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I have two varieties of Telefunken E88CCs, a single with gold label and CCa 1 on the box, and a pair with white labelling. I think the gold label one is early 60s and the white label 65.
I also have a pair of true Telefunken ECC189s, and PCC88s, both with O getters, angled getter risers, and the diamond on the bottom. Many of the latter types are relabelled Telefunken, often good tubes, but not Telefunken.
I find Telefunkens are really competent tubes, especially liking some 4 volt rectifiers that need adapters in my Torii IV.
Of the input tubes I have, though they sound like "family" each is pretty different within this Telefunken competence and completeness though...like you would expect from comparing E88CC, ECC88/ECC189, and PCC88.
In my current setup, the white label E88CCs are almost wildly "correct and complete," almost technicolor to me, doing everything they do so well I am impressed, but in the past, I lost interest...sounding too "hifi" to a point of overwhelming a sense of "real." Obviously how my system is set up, I can only fault them as being too much of what they are based on how they interact with my set up.
And speaking of setup, I have never been a real fan of 6922 types in my Toriis, a little in the face for me, so I have not tuned to dial them in, rather using less forceful, more relaxed/open tubes.
That said, I just put this pair of E88CCs in the Torii IV, now heavily modified to be less thick, more revealing, complete, fast, and able to show nuance, and I am impressed with less reservations. The bass is powerful and clear, and the rest is really well balanced, full, yet revealing with this pair.
But my amp is not stock. And before modifications, I always tuned for musical clarity, tighter bass with less heaviness, and still the Telefunken inputs I had tended to be a little heavy handed in bass/fullness for me, and everything else for that matter. Now, having worked over caps, resisters, wires, connectors, attenuators....the amp is more articulate, easy flowing and revealing of nuances, and these tubes sound great, but I still prefer a more spacious, less "perfect" sound...one that gives me a more "live" feeling.
I can hear how many think of these as a world class tubes though, and if I took a notion, I have little doubt I could get them to sound more like I love with some other tube work. Excluding my preference for less forceful tubes than E88CCs in general, I can't fault them except as possibly sounding too perfect, too technical...all the right subtle and not so subtle information there in a big way...
My Telefunken PCC88s, I used to find more dark/dense like Joman, but with my system now, where I have solved most "thickness," they still are a little dark/veiled, but sound pretty right. They have a powerful bass, less than the E88CCs, but notably powerful. And they are more spacious, but oddly retain a subtle veiled dark thing. Interestingly, PCC88s, historically being more to my tastes for a "real" feel, complete and articulate with a complex spacious delicacy mids up that good PCC88s support, these particular ones still have that Telefunken thing...to me, "too" expressive of what they do. But again, I have not tuned for them, and I particularly love harmonic content for bringing up a live feel. These have it all in a big way, but being powerful, full and complete, the subtler, finer detail harmonics are less in the balance than many tubes I like.
The Telefunken ECC189s, a tube type I use a lot, these sound dark and a little thick though I have not burned them in and they may be new. They are not as forceful, big and extended on bottom as the E88CCs or PCC88s.
Just some quick thoughts based entirely on my system and preferences.
At this point, to me, these Telefunken E88CCs are not worth the high premium. But if these traits that are not exactly great for my setup, are what a system needs, that may be a different story. No doubt to me, these E88CC as really good tubes.
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