Out of 5 possible stars, this tube deserves… about 7 or 8. Absolutely incredible – before I listened to the tube, I thought that I didn’t like balanced sound – I usually prefer tubes with a bit warmth to it… and then I put this tube into my amp and was absolutely amazed at how good the natural sound could be – the feeling of presence is incredible. Not only bass is incredibly structured and strong which is expected of Russian tubes, but vocals where not warm, but they were so natural that you could feel a singer in the room. Beyond that, that tube is so detailed that I could feel thickness of strings on a guitar!!! I was able to hear to a drum tightens and then releases during an impact!!! Darn. Every instruments was separated like it was carved by laser. I think a lot of it comes from linearity of the tube and the fact that it has very low distortion. One of my more challenging tracks is “Beautiful Love” by Sophie Milman, the majority of tubes distort when playing that track – quite an unpleasant experience – this tube swallowed it and produced practically perfect reproduction of Sophie’s voice. Every single track was a new experience opening it for me in a new way. Delicious! Even highs, which are a big weakness of the majority of Russian tubes cam through beautifully. Sure they didn’t have the sparkle of Mazda, but they were very clear and sweet without even a sign of brittleness. Some ask me how different tubes compare. I honestly can’t compare this tube to anything else out there – it’s in a class of its own. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Out of 5 possible stars, this tube deserves… about 7 or 8. Absolutely incredible – before I listened to the tube, I thought that I didn’t like balanced sound – I usually prefer tubes with a bit warmth to it… and then I put this tube into my amp and was absolutely amazed at how good the natural sound could be – the feeling of presence is incredible. Not only bass is incredibly structured and strong which is expected of Russian tubes, but vocals where not warm, but they were so natural that you could feel a singer in the room. Beyond that, that tube is so detailed that I could feel thickness of strings on a guitar!!! I was able to hear to a drum tightens and then releases during an impact!!! Darn. Every instruments was separated like it was carved by laser. I think a lot of it comes from linearity of the tube and the fact that it has very low distortion. One of my more challenging tracks is “Beautiful Love” by Sophie Milman, the majority of tubes distort when playing that track – quite an unpleasant experience – this tube swallowed it and produced practically perfect reproduction of Sophie’s voice. Every single track was a new experience opening it for me in a new way. Delicious! Even highs, which are a big weakness of the majority of Russian tubes cam through beautifully. Sure they didn’t have the sparkle of Mazda, but they were very clear and sweet without even a sign of brittleness. Some ask me how different tubes compare. I honestly can’t compare this tube to anything else out there – it’s in a class of its own. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED