Reflektor 6N23P = E88CC Silver Shields SWGP Matched Pair - USSR '74 - Near NOS

Soundlumia's Opinion

6N23P (Russian name: 6H23) tube is equivalent to European E88CC/6922 tubes. Designed to work in amplifiers and pulse generators, they are guaranteed to deliver high durability (at least 5,000 hours life), reliability and mechanical strength. This pair come with the special OTK purple stamp, a proud statement of the highest standard in testing and the privilege of being selected by the Soviet's State Control Bureau (OTK) for export and government use.  These two tubes in particular also have colored tips (red and green), which are a symbol of select tubes for military or medical use. With premium quality in both build and sound, the Reflektor 6N23P's are the top choice among Soviet-made vintage tubes and also a great alternative to the expensive European E88CC's. 

Like most of the Reflektor tubes (from both the 1960s and the 1970s), the 1974's have beautiful airy highs and sound very natural. They excel in sound detail and clarity, and overall tonality is warm, rich and relaxed. The sound stage produced by these tubes is spacious and holographic, very similar to the German E88CC's. They are very fast tubes, as in solid state fast and precise, but with tube liquidity and warmth. There is an immediacy to the sound, crisp and tonally dense, never etched or brittle. These are among my go-to tubes for late night movies when I switch my entire sound world to the headphone stack because you can listen to the movie sound on them for hours nonstop and don't feel fatigue at all. 

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

This set was tested and certified by RoeTest V11 Professional Tube Testing System with the following result: 

Tube 1: 

Measured transconductance(GM): 10.98/9.58 mA/V - 88%/77% (100% = 12.5 mA/V)

Measured plate current(IA): 9.367/9.825 mA - 62%/66% (100% = 15 mA)

Tube 2: 

Measured transconductance(GM): 9.9/10.25 mA/V - 79%/82% (100% = 12.5 mA/V)

Measured plate current(IA): 10.657/11.152 mA - 71%/74% (100% = 15 mA)

NO shorts, leakage or gas. NO noise or microphonics.

Curve trace is also included in the original RoeTest report.

Appearance & Cosmetic Condition

Beside the great sound characteristics, we treasure this pair because the pristine condition the two tubes are in - nearly 100% of the paint is intact, and the date codes etched on glass are perfectly visible - well nothing is easier to spot than date codes on Soviet tubes - simply look for the "74" letters on the glass and the Roman numbers before them stand for the months of production.

Packaging

NEW reproduction Reflektor tube boxes.