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Mullard
Mullard E88CC/01 = CV2493 (Mil. Specs E88CC) Matched Pair - Blackburn 1967 - NOS
Mullard E88CC/01 = CV2493 (Mil. Specs E88CC) Matched Pair - Blackburn 1967 - NOS
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$604.00 USD
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Tubes Summary
The "Super Mullard" is here! E88CC/01 (a.k.a CV2493) - fully equivalent to E88CC/6922 but a HUGE step-up in both sound quality and build. Most of these tubes were factory screened for tight internal matching and low noise, and Mullard's E88CC/01 type has even more factory testing, so they are essentially CCa tubes (sounds more familiar?) Manufactured in very limited quantity (simply because the selection standard was too high for mass produced tubes to meet) and today they are being hunted to near extinction by audiophiles, tube enthusiasts and sound professionals.
Sound Qualities
"Like a warm British jacket of the finest tweed, these glorious tubes have an attractive sweet warmth in their midrange and lower regions." This is how experts on audiotubes.com describe the sound signature of British-made Mullard tubes. The top end is silky and pleasant and doesn't get rolled off. They retain a fine sense of "air" at the top, and the upper midrange is smooth and liquid. These tubes reproduce human voice, especially female voices, with haunting realism. Listening to Maria Callas and Frank Sinatra on British-made Mullard tubes should be one of those musical experiences that one just has to go through at least once in his lifetime. These tubes are also known to have an attractive sparkle at the top with rich bass...now we know where that "warm British jacket" comes from!
Now all those great traits of Mullard tubes you have heard about or have experienced already multiplied by three and that is what you should expect to hear from this pair of E88CC/01's.
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
Both tubes tested NOS (100%+ nominal mutual conductance) on a Mercury 2000 tube tester with the following result (mutual conductance in uMhos and in percentage of nominal):
Tube 1 (Left): 15,100/15,150 (120%/121%)
Tube 2 (Right): 14,100/14,000 (113%/112%)
Good tubes start at 7000 and new tubes (incl. NOS/NIB) 12,500 - 13,000, and the Mercury 2000's 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 would mean to your sound experience, it's actually quite straightforward: mutual conductance directly translates to a tube's ability to amplify sound so the higher the numbers the stronger.
Appearance & cosmetic condition
We treasure this pair also because of the great cosmetic condition of both tubes (clear inscription and clear date codes), which is amazing given the tubes' age. The identical Blackburn date code etched on glass is perfectly visible on both tubes:
B7K5 (B = Blackburn, 7 = 1967, K = November, 5 = 5th week of the month)
B7D2 (B = Blackburn, 7 = 1967, D = April, 2 = 2nd week of the month)
