Yes, the masher in Justin's system sounded really good. It seemed to have more body, bass, ease.
We did tube compares with his active valve pre and with his airtight passive. With the active, I preferred PX25 the most, followed by RK 300b. The special 45s sounded a bit flat and the 242s sounded average. The RK 300b bass was the highest and I can see why Justin prefers these on his electronic music.
On the passive pre, the special 45s sounded the best, along with the Cunningham 45s. The PX25 and RK did not sound as good though I still preferred the PX25 to the RK. The 242 were sounding a bit hard but nice otherwise, still not the 242 sound I am looking for.
Overall, Justin's system sounds much better with the new big 7 then it did with the previous one.
I think RK 300b, RK PX4 and T100 shootout should be the next
For Ked's material I agree PX25 seemed a good option. In the few weeks I had it, I didn't use it much at all.
In recent weeks I've found myself using the RK 300B, and EML Anniv 45 the most. 242, PX25 and my own KR PX4 hardly at all.
Just this last Saturday, though, I was surprised how well the Cunningham CX-345 is performing in this variant of what was one of the very first hardwired Big 7s. The circuit has altered, but it is still hardwired and it has the active triode loading found in some GG2 and optional in the Pacific, but it only uses one 6N6P (both halves), as opposed to 2 (using one half I guess). It also has some big meaty Jupiter caps and the original lower rated Duelands. Not really a Big 7 anymore.
Marconi PX4 is good too, with both that and the Cunnigham's providing alternative mid range presentation that for me somehow tends to sound a bit less hi-fi and a bit more tonally embellished. A touch more real sounding especially with acoustic instruments. Its a small difference but it is enough to notice. You notice it more when you aren't switching valves every few minutes like we were for quick compares.
The Marconi seems to merge things or blend them together so you don't think bass, mid and treble like you tend to with KR / EML valves. It sounds more like your attention is being drawn to the music rather than hi-fi. But when you listen with hi-fi ears, it is hard to deny the attraction of the Eastern European efforts, that technically appear to perform better when you consider individual elements and not the cohesive whole.
Tempted to try the EML AD1 on adapters to UX4 just because no one else seems to have done.