ELEKIT TU-8900 2A3/300B (Stereophile Review Available NOW - July 2023 Edition)

[vkung]

龍 means dragon​

 

[zettelsm]

We have a winner! How did you know, Mr. Kung?

Steve Z

 

[vkung]

it is same in Japanses and Chinese

 

[zettelsm]

Yes it is. Ten thousand comedians are out of work and I was trying to be funny!

Here is another shot, but you can't see the artwork in this one:

Steve Z

 

[zettelsm]

The Sunvalley SV-S1645D has been so seductive as a low-level, vibrant emotion machine that it's been tough to get hours on the TU-8900. Which is not to say the Ele-kit is a poor second, far from it. But the Sunvalley seems a bit more effortless and relaxed.

So this afternoon I put the Ele-kit back in my system with one change -- I installed a pair of NOS Telefunken ECC82 smooth plates in place of the Sylvania 12BH7s I'd been using. Still running the Western Electric 300Bs.

Now we're talking!

First impressions -- nice SQ improvement and lower overall gain (which isn't a bad thing). I'll relate what I hear in more detail after I spend some quality time with this configuration. But this is very promising.

Steve Z

 

[Crosscourt121]

I’ve had my 8900 for 3 months now and am loving it. After running Gold Lion 300Bs for most of that, I bought some Psvane Acme 2A3 a couple of weeks ago and loving the sound even more. I can’t bring myself to swap the 300Bs back in yet for a proper comparison.

 

[CohibaJoe]

These keep on getting Better and Better, cannot wait for 9200.

 

[drjlo]

I installed a pair of NOS Telefunken ECC82 smooth plates in place of the Sylvania 12BH7s

So subbing 12BH7 in for ECC82 is not a problem for TU8900? How about TU8600?

 

[zettelsm]

Not in the least. Mr. Fujita, the designer says there is plenty of ampacity in the filament supply to handle the higher filament current of the 12BH7. Victor offers the 12BH7 as an optional driver tube when purchasing from him.

I can't speak to the TU-8600 since I've never owned one.

Steve Z

 

[mp9]

These keep on getting Better and Better, cannot wait for 9200.

what is the 9200?

 

[Crosscourt121]

My Psvanes looked so nice that when I put the Gold Lions back in the white and red bases really annoyed me. So in the spirit of recent posts about blinging their amps, I did this to the 300Bs.

 

[zettelsm]

Very cool! I like that look.

What did you use? Is that a tape of some sort?

Steve Z

 

[maravedis]

Pair of nice transformers for sale here...
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/lundahl-ll2785cam.409968/#post-7627942

 

[drjlo]

I can't speak to the TU-8600 since I've never owned one.

Steve Z

Well, I tried 12BH7A's in place of 12AU7 in my Elekit TU-8600R, and they work fine. Only thing is I didn't really like them as well as my preferred 12AU7's, sounding a bit dark. They were nice Tung Sol black plate D-getter 12BH7A's, but I have some famed Sylvanias coming.

 

[Crosscourt121]

Very cool! I like that look.

What did you use? Is that a tape of some sort?

Steve Z

Some of my daughter’s washi tape 😊

 

[drjlo]

Strange..but I only have one Sylvania 12BH7 and one Raytheon 12BH7, so I put the Raytheon on left channel and Sylv on right channel of TU-8600. I like the sound better than both channels with Tung Sol 12BH7

 

[zettelsm]

I used to really obsess over having tubes precisely matched and wherever possible having balanced sections for dual triode tubes. Over the years I've found that barring really gross discrepancies between tubes in a pair, most of the time I can't tell much difference. Now, I'm not going to pair a NOS Telefunken with a new manufacture Russian tube but I've saved myself a fair amount of money buying tubes of the same brand that aren't guaranteed to be closely matched.

Your mileage may vary, of course. . .

Steve Z