211 valves: please share your experiences

The friend writes for Hi-Fi Critic BTW, so he is quite experienced. I didn't lend him my Amperex.
 
They are fine they haven't had much use. I have more than a quads worth of them too, so plenty to choose from.

Interestingly I lent them to a friend with an Audio Note Tomei. He uses ELROGs and PsVane. He preferred the GE to the RCAs.

The Chinese totally copied the RCA. I have a quad of the Chinese super cheap copies and remarkably they sound much much better than you would believe for the cost.

Actually, that day I preferred slightly the GE to the RCA but did not try to investigate the difference much as the Amperex were just so much better. I have compared the Psvane on an earlier visit in the same system and they were nowhere as good. Mark owns them.
 
They are fine they haven't had much use. I have more than a quads worth of them too, so plenty to choose from.

Interestingly I lent them to a friend with an Audio Note Tomei. He uses ELROGs and PsVane. He preferred the GE to the RCAs.

The Chinese totally copied the RCA. I have a quad of the Chinese super cheap copies and remarkably they sound much much better than you would believe for the cost.

Just to be sure: which Chinese 211 copies/brand are you referring to? Psvane maybe?
 
Actually, that day I preferred slightly the GE to the RCA but did not try to investigate the difference much as the Amperex were just so much better. I have compared the Psvane on an earlier visit in the same system and they were nowhere as good. Mark owns them.

Apart from the RCA’s I am using at the moment in my Kagura’s I have three different nos 211 quods available: (i) General Electric, (ii) United Electronics and (iii) Amperex (with ‘brass base’). I Have not yet heard the latter two while I listened to the GE’s many years back when I played with the Gakuons.

It is really a pity (or even quite annoying) that rebiassing the Kagura’s is such an (extensive) operation that there is no way that I can rather easily compare the four nos 211 brands in my set up.
 
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Just to be sure: which Chinese 211 copies/brand are you referring to? Psvane maybe?

No Shuguang. They look almost identical internally but there's a piece of mica on the top that really gives them away as not being RCA. Not sure how available this copy is in 2018 I haven't looked for years.
 
Check out post #4 here: A Visit To Malvern Audio Research

The on/off cycle shortens valve life more than anything but 211s use thoriated (radioactive) tungsten filaments which have the benefit of much longer lifetimes.

A 211 is a transmitter valve and I have heard stories of them living at least 15 years when left constantly on. None of my large all NOS collection has ever failed on me in maybe 10 years of use, with the Amperex I have being used the most.

Finding 4 United Electronics 211s with the same internal structure is close to impossible. Finding a quad of Tele RS237s is easier I believe, though the quad on ebay at the moment is a little steep at $10,000. I had an UE 211 and gave up trying to build a quad after years of trying.

Audiocrack I will reply to your PM really sorry for the delay.

Thanks - 15 years is even more than a typical LED lifetime (100 000 hours)! Can I ask you what is your 211 amplifier?
 
Thanks - 15 years is even more than a typical LED lifetime (100 000 hours)! Can I ask you what is your 211 amplifier?

I said story purely because I found that statement on a forum years ago when trying to find out how long 211s last. I cannot validate it.

There's no way they'll last that long with constant on/off cycles and who is mad enough to leave a quad of 211s burning permanently?

Austria Analog 211 PSE monoblocks. If you Google it I expect you'll find my exact pair somewhere. Nominally 80 Watts but capable of 170 Watt peaks. Please don't let this turn into a how can they drive Apogees thread because they do and trust me I listen loud. It is ample power for my custom built Apogees.
 
I said story purely because I found that statement on a forum years ago when trying to find out how long 211s last. I cannot validate it.

There's no way they'll last that long with constant on/off cycles and who is mad enough to leave a quad of 211s burning permanently?

Austria Analog 211 PSE monoblocks. If you Google it I expect you'll find my exact pair somewhere. Nominally 80 Watts but capable of 170 Watt peaks. Please don't let this turn into a how can they drive Apogees thread because they do and trust me I listen loud. It is ample power for my custom built Apogees.

If I understand your comments correctly you prefer (in your Austria Analog) amps the nos Amperex 211 tubes to the nos RCA/GE - maybe including the nos United Electronics? - 211 valves and a few current production 211 tubes such as the Kron. Could you please inform us why you prefer the Amperex 211? Possibly for the same reasons Kedar mentioned earlier in this thread but it would be interesting to hear your opinion as well.
 
I said story purely because I found that statement on a forum years ago when trying to find out how long 211s last. I cannot validate it.

There's no way they'll last that long with constant on/off cycles and who is mad enough to leave a quad of 211s burning permanently?

Austria Analog 211 PSE monoblocks. If you Google it I expect you'll find my exact pair somewhere. Nominally 80 Watts but capable of 170 Watt peaks. Please don't let this turn into a how can they drive Apogees thread because they do and trust me I listen loud. It is ample power for my custom built Apogees.

Thanks again, and no questions asked. My only concern is how they would drive the XLF's or Soundlab's!;)

Although it will imply some heavy logistics, I can try borrowing a pair of DIY 211 PSE using Sowter output transformers. Do you have any opinion on these transformers?
 
Thanks again, and no questions asked. My only concern is how they would drive the XLF's or Soundlab's!;)

Although it will imply some heavy logistics, I can try borrowing a pair of DIY 211 PSE using Sowter output transformers. Do you have any opinion on these transformers?

You might think my amps are parallel single ended but they are not. They are push pull, hence the ability to do more than 50 Watts. Very strange name for them indeed.

Sowter? Supposed to be good quality as far as I know. And that is all I know. No idea who made the trannies for mine but there's an interstage tranny and each mono is around 45 KG I believe. Mainly transformer weight.
 
If I understand your comments correctly you prefer (in your Austria Analog) amps the nos Amperex 211 tubes to the nos RCA/GE - maybe including the nos United Electronics? - 211 valves and a few current production 211 tubes such as the Kron. Could you please inform us why you prefer the Amperex 211? Possibly for the same reasons Kedar mentioned earlier in this thread but it would be interesting to hear your opinion as well.

I'll answer that later no time now.
 

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