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Amperex

Amperex 6DJ8 ECC88 Bugle Boy D-getter Matched Pair - Holland 1959 GA2 - NOS

Amperex 6DJ8 ECC88 Bugle Boy D-getter Matched Pair - Holland 1959 GA2 - NOS

$189.50 USD
$189.50 USD
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Tubes Overview

Priced to sell! You are looking at the most popular tube at the Soundlumia store, the audio tube that every serious audiophile wants to own, and perhaps the most legendary 6DJ8 tube on the planet. They fly off the shelves faster than we can restock, but here we are again: a very rare matched pair of 1959 Amperex Bugle Boy D-getter tubes made in Heerlen, Holland!

Sound Qualities

As far as the tonality, there isn't much to say except that who doesn't love Bugle Boy? These are the tubes that defined the house sound of Amperex Heerlen - very detailed, great bass definition, extensive midrange and perfect amount of warmth. Instruments sound very natural and vocal reproduction is over the top. The sound stage is spacious and well structured, and instrument separation is the best you can get in this price range. With the ultra rare D-getter, these tubes deliver even more smoothness and greater details in sound.

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 Strong NOS (110%+ nominal mutual conductance) on a Mercury 2000 tube tester with the following result (mutual conductance in uMhos):

Tube 1: 13,600/13,600 (109%/109%)
Tube 2: 14,000/14,200(112%/114%)

Good tubes start around 7000 and new tubes (incl. NOS/NIB) 12,500 - 13,000, and 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

Silkscreen remaining: 90%

Date codes: 

Tube 1 - GA2 ⊿9F (GA = ECC882, 2 = Gen #2, ⊿ = Heerlen, 9 = 1959, F = June)
Tube 2 - GA2 ⊿9G (GA = ECC882, 2 = Gen #2, ⊿ = Heerlen, 9 = 1959, G = July)

Packaging

This pair of tubes will be packaged in NEW Amperex reproduction tube boxes, secured by a handmade paper ribbon (by courtesy of Soundlumia.)
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