Product Summary

As with any German tube, you should expect nothing but the best in sound from these bad boys, and you will not be disappointed. The top five sound qualities shared by German tubes are delivered with perfection by these lovely tubes, and especially on an ultra rare d-getter pair:

1) Holographic sound stage (leading brand: Telefunken) 
2) Non-fatiguing top end extension (leading brand: Siemens) 
3) Natural tone/flat midrange (leading brand:  Valvo Hamburg)
4) Deeply controlled bass  (leading brands: Siemens & Valvo Hamburg)
5) Ultra clarity and layered details (leading brand: Telefunken)

Sound Qualities

Over the years, we have found the bass on Valvo Hamburg even more appealing than on Siemens (allegedly the King of Bass and that's fine) for a very important reason: there's added substance and weight to the lower midrange that makes the bass more pronounced without being overpowering. This special sound characteristic can only be found on Valvo Hamburg tubes. And because of the added substance in sound, the overall tonality of these tubes feels sweet, warm and musical, and the ambient clues sound closer to your ears. One may find Telefunken's midrange thinner compared to Valvo Hamburg as a trade-off of a more enveloping and curvier holographical sound stage...the law of physics applies here as well - the shape of sound can only change in one direction. 

Professional Tube Testing

Both tubes tested NOS (100%+ mutual conductance) on a reliable and regularly calibrated Mercury 2000 tube tester with the following result (mutual conductance both in uMhos and in percentage of nominal):

Tube 1: 14,400/13,200 (131%/120%)
Tube 2: 12,900/11,500 (117%/105%)

Good tubes start at 7,000 and new tubes (incl. NOS/NIB) 11,000 - 11,500, and the Mercury 2000's rated mutual conductance (nominal) for new tubes is 11,000. 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 better. 

Appearance and cosmetic condition
 
Both tubes are in excellent cosmetic condition. At least 90% of the inscription & lettering are still intact and the identical Hamburg date codes (one on bottom between pins and the other acid etched in the glass) are perfectly visible on both tubes. 

7L1 D9I (7L1 = E88CC production #1, D = Hamburg, 9 = 1959, I = September)

Packaging

This pair of tubes will be packaged in NEW reproduction Valvo tube boxes.

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" 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.