Hi,
I bought a Mullard in a flea market but then i got home, search the net and what i have is this valve:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1718523&postcount=555
THESE ARE FIRST SERIES HEERLEN HOLLAND - THE OLDEST AND MOST DESIRABLE!
Does this mean I have a good audio valve or just a rare one? Can i use it as a 6DJ8?
Thanks.
Sorry for the pic, camera run out of batteries.
Al.
I bought a Mullard in a flea market but then i got home, search the net and what i have is this valve:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1718523&postcount=555
THESE ARE FIRST SERIES HEERLEN HOLLAND - THE OLDEST AND MOST DESIRABLE!
Does this mean I have a good audio valve or just a rare one? Can i use it as a 6DJ8?
Thanks.
Sorry for the pic, camera run out of batteries.
Al.
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The only difference between ecc88 and pcc88 afaik is the heater voltage. That's why you can get nice pcc88s cheaply - they won't work in your Audio Research unless you change the heater. For diy they're great.
Another one. Same Mullard logo but under the Philips tag. Just changes the first letter.
http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/frank/photos/030/p/PCC88.jpg
Thanks for the info Analog, despite needing a special transformer i think i'll try it.
http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/frank/photos/030/p/PCC88.jpg
Thanks for the info Analog, despite needing a special transformer i think i'll try it.
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Looks like an "E..." rather than a "P..." on the photo to me. Admittedly, this ain't crystal clear. (Photo makes it look like a 'pinched waist' variety from the LHS, but not the right... curious artifact of the light, I'm guessing). Anyway...
If it's a PCC88, it's supposed to be run with a 7v (c.f.: 6.3v) heater voltage. However, every audophile I've heard/read of, speaks about little -- if any -- audiable performance penalty from running them in the lower, 6.3v standard heater supplies. Longer life can reasonably be expected from such operation.
As for the real origins of the tube; this would be better served by supplying us with the codes (usually etched in light goldish coloured print) near the base of the tube. There should be two lines of them, of 3-4 characters each.
I'm not familiar with any Mullard "A-frame" dimpled/saucer getter's made in G.B. (though I'm not an expert in these matters), which means it's probably 'a Mullard' of dutch manufacture, at an off-the-cuff guess at 3am in the morning (my time 😛 )
But write back with the codes and we can tell you for sure.
If it's a PCC88, it's supposed to be run with a 7v (c.f.: 6.3v) heater voltage. However, every audophile I've heard/read of, speaks about little -- if any -- audiable performance penalty from running them in the lower, 6.3v standard heater supplies. Longer life can reasonably be expected from such operation.
As for the real origins of the tube; this would be better served by supplying us with the codes (usually etched in light goldish coloured print) near the base of the tube. There should be two lines of them, of 3-4 characters each.
I'm not familiar with any Mullard "A-frame" dimpled/saucer getter's made in G.B. (though I'm not an expert in these matters), which means it's probably 'a Mullard' of dutch manufacture, at an off-the-cuff guess at 3am in the morning (my time 😛 )
But write back with the codes and we can tell you for sure.
Another pic.
Andrea i'm not an expert either but if the tube is labeled ECC88 and turns out to be a PCC88 , umm...maybe just a mistake at the factory.
Majestic, too low filament voltage is no good, a little less (say 6v instead of 6.3v) is ok even good.. Besides Philips PCC88 specs sheet says it needs 7.3 volts not 7. But as i am lazy and the tube wasn't expensive i'll probably end up using the 6.3 volts transformer, to hell with cathode stripping. But i don't like the idea of losing power, could this be?
About the code. Now on closer inspection the 4 looks like a triangle...ummm, again, hard to tell.
Andrea i'm not an expert either but if the tube is labeled ECC88 and turns out to be a PCC88 , umm...maybe just a mistake at the factory.
Majestic, too low filament voltage is no good, a little less (say 6v instead of 6.3v) is ok even good.. Besides Philips PCC88 specs sheet says it needs 7.3 volts not 7. But as i am lazy and the tube wasn't expensive i'll probably end up using the 6.3 volts transformer, to hell with cathode stripping. But i don't like the idea of losing power, could this be?
About the code. Now on closer inspection the 4 looks like a triangle...ummm, again, hard to tell.
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Well Majestic couldn't wait so i searched the net for Mullard codes.
It is indeed an E88CC🙂 and it was made at the Philips factory in Holland.Your guess was right, year 1961.
My mistake was that the pic of the E88CC Mullard that some people are selling for 100 bucks didn't look like mine at all and this one looked just like mine:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1718523&postcount=555
In the end it seems i got a Philips E88CC with the Mullard logo, is that right?
Thanks for your help.
It is indeed an E88CC🙂 and it was made at the Philips factory in Holland.Your guess was right, year 1961.
My mistake was that the pic of the E88CC Mullard that some people are selling for 100 bucks didn't look like mine at all and this one looked just like mine:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1718523&postcount=555
In the end it seems i got a Philips E88CC with the Mullard logo, is that right?
Thanks for your help.
Mullard and Philips
A very long time ago, Between the wars if I recall correctly, Philips, the Dutch electonics company bought out Capt. Mullard's Valve buisness, Including the rights to use the 'Mullard' name and logo (Hence some earlier Mullard types started PMxx, in number, meaning Philips/Mullard....)and hence Philips =
Mullard for all intents and purposes.......
They had factories making varous tube types all round the world, including the UK and Holland of course.......
They even bought some types in from people like Ei and others, and re-branded...........
:
A very long time ago, Between the wars if I recall correctly, Philips, the Dutch electonics company bought out Capt. Mullard's Valve buisness, Including the rights to use the 'Mullard' name and logo (Hence some earlier Mullard types started PMxx, in number, meaning Philips/Mullard....)and hence Philips =
Mullard for all intents and purposes.......
They had factories making varous tube types all round the world, including the UK and Holland of course.......
They even bought some types in from people like Ei and others, and re-branded...........
:
Ahh, glad we found out!
(Sorry I had to briefly bail)
Knew it was something like that 🙂
Obviously it's no longer a PCC88, but...
And yes, they shouldn't work as well in 6.3v circuits, but by all accounts they do much beter then should be expected. Like I said, this is from (many) other reports, and of course, YMMV on the very day I dish out advice like this 😉
(Sorry I had to briefly bail)
Knew it was something like that 🙂
Obviously it's no longer a PCC88, but...
Ahh yes, right-on on the 7.3 thing.stalker said:
And yes, they shouldn't work as well in 6.3v circuits, but by all accounts they do much beter then should be expected. Like I said, this is from (many) other reports, and of course, YMMV on the very day I dish out advice like this 😉
stalker said:
Hello,
it is not unusual to have a tube made by a brand but branded by another. What is a little strange is that if the tube has printed on it "made in Great britain" it should have been made in Great Britain.
I have Mullard tubes (ECC88 and E88CC) labeled "Made in Great Britain", others "Made in Holland" and others "Foreign Made".
But it might be as well a wrong interpretation of the factory code, since such info are sometimes contradictory.
Regards
Andrea
I'am using PCC88's at 6.3V and they sound better than Sovtek 6922's. I had one go down with grid leakage (though it still works, if sounding thin from incorrect bias), but of the other four I am using, they are all working great.
I expect long healthy lives.
From what I have read running heaters starved should produce dramatic life improvements, but I will see in five or so years time.
Shoog
i'am
I expect long healthy lives.
From what I have read running heaters starved should produce dramatic life improvements, but I will see in five or so years time.
Shoog
i'am
PCC88 will work just fine in 99% of ECC88 sockets. It should be noted that for P types, heaters are made with controlled heat-up because, being series connected, they must not exhibit an appreciable positive temperature coefficient - if they did, one heater would be a 'voltage hog' and in fact at turn on, one heater may even go into 'runaway' progressively increasing the voltage across itself as it heated up, reducing voltages on other tubes, which in turn would decreasetheir heater resistances, resulting in even more voltage across the 'runaway' heater, etc. As a result, heater power stays a lot more constant on P-type heaters.
I have recently tested >50 xCC88 type tubes, amongst them many PCC88. Amongst them I have seen PCC88s that had very little heater current variation between 6 and 8 V heater voltages, and over half of them actually had slightly increasing heater currents with lower heater voltage, and decreasing current with higher voltages, i.e, a compensating mechanism. This type of heater would run around 330mA at 6.3V and would normally have around 7V at the nominal current (when driven with a constant current source).
It should also be noted that tube datasheets specify APPROXIMATE voltage on the filament for P type tubes, as well as a +-10% tolerance, outside of which tube life MAY be compromised. Since tube life is not only dependant on heater power but also on voltages and currents in the tube, and, for many PCC88 types the filament voltage is given as 7V (6.3V being 7V-10%, and likely to be higher than 6.3V due to lower load), there will likely be no negative consequences for replacing an ECC88 with a PCC88.
I have recently tested >50 xCC88 type tubes, amongst them many PCC88. Amongst them I have seen PCC88s that had very little heater current variation between 6 and 8 V heater voltages, and over half of them actually had slightly increasing heater currents with lower heater voltage, and decreasing current with higher voltages, i.e, a compensating mechanism. This type of heater would run around 330mA at 6.3V and would normally have around 7V at the nominal current (when driven with a constant current source).
It should also be noted that tube datasheets specify APPROXIMATE voltage on the filament for P type tubes, as well as a +-10% tolerance, outside of which tube life MAY be compromised. Since tube life is not only dependant on heater power but also on voltages and currents in the tube, and, for many PCC88 types the filament voltage is given as 7V (6.3V being 7V-10%, and likely to be higher than 6.3V due to lower load), there will likely be no negative consequences for replacing an ECC88 with a PCC88.
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