Tesla E83CC, any opinions?

[dogscanskate]

Since I can't afford the Tele Ecc803, it's a known fact that the Tesla E83CC is built on the same gear that the Tele was.

Any owners of this tube willing to share their experience?

 

[Renslipevol]

I can't say much for the ECC83, but I have an old stock quad of tesla's EL84 and they really are nice. I bought them for a 1/4 of what telefunkens were going for. There some good deals to be had. But be careful. Some sellers out there claim they are old stock tesla's, but they are not. You have to do some reading on how to spot the fakes. Im biased by the way.

 

[Sam Cogley]

ECC83 is just the European designation for the 12AX7, btw. The ECC803 was the super-duper low-noise Tele version.

 

[drtechno]

they have a good sound, but a little on the micro-phonic side like the EI 12ax7 if you use them in really high gain low impedance input stages (mic pre, phono pre). They are a little bass heavy too.

The JJ ECC83s I like better cause it has a more balanced sound and I haven't have any of those present any micro-phonic issues.

 

[dogscanskate]

Don't get me wrong, I'm talking about the E83cc from Tesla, if anything, I've read they are low microphonic tubes, made by Tesla and not JJ.

I don't need ECC83, I need 2 good phono section tubes and these Teslas were made in Roznov and their code is 32 (plant where it was made).

I've read great reviews of them in AA and different guitar forums, nobody has said they are microphonic.

I just want a super tube for the phono without dishing out the kind of money a Tele ECC803 fetches.

 

[stoutblock]

I had some Tesla code 32 tubes from the early 70s that were some of the best sounding 12AX7 tubes I've ever owned. Unfortunately, I sold all my 12AX7 tubes with an amp package a couple of years back. I had quite a variety of NOS 12AX7 tubes at the time and the old Teslas were as good or better than any other I had tried at the time.

I'm trying to work a deal with the guy to get a couple back to try in my JD-9 phono stage.

 

[dogscanskate]

Thank you for sharing your experience with them, this is what I was looking for. I do have a pair of Philips E83CC (made by Siemens) that would work in the phono but I'm looking to get a great tube to replace them.

 

[PakProtector]

ECC83 is just the European designation for the 12AX7, btw. The ECC803 was the super-duper low-noise Tele version.

The critical difference between the Tele ECC803 and Tesla E83CC and all the rest were that these two were frame grids. All the others were of the standard wire spiral around the two grid posts. The plate structure was much shorter among other things.

The frame grid style had the same gm and gain as the rest, and I'm sure that they realized other important gains for the swap to more difficult construction.
cheers,
Douglas

 

[Sam Cogley]

The critical difference between the Tele ECC803 and Tesla E83CC and all the rest were that these two were frame grids. All the others were of the standard wire spiral around the two grid posts. The plate structure was much shorter among other things.

The frame grid style had the same gm and gain as the rest, and I'm sure that they realized other important gains for the swap to more difficult construction.
cheers,
Douglas

Most interesting. Thanks for the clarification! Odd that they just rearranged the E83CC designation rather than using the old ECC803 name - it looks like a typo.

 

[rccc]

Im using a pair of code 32's in the phono stage of my cit1. I tried tons of tubes in it thanks to some collector friends and my own stash. One of my friends came over with a pair of tele 803s and some other fantasy tubes. The teles lived up to their reputation and I would love to have a pair but I cant spend that kind of dough on tube. My friend is a design engineer and audio manufacturer and told me about the teslas which are the exact same tube. He took his teles home with him so I have not been able to directly compare. The sound to my memory is very close and better (to me) than anything else Ive used in that amp. I bought 2 pair on e-bay and I have been very happy. I think the teles were built while the machinery was still fresh and possibly had better quality control but I think the teslas are real close in sound if not the same. I did notice the pins on the teslas seem slightly thinner although not a problem. I forget what I paid but it was less than I paid for any of my nos tubes.

 

[dogscanskate]

Douglas, stoutblock and rcc, thank you guys for the confirmation of this tube as being exactly what I needed.

I just ordered a pair and hopefully these can live up to their reputation in my gear. If they are truly a 50,000 hour tube, I have no clue but it should last for a good while!

We'll see when they get here. Thank you all!

 

[arnold58]

There are two kinds of tesla's E83CC
The origenal Tesla's and the early JJ's stampt as Tesla but they are JJ's.
Maybe the goldpin vs the regular pin ?
I have the regular pin's in my Scott 222c and I am very happy with them.

 

[rccc]

It may be difficult to verify authenticity of the tesla. Tube monger has photos and the code 32s should be easy to compare and identify.

 

[stoutblock]

good information here, easy to tell from the shape of the dome.

http://www.jacmusic.com/nos/ECC83-part-numbering1.html

 

[rccc]

Thanks for that!

 

[dogscanskate]

good information here, easy to tell from the shape of the dome.

http://www.jacmusic.com/nos/ECC83-part-numbering1.html

Thanks for the link, I really appreciate it. Those I ordered do not have the swords (crossed) and I think they are from the 80's.

But this is a rare tube so we'll see what we have when they get here.

 

[VtgLife]

they have a good sound, but a little on the micro-phonic side like the EI 12ax7 if you use them in really high gain low impedance input stages (mic pre, phono pre). They are a little bass heavy too.

The JJ ECC83s I like better cause it has a more balanced sound and I haven't have any of those present any micro-phonic issues.

Literally the last thing they are is microphonic. They're almost impervious to microphonics because of the frame grid construction. Thats the point. You must have had the wrong tube. You could drop these guys from a table and it woudnt effect the internal construction too. One of the quietest cleanest tubes made.

Also they emphasize the midrange, not bass or treble.

Absolutely nothing like EIs when it comes to phonics. Maybe the least microphonic tube made along with the Telefunken ecc803s. And they blow away the JJs.


Their distortions curves even blew away the reference for what a perfect tube would look like. Nothing else came close.

One of the best tubes ever made.


Edit I just realized the thread was 8 years old. Sorry. But I stand by the facts of this tube and the point of framework grid construction and its important to have this posted for anyone who searches these tunes so it's not all for naught.

 

[Mr Boochie]

Literally the last thing they are is microphonic. They're almost impervious to microphonics because of the frame grid construction. That's the point. You must have had the wrong tube. You could drop these guys from a table and it woudnt effect the internal construction too. One of the quietest cleanest tubes made.

Maybe, the Tesla E83CC tubes are. But, my experience with the 6DJ8/ECC88 is different. Pulling a lot from old HP scopes --- almost half will be noisy. I figured that those tube were designed to be impervious to mechanical vibrations and shocks, but not necessarily audio frequency feedback.

 

[peterh]

Note that JJ has started new production of framegrid E83CC, available from me and eurotubes.com ( among others)
Thus no need to hunt for expensive NOS when new production with warranty is available.

 

[tonyg88]

Note that JJ has started new production of framegrid E83CC, available from me and eurotubes.com ( among others)
Thus no need to hunt for expensive NOS when new production with warranty is available.

I bought Some for my fisher 800c phase inverter v sections and they would very well