Description

Perfect matched pair of vintage Philips Miniwatt SQ E188CC audio tubes - Made in Holland - 1968/69 - NOS - Extremely Rare Tube Summary The beauty, the legend, the classic, the Special Quality(SQ) - this is the super tube from Heerlen's high echelon that doesn't break your bank. Known for their superb musicality and ultra low noise, thanks to Philips' proprietary SQ design, these tubes remain among audiophiles' top choices for serious listening. Sound Characteristics Immediately appealing is the super smooth highs offered by these tubes with lots of open air. The overall tonality of SQ is warm, musical and euphonic. The midrange displays some secondary octave nuances, which is very unique and can hardly be found even among the top-end German tubes. Similar to the Telefunken tubes, the SQ's can create infinite levels of harmonic depth and a liquid sonic texture without altering the musicality of the sound. The bass on these is the clear winner of the Heerlen tubes family: articulate, accurate, deep, textured, full-bodied and powerful. The sound stage is wide and structured - it feels the dimensions of the sound shape are clearly defined no matter how it moves. Vocal representation on these is close to Mitcham and Blackburn Mullard tubes in terms of warmth, sweetness and texture, making them great alternatives to Mullard's as the best vocals tube. But what truly shines on SQ E188CC tubes, especially the early '60s version like this pair, is their magic in portraying piano music: creamy smooth, richly colored, realistic and intimate. For many audiophiles (incl. myself), they're the go-to tube for piano sound. Listening to Claudio Arrau's Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas on these tubes should be on your bucket list if you are into classical piano music. The ultra low noise on SQ's also sets them apart from most of the high-end tubes. They don't just compete with Telefunken tubes in low noise; they're known for being a long-term leader in low noise. As a result, you get superb detail and clarity from these tubes as well. Professional Sound Evaluation The pair worked wonderfully and sounded terrific in our professional studio setup for monitoring. - Input: Cambridge Audio CXC V2 dedicated CD transport + Schiit Audio Bifrost 2 Multibit DAC - Amplification: Liquid Platinum Tube Amplifier by Alex Cavalli - Output: Focal Clear MG Pro open-back headphones Our full tube sound review was written 100% based on the actual listening experience while this pair of tubes were running in the system described above. Professional Tube Testing Both tubes tested NOS (100%+ nominal mutual conductance) on a reliable Mercury 2000 tube tester with the following result (mutual conductance both in uMhos and in percentage of nominal ): Tube 1: 13,500/13,100 (108%/105%) Tube 2: 13,000/13,000 (104%/104%) Good tubes start at 7000 and new tubes (incl. NOS/NIB) 12,500 - 13,000 , and the Mercury 2000's rated mutual conductance (nominal) for new tubes is 12,500 . Test result can also be seen in the pictures. In case you wonder what all these numbers mean to your sound experience, it's actually quite straightforward: mutual conductance directly translates to a tube's ability to amplify sound , so the higher the numbers the stronger. Appearance & cosmetic condition We treasure this pair also because of the great cosmetic condition of both tubes - over 90% of the paint is intact and well preserved. The Heerlen factory date codes etched on glass perfectly visible: delta 8K1 (delta = Heerlen, 8 = 1968, K = November, 1 = Week 1 of the production month) delta 9K3 (delta = Heerlen, 9 = 1969, K = November, 3 = Week 3 of the production month) Shipping Policy - Ship worldwide! Flat-rate standard shipping (USPS Ground Advantage) within the US. - Same business day handling. Orders placed by 2:00PM US Pacific Time on weekdays are posted on the same day, otherwise the next business day. - Combined shipping available - request invoice for total before making payment or receive shipping credit after order ships. - Customers outside the US please pay extra attention: International shipping is through USPS Ground Advantage International by default. It's the least expensive option and customs declaration is automated but it may take longer than other carriers. If you prefer to use a different carrier please contact us first so we can get you the correct shipping rates before you make payment. Return Policy - Please READ carefully First of all, returns are acceptable as long as you are reasonable . Soundlumia sets extremely high quality standard for the products we deliver. Tubes we sell are guaranteed to work because we run professional tests and sound evaluation before they are approved for listing AND before we ship them to customers . So the "defective item" case doesn't exist and please do not bother trying - this type of returns will NOT be accepted without proof that tubes do not work and we will open a dispute with eBay. Sound experience is a very subjective thing, and let's be real it's not that easy to run into compatibility issues between amps and tubes (so that one won't fly, either.) Please contact us to work things out before submitting return requests claiming "item is defective" or "item not as described." We would really appreciate your respect to the professional work we have done (sourcing, testing & matching tubes, evaluating tube sound, sharing our sound experience with you, packing and shipping) to make these wonderful vintage tubes available to you at reasonable prices. Secondly, if you are a tube roller looking to game the return system, Number One STOP. We have seen it all and we know what you're up to. No tricks here please. Abusive behaviors will be reported to eBay immediately and negative feedback will be left to your account - that's guaranteed. We have already reported several abusers and eBay has ruled in our favor the dispute cases. We are more determined than ever to continue working with eBay to help rid of these unprofessional, unjustified, unkind, unfair and unacceptable abuses that are detrimental to the eBay marketplace, the vintage tubes market and the audiophile community.