eBay

Tubes Summary

Behold the illumination at night, write down how your music sounds the moment these tubes start glowing and keep your notes forever. The finest in the fleet, Telefunken E88CC is unequivocally the supreme commander of the entire E88CC/6922 tubes family. This gorgeous pair is from the early 1960s' Ulm, Germany production - the most sought after Telefunken sound.

Sound Characteristics

Like any other Telefunken tubes, these E88CC's are very pleasant to listen to: liquid, euphonic, with a slightly warmer midrange than many other German tubes, which makes your sound experience smooth and non-fatiguing, and all that happens on a unbelievably realistic holographic sound stage, where everything feels bigger, wider and taller. Sound texture can be felt through infinite levels of details, laying on top of each other, both in depth and in width. So your quest for superb sound clarity can end right here. Lastly, it never gets old to say that no other brand is even close to these when it comes to low noise - Telefunken tubes are "extremely" quiet just as legend has it.

Appearance & cosmetic condition

Beside the world-class sound characteristics, we treasure this pair also because the near pristine condition of inscriptions on the tubes. Ulm factory date codes are 100% visible on both tubes:

U0309604K (U = Ulm, Germany 9 = 1969)

And of course the diamond mark on bottom - the symbol of the best sound one can ever find on E88CC'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 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: 14,700/14,800 (118%/118%)

Tube 2: 15,100/15,100 (121%/121%)

Good tubes start around 7,000 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.

Packaging

This pair of tubes will be packaged in the original Telefunken tube boxes.

Shipping Policy

- Ship worldwide! Flat-rate standard shipping (USPS Ground Advantage) within the US.

- Same business day handling. Orders are scheduled to ship within 24 - 48 hours of complete payment and in most cases they are posted on the same business day or in the AM the next business day.

- We combine shipping for multiple purchases. Please request invoice for total before making payment or receive shipping credit after order has shipped.

- Customers outside the US please pay extra attention: International shipping is through USPS First Class International by default. It's the least expensive option and includes $100 insurance but may take longer than other carriers. If you prefer to use a different carrier or add extra insurance to your order please contact us before you buy so we can get you the correct shipping rates.

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" or "changed my mind."

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 tax/GST/VAT 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.