof that tubes do not work and we will open a dispute with eBay. Sound experience is a very subjective thing, and lets be real its not that easy to run into compatibility issues between amps and tubes (so that one wont fly, either.) Please contact us to work things out before submitting return requests claiming item is defective or item not as described. We would really appreciate your respect to the professional work we have done (sourcing, testing & matching tubes, evaluating tube sound, sharing our sound experience with you, packing and shipping) to make these wonderful vintage tubes available to you at reasonable prices. Secondly, if you are a tube roller looking to game the return system, Number One STOP. We have seen it all and we know what youre up to. No tricks here please. Abusive behaviors will be reported to eBay immediately and negative feedback will be left to your account - thats guaranteed. We have already reported several abusers and eBay has ruled in our favor the dispute cases. We are more determined than ever to continue working with eBay to help rid of these unprofessional, unjustified, unkind, unfair and unacceptable abuses that are detrimental to the eBay marketplace, the vintage tubes market and the audiophile community.
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