E88cc Mullard CV 2492

[marcel]

A local seller is selling a pair of Mullard valves:

E88cc Mullard CV 2492



According to the seller they are 'tested' and turned out excellent.

How would these compare to the 6H23P valves Pinkie is selling?
And what would be a fair price for these?

Thanks!

[traf]

I have a nice stock of Mullard variants - CV2492, CV2493, E88CC and they can be a bit confusing!

The CV2493 (=E88CC01=E188CC=7308) is a specially selected CV2492 (=E88CC), with closer tolerance between the two stages. However, as mentioned above, Mullard (particularly from the early 70s on), sourced a number of E88CC variants from Amperex Holland.

Holland version (halo getter) with Herleen 'delta' plant code but marked 'Made in Great Britain' (a practise which would certainly be deemed illegal nowadays!):




GB version (dimpled disk getter) and Mitcham 'R' plant code:




The ones in the first post although marked KB/D (indicating UK Mitcham manufacture), appear to be Amperex Holland production, given their construction.

I find it difficult to tell CV2492 and CV2493 variants apart (if from the same plant) in any application other than phono stages. The UK versions are typical Mullard with a very smooth presentation and wide imaging. Maybe a little recessed at the top, but with a nice powerful bass and midrange. The Holland version is quite different with a more pronounced and extended treble.

As for price, I'd maybe pay £20-40 for a used pair of UK CV2492/3 depending on the test data. New appear to go for about double that on ebay - maybe more now with the exchange rate as it is. It isn't unknown for the Holland version to command higher prices, but you needn't tell the seller this

[marcel]

Thanks for the info!

Do you know what the marking under the Mullard logo means? As you can see one valve is marked "VJ" and the other "VL".

The seller is asking 42 GBP for the tubes, if I decide to buy them I'll try to get the price down a bit.

[traf]

The VJ and VL are a date code - more to do with when the valves were 'processed & printed' rather than manufactured (ie the date will probably be different to the etched codes). The first letter will designate the year, the second the month.

hth

Simon

[marcel]

You are a living, breathing, valve encyclopedia!

Thanks for the help!

[XTRProf]

So are these the best sounding for 6DJ8 JD?

[traf]

I wouldn't claim that either the GB or Holland versions are the best.....mainly because I haven't had the chance to hear the supposed 'king' in the form of Telefunken versions, but these really do go for silly prices.

I'd certainly pick Mullard GB, Amperex Holland & USA, Siemens Halske above the more common Sovtek, Golden Dragon, JAN Philips, etc in terms of overall presentation, focus, detail and refinement. Siemens Halske are the most open at the top (if a tab lightweight). Amperex Holland (inc Mullard version) and Amperex USA are pretty neutral, with the Mullard GB E88CC versions (inc CV2492&3) having the smoothest and sweetest sound, together with the most open soundstage. In the buffer stage (equivalent of an X-10Dv3) of my MF KW250S I use Mullard GB CV249 for that extra bit of sweetness. It really depends what you're looking for and what kit you're using....

ps - Spent a pleasant afternoon rolling a few valves in the KW and have come to the conclusion that the GB Mullard has much better bass power and control compared to the Amperex, and this is probably the reason the treble sounds a bit restrained in comparison. However, the treble is very sweet and certainly provides the right level of 'atmosphere', rather than being upfront. ie treble has depth if you know what I mean...
hth

simon

[XTRProf]

Dec 22, 2008 14:51:51 GMT traf said:

I wouldn't claim that either the GB or Holland versions are the best.....mainly because I haven't had the chance to hear the supposed 'king' in the form of Telefunken versions, but these really do go for silly prices.

I'd certainly pick Mullard GB, Amperex Holland & USA, Siemens Halske above the more common Sovtek, Golden Dragon, JAN Philips, etc in terms of overall presentation, focus, detail and refinement. Siemens Halske are the most open at the top (if a tab lightweight). Amperex Holland (inc Mullard version) and Amperex USA are pretty neutral, with the Mullard GB E88CC versions (inc CV2492&3) having the smoothest and sweetest sound, together with the most open soundstage. In the buffer stage (equivalent of an X-10Dv3) of my MF KW250S I use Mullard GB CV249 for that extra bit of sweetness. It really depends what you're looking for and what kit you're using....

ps - Spent a pleasant afternoon rolling a few valves in the KW and have come to the conclusion that the GB Mullard has much better bass power and control compared to the Amperex, and this is probably the reason the treble sounds a bit restrained in comparison. However, the treble is very sweet and certainly provides the right level of 'atmosphere', rather than being upfront. ie treble has depth if you know what I mean...
hth

simon

Hi Simon,

Thanks for sharing in the spirit of Christmas. Noted that Mullard GB, Amperex Holland & USA, Siemens Halske are your top priorities over other makes. Yes, I concur with you that Mullard is always on the smoother side of things. This same observation keeps on creeping up time and time again from all hifi forums and hifi friends.

After the tube roll, have you ever consider component rolling in your KW? That will also bring the MF to the next level. Pinky here is a specialist in that.

Merry Christmas to you and family!



Chong

[traf]

Hi Chong

I'm about 80% of the way there with the kw250s mods, and a very nerve wracking experience it was too. It's been subjected mostly to the sort of mods that the individual stages would benefit from: Schottky diode rectifiers (all 7 of them!), opamp sockets and lme49860 opamps, and a splattering of capacitor changes here and there.

There are 2 changes I'm contemplating: adding a headphone socket by talking into the pre-power link and I will be investigating adding a jlh board in some of the power supply areas.

I must admit that the biggest changes came from upgrading the rectifier diodes which provided a marked improvement in focus. The opamp upgrade wasn't as stark as similar changes made to my old xdacv3 and a5 dab tuner (modified to use as a sac). The capacitor changes were quite subtle.

One other possible change is to upgrade the decoupling caps which appear. At the inputs and outputs of most of the dad/buffer/volco/power amp sections.