Doctor's Orders-Part Two-The New Listening Room Of Steve Williams

and his wife stayed for the 3 1/2 hours without complaining. How many women will do that

The Holy Grail of 12AT7's

My Doshi tape head preamp shipped today and due to arrive in a few days. Nick Doshi arrives on Saturday to integrate it with my Studer. The switch had been previously made but Nick needs to make an internal board to modify the switch.

Nick uses 3 pair of 12AT7's one pair in the output stage and one pair in each of the NAB and IEC settings. Since I never listen to NAB recorded tapes I elected to roll only 2 pair of these tubes and after a lengthy search I was able to find a quad matched set of Telefunken NOS ECC801S circa early 60's which are brand new and never been used. All four tubes have the same serial number and the measurements on all 4 tubes are almost identical. Needless to say I bought them and they will be integrated into Nick's unit

Here are some photos as these are as rare as hen's teeth.

Stay tuned. I am really looking forward to getting this unit into my system











Bottom of the tube showing the famous "diamond"

Here is a description of these tubes.....

PRIVATE STOCK TELEFUNKEN WEST-GERMANY ECC801S WORLDS BEST 12AT7 TELEFUNKEN HOLYGRAIL PAIR with Matched Plate-Resistance (Rp) & Tube-Gain Mu LOW-NOISE

TELEFUNKEN ECC801S 12AT7 ECC81 MATCHED PAIR 3-MICA WOW!

BEAUTIFUL NOS PRINTING - TUBES with MATCHING SERIAL NUMBERS U4002903G and U4002903G

WORLD'S BEST TELEFUNKEN ECC801S 12AT7 ECC81 NOS PLATINUM MATCHED PAIR 3-MICA
Amplitrex Specs. Matched (Rp)&( Mu) WOW!

PAIR 1: (SOLD) to S.W. (that's me)

5,600/5,600 & 5,500/5,500 uMhos with MATCHING SERIAL NUMBERS U4002903G and U4002903G

PAIR 2: (SOLD) to S.W. (that's me as well)

5,600/5,500 & 5,600/5,500 uMhos with MATCHING SERIAL NUMBERS U4002903G and U4002903G

BOXES DISPLAYED FOR HISTORIC REPRESENTATION AND NOT INCLUDED IN SALE

Typical NOS factory recommend is 4,000/4,000 uMhos (gm)

"... The 1960's Telefunken early ECC801S with 'klingarm' (low noise) represent the full expression of Telefunken's best achievement for a 12AT7 / 6201. To have these tubes is really someting rare & special! The richness of the music reproduced surpass any other previous attempt of any other tube ever made. While listing to Miles Davis SKETCHES OF SPAIN with Gil Evans I can hear, see, and feel Miles sitting on a stool in a section in my listening room, a trio of trumpet, trombone and flute behind him. As if the members of the band are right in the room with you! The dense textural details and markings for dynamics are performed precisely as recorded and reproduced so that all the interweaving parts emerge clearly. The depth of musical emotion is distinctly audible with every detail of the pure orchestral fabric as I'm not hearing my preamp, amp, or speakers anymore, just pure music, the conduit to a higher musical realm, as if there is no hardware at all! "Miles above" and Simply beautiful and well worth the price for the 'klingarm' SUPER LOW-NOISE factory tubes!...worlds better than the newer 1980's commercial series by "miles"

Extremely RARE Telefunken <> ECC801S issue Made in ULM! 1960's 9-digit serial with 1960's decade ULM made NOS ECC801S are considered extinct and searched for because of the rarity of this type of tube made in the ULM factory - this PERFECT Matched & Balanced Pair was made in the 1960's. These are PERFECT for 12AT7 audiophile preamp and mic applications too being LOW NOISE suitable for even microphones! 'klingarm' (low microphonics). They have the Diamond (Rhombus < > tilted square) with the numbers in the bottom of the glass tube between the pins. Same low noise matched triodes construction equivalent to the ECC803S specifications - an ECC801S is to a ECC81/12AT7 what a ECC803S is to a ECC83 / 12AX7!

1960's TELEFUNKEN NOS ECC801S PERFECT PAIR Diamond < > Holy-Grails NOS PAIR Perfectly Matched & Balanced Triode and across the Pair with Uniquely Matched Plate-Resistance (Rp)

ACTUAL LOGO-PRINT PICTURES of these 1960's Telefunken Select Triple-Mica ECC801S Premium Audio Tube Pair. ALL ACTUAL PICTURES OF the Symetrically Balanced & Matched Pair you will receive ... fragile white lettering as shown in pictures are typical for the "thin-lettering silk-screen" which rubs off easily .

Wonderfully transparent and open with lightning quick speed and phenominal high end extension, accurate bass like intended by the original recording, not at all overemphasized like some other premium tubes. These are extremely low noise threshold phono-grade, very neutral with pin-point tonal accuracy, providing an outstanding balanced and uncolored sonic tapestry that will put your mind in another dimension. Performs outstanding in DACS and linestages, yielding a trouble-free reliable German workmanship 10,000+ heater-hour lifespan

Very Rare Vintage "Professional" NOS Matched Pair! The older 1960's ECC801S were the finest Professional 3-mica triple-mica low-noise tubes Telefunken ever made, much better than the newer ones! The 1960's 9-digit serial number tubes are the BEST SOUNDING, BEST MADE and MOST VALUABLE and RARE out of ALL the Telefunken ECC801S Audio tubes. You won't find other Extremely RARE Telefunken <> ECC801S DIGITAL TESTED tubes around - that's because they are kept and treasured by those who know which the BEST ECC801S tubes are!

MATCHING ULM W.GERMANY SERIAL NUMBERS = U4002903G and U4002903G
Purchase a QUAD with all Matching Serial Numbers!

Considered by audiophiles the HOLY-GRAIL of all 12AT7 tubes, this rare 1960' ECC801S symetrically Balanced & Matched Quad was made in the ULM Factory Western Germany on the Danube. Telefunken used the first code letter to signify where the tube was made. Telefunken had two factories in Western Germany, one in Ulm (with the tube code "U") and another in Berlin (with the tube code "B"). For example, " U7116003J" tells us that this tube was made in Ulm on the Danube river Telefunken factory.

Rhombus < > bottoms with diamond! (the tilted square means these tubes are 100% authentic Telefunken W. German made tubes)

They have the Diamond with the numbers in the bottoms of the glass tubes between the pins.

TESTS BETTER THAN 100% of Hickok NOS

4,000/4,000Gm = HICKOK TUBE TESTER RECOMMENDED MUTUAL CONDUCTANCE - THESE TEST GREATER @ 100% !

RARELY DO YOU FIND a PERFECTLY BALANCED & MATCHED Plate-Resistance (Rp) Pair!

"...the proof of the (sonic) pudding!..."

Etymology sites say that the phrase originated as "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." It means that the true value or quality of something can only be judged when it's put to use. The meaning is often summed up as "results are what count."

You wouldn't eat anything without knowing the full ingredients would you?

Then don't let your precious preamp or your ears eat any tubes without knowing

Matched Plate Resistance (RP)
Matched Tube Gain (Mu)
10,000 hour rated "Triple-Mica" CONSTRUCTION LOW NOISE

FULL ULM SERIAL NUMBERS
BEAUTIFUL fragile lettering still in tact!

PERFECT SPECIFICATIONS!

ACTUAL PICTURE of Telefunken Select ECC801S Premium Audio Tubes with Triple-Mica construction

THESE TUBES ARE ONLY FOR THOSE WHO SIMPLY MUST HAVE THE BEST PROFESSIONAL ECC801S QUAD FOR CRITICAL SONIC APPLICATION USE!

10mA/10mA = specification sheet recommended 100%

Actual tubes were tested on the State-of-the-Art AMPLITREX AT-1000 Electron Tube Test System

ECC801S PERFECT PAIR

Telefunken Select ECC801S Premium Audio Tubes with Serial Numbers.

1960's NOS ECC801S matched pair
"... The Tele ECC801S is the HOLY GRAIL of all 12AT7 tubes! I can hear a huge increase in 3-D sonic holography with the ECC801S / 6201 over the ECC81 / 12AT7. The ECC801S is the most accurate faithful sound reproducer ever made. The midrange on the ECC801S is in a class by itself, when you hear a vocalist or horn its like the singer/instrument is in the room with you, it puts shivers down my spine, and evokes emotions that are not only warm and fuzzy but therapeutic for the mind, body and soul..."

Sound the trumpets!!!!!!

My Doshi tape head tube preamp arrived yesterday, hand delivered and set up by none other than Nick Doshi himself

After placing my order for this heralded tape head preamp in early April and after much waiting, Nick arrived yesterday on my door step from Virginia to deliver and set up this amazing piece of equipment. As described in another thread by Bruce this is a 2 box unit with a separate power supply that attaches to the tube preamp by a 5 foot umbilical. The unit is polished black anodized metal and has 3 pair of 12AT7's (one for the output stage, one for the NAB circuit, another in the output stage and the third for CCIR) while another pair of ECC99's (12BH7) are also used. Nick supplies 3 pair of excellent 12AT7's made by GE but my zeal for tubes lead me to a quad matched unused NOS ECC801S circa 1960's, commonly known as the Holy Grail of 12AT7's. I rolled these into the output stage and the CCIR stage and left the stock GE pair in the NAB stage (which almost certainly I will never use).

Let me provide first a few pictures of Nick modifying my Studer A810 as well as setting up the preamp.

The afternoon was quite an event. Several years ago I had a bypass switch made made on my A810 and it was terminated single ended, preserving the original internal electronics which were balanced out. The original preamp which I had commissioned to be built was to be solid state. I had heard several tube preamps made as outboards but in all honesty they were quite noisy and I got swayed to solid state designs. That idea remained under construction for almost 6 months by the person who constructed my bypass switch. However he developed other ideas for development and mine fell by the waste side. Suffice it to say I am a tube guy and held out hope that I could find a tube tape head preamp to satisfy my needs.

Going frequently to CES, RMAF, THE Show etc I was always mesmerized by the great sound that I always heard in Nick's room at these shows. Nick and I talked at RMAF last October about bringing his tape head preamp to market. Fast forward to early 2013 and our friend and fellow member Bruce Brown receives his Doshi unit and and can't stop commenting about it.It wa then that I knew this was a special unit as it has

1- Level adjustments for each channel for NAB and IEC EQ

2- Head Loading adjustments to optimize HF response and compensate for cable length

3- HF tilt adjustment

Plus it was a tube unit with a separate power supply

Mine was ordered in early April and delivered personally and set up by Nick himself

Nick completely redid my bypass switch yesterday changing it from a single ended to a full balanced switch but preserving the RCA outs from the Studer which would bring the signal to his preamp. This was a challenge because I had RCA outs fro the Studer which were a true balanced connection. He had to do this as I wanted to preserve the working internal electronics of my unit and there was no room to bring a second pair of XLR outputs from the machine. As a result I sent back a 2 meter pair of Balanced Valhalla cables to Nordost to reterminate to a balanced male RCA out to a balanced XLR termination at the other end. I have had this cable sitting unused under my Studer since April. Nordost understood they were to return a fully balanced cable with RCA at one end and XLR at the other. When Nick checked it he discovered that in fact they returned to me a pseudobalanced cable not what I requested. I phoned them and they agreed it was their fault and they were sending me a return box for the cable as they were going to do a one day turn around. This didn't solve the immediate problem of not having a cable to get from the Studer to his preamp.

No problem said Nick. "I'll make you one he said and this he did in less than 15 minutes from a pair of balanced Canary cables he had

So having completely redone my switch board to a fully balanced circuit, he then made me an excellent pair of cables.

Then he set the head loading adjustment on the unit to sound best. There are 3 positions, low, medium and high. IIRC Nick said that the Studer performs best at the low level and set it there. I believe low has impedance of 30Kohm, high 100K and medium 47K (I think but correct me Bruce or Nick if I am wrong)

Then Nick verified that all of the internal electronics were still in a working condition and listened to some tape for a while.

Then the magic moment came when we threw the switch and listened through his preamp. It was truly a "wow" moment which I will get to shortly

What Nick then did was to put up a test tape which he played through his audio meter and verified that the azimuth on my tape heads were perfect and that the tape heads were loaded perfectly for the Studer showing me what things looked like on his "scope". He was very pleased with my Studer

So How Did It Sound?

I must say in all honesty that I wasn't prepared for what I heard. First off what I didn't hear was noise. This was my biggest fear with a tubed tape head preamp. It was dead quiet

Now for the rest. I am not going to tell you the proverbial hyperbole or flowery adjectives with the sayings that the sound stage was deeper and wider, that there was better microdynamics, decay timber noise floor etc etc etc (you know what I mean)

What I did hear floored me

1. Imaging, imaging, imaging. I can say in all candor that I have never heard anything that has such precise imaging as I heard through Nick's unit.None of this stood out in my mind as we listened to a demo tape that we all heard at several rooms recently at THE Show. It was almost as if I were in a dark nightclub sitting just back of the stage listening to Hugh Masakela sing Stimela. I have heard this song and all its renditions countless times but NEVER have I heard it like this. I could watch his mouth change from left to right as he sang and even more amazing I could watch him move his trumpet from center to left as he played. I have never had this experience ever before.My system images wonderfully but yesterday was beyond that. It was something truly palpable

2. An effortless way of moving air. There was an absolute ease to the way I heard the music. It seemed to come out of nowhere, from the blackness and disappeared again. The music to my ears was palpable and truly holographic. I could reach up and walk around Hugh Masakela and walk between the band as they played. I have just never heard anything so uncannily real as I did yesterday.

3. Dynamics are like nothing I have ever heard as well. The best way I can describe it is that there is a "dynamic pop" to the music. It just seemed livelier and more involving than when we played through the internal electronics of the Studer.

After Nick left I spent many more hours listening. It was as if I had rediscovered a whole new library as there was a palpability to the music that I have never experienced before. It was simply "that good"

This unit is a keeper and I would whole heartedly recommend Nick's unit to anyone considering an outboard. This unit will leave you wondering what you've been listening to before.

My soundstage was unchanged. It wasn't deeper, wider and I couldn't describe what I heard with the typical adjectives. For me the imaging was so uncanny, so real and so precise that at the end I was wondering how can I get that same sound with other sources. Now how does one say....

Doshi Alaap v2.1 Preamplifier

and

Doshi Jhor Monoblock Amplifier

I can honestly say that this was as real as I have ever heard and as I said, wondering how to get that sound from sources other than tape