Perfect matched & balanced pair of 1960's vintage Amperex 6922 PQ audio tubes w/ D-getter and gold pins - Made in USA 1960 - Strong NOS - Ultra Rare
Soundlumia officially recommends Amperex PQ 6922 & 7308 USA White Print tubes to be used in phono preamps based on extremely positive feedback from our past and repeat customers around the world.
Tubes Summary
Our best seller is back in stock - the Amperex USA PQ White Label! This listing is for a tightly matched d-getter pair with identical date code from 1960, one of the best years of Amperex USA and and very hard to find today. We have recommended PQ's to more than 20 wonderful patrons of the Soundlumia eBay store, who are enjoying these tubes in their class leading amplifiers from Audio Research, Ear, Schiit Audio and Cavalli etc. and raving about their unquestionable superiority in sound.
Sound Qualities
Among all the PQ tubes, the USA white print version (made in Hicksville, New York) is the most sought-after by serious audiophiles and tube enthusiasts. They are as sweet and smooth as the Amperex Holland PQ tubes, with even better detail and very spacious sound stage, which offers an amazing bird's eye view of the shape of your sound, so you know exactly how tall and wide the sound stage is. The tone is warm yet lively, mids are forward but also expansive like what you hear on their cousins from the Holland factory, bass is punchy but not heavy. We have recommended them to so many satisfied customers that we have given them a nick name "sound purifier" - the sound that comes from these tubes has absolutely no edginess, glassiness or harshness, and you hear nothing but the soul of your music and all of it. They are the best tubes to to put in the phono stage to "purify" your sound in my opinion. As to vocals, I have no further comment than that the best Mullards were actually sourced from Holland PQ's (Made in Gt. Britain w/ Heerlen date codes) and USA PQ's beat the Holland ones in vocals period. Listening to Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody through these PQ tubes should be on your bucket list, no matter what type of music you enjoy.
At this level of the game, the USA PQ's compete with the premium German E88CC's made by Siemens and Telefunken (other brands don't even come close), and always come ahead in midrange presentation and overall musicality, and they have the best value at this price. For comparison of sound characteristics, please feel free to check our listing of a pristine matched pair of early 1960s' Telefunken E88CC's here https://www.ebay.com/itm/266449838912
Appearance & cosmetic condition
This pair of PQ's are so rare because nearly 95% of the inscription (Amperex brand, Made in USA print and PQ logo) is intact and perfectly visible, which is amazing given the age of these tubes. The acid etched date codes are also perfectly visible on both tubes.
Tube 1 - 7L5 *0I (* = Amperex New York, 0 = 1960, I = September)
Tube 2 - 7L4 *0A (* = Amperex New York, 0 = 1960, A = January)
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 both in uMhos and in percentage of nominal):
Tube 1: 14,800/14,100(118%/113%)
Tube 2: 15,500/15,000(124%/120%)
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 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.
Tubes have no short, gas grid leakage or microphonics.
Packaging
This pair of tubes will be packaged in the new white boxes, secured by a handmade paper ribbon (by courtesy of Soundlumia.)
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(USPS Priority recommended), or we may not be able to fulfill your order using standard shipping due to our concern of undelivered packages or shipping delays in your country.
- 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."
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 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.