Philips

Philips Valvo 12AX7 ECC83 Preamp Tubes Matched Pair - Holland 1964 - NOS

$184.50 USD

Sale Sold out

Shipping calculated at checkout.

Product variants

Quantity

Perfect matched & balanced pair of vintage Philips 12AX7/ECC83 audio tubes - Holland 1964 - NOS - Super Rare

Tube Summary

The "textbook Heerlen sound" has been referenced in several Soundlumia ECC83/12AX7 listings, and many tube enthusiasts asked what all that means. So here is the answer: the late 1950s and very early 1960s tone, the beginning of over a decade's excellence in sound, the classic tonal template for all the great (and greater) Amperex/Philips/Valvo/Miniwatt tubes to be made in the years to come, the timeless Philips radio tone that many of us grew up listening to.

Sound Characteristics

The most distinctive sound feature of the Heerlen ECC83's is the transparent, natural and expansive midrange presentation, with a slight touch of warmth that illuminates your music. Every piece of music you play through these tubes sounds like from a vinyl record, whether your sound source is phono or not. The sound stage is spacious, deep and structured. Bass is incredibly deep but well controlled and feels as accurate as on the high end German ECC83's (Siemens, Telefunken, Valvo etc.) We would recommend these as an excellent choice if you are seeking the high end ECC83 tubes that can deliver the legendary Philips house sound flawlessly.

Professional Tube Testing

Both tubes tested Strong NOS (110%+ nominal mutual conductance) and tightly matched on a reliable and recently calibrated Mercury 2000 tube tester with the following results for mutual conductance:

Tube 1: 1,100/1,100 (110%/110%)

Tube 2: 1,200/1,100 (120%/110%)

Good tubes start at 700 and new tubes (incl. NOS/NIB) 1,000, and the Mercury 2000 tester's rated mutual conductance (nominal) for new tubes is 1,000. Test results can be seen in the pictures. In case you wonder what all these numbers 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 these numbers the stronger. No short, leakage or gas.

Appearance & Cosmetic condition

This pair stands out aesthetically among the vintage tubes. Nearly 100% of the silkscreen is well preserved and the acid-etched Heerlen date codes are perfectly visible on both tubes:

delta 4G3 (delta = Heerlen, 4 = 1964, G = July, 3 = Week 3 of the production month)

delta 4I4 (delta = Heerlen, 4 = 1964, I = September, 4 = Week 4 of the production month)

Shipping Policy

- US Shipping: Flat-rate USPS Ground Advantage

- International Shipping: (Please read carefully) USPS First Class International is used for all countries EXCEPT: Armenia, Chile, China, India, Latvia, Mauritius, Serbia, Slovenia, Tuvalu, and Vietnam. If you prefer to use a different carrier or shipping service, please contact us first so we can establish shipping rates before you make payment. If you are a buyer in one of the excluded countries, you must contact us prior to purchase to arrange shipping. Soundlumia-sponsored 3-day guaranteed worldwide delivery program ($35 flat rate for ALL destinations in the world) via DHL Express is highly recommended.

- Same day shipping: 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.

Return Policy - Please READ carefully

Returns are acceptable if we made a mistake by delivering you wrong or defective products. Tubes we sell are guaranteed to work because we run professional tests and sound evaluation TWICE: before they are approved for listing AND before we ship them to customers. So the "defective item" case doesn't exist and please do not bother trying - this type of returns will NOT be accepted without proof that tubes are faulty and we will open disputes with eBay. Sound experience is very subjective and we do NOT accept returns because you do not like the tube's sound signature or because you changed your mind about your purchase. Please contact us to work things out before submitting return requests claiming "item is defective" or "item not as described" or "just didn't like it."

Tube rollers abusing the return system will be reported to eBay immediately and negative feedback will be left to your account - that's guaranteed. We have already opened several dispute cases to report abusive buyers and eBay has always ruled in our favor. International buyers who request return or refund claiming your country's import duties or sales taxes/VAT/GST are too high will be reported to eBay immediately for dishonesty and will be permanently blacklisted from purchasing from Soundlumia. We are committed to working closely with eBay to help rid the marketplace of dishonest, unjust, unreasonable, abusive buyers that are detrimental to the vintage tubes market and the audiophile community.