LampizatOr Horizon - Tube Rolling Paradise

[Golum]

I haven’t bought a pair. I wrote the guy and he never responded. I will find a pair somewhere else down the road.

He’ll get back for sure - otherwise he’s OUT of the circle of trust!!!

Edit: @dminches check you're email - guess its solved - he's still IN the circle of trust

 

[Steve Williams]

I'm literally dumbfounded that I am posting in this thread as tube rolling is not something I like. As dminches said, (rightly so), "what happened to set it and forget it/"

I've been somewhat quiet over the past few dats as I had been anxiously awaiting delivery of a matched set of Thompson CSF 5687 tubes which according to a few very reliable references that these could be giant slayers.....to wit, "they are a better sounding tube than the 6900." I found that to be a pretty bold statement, sufficiently so that I ordered a matched set and I've even posted that it's unlikely I will ever keep these tubes as I probably might give a brief listen and put them back in the box and never listen to them again. Well they arrived a few days ago and I all too often base opinion on too brief an experience

Here are a few photos of their packaging and some side by side photos of the 6900 and the 5687. Both use th same adapter in. the Horizon which I thought was a plus.

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

 

[Steve Williams]

I usually like to wait 3 days before I make determinations about a tube but all I can say isn that out of the box, this tube was better than the 6900 in terms of gain (it sounds louder than the 6900) . Having said that the amount of microdetail heard with this tube is simply amazing. Sound stage had a huge immersive sound and nothing jumped out as being out of proportion to everything else however there is no doubt in my mind that the top end on this tube is more extended as is the amount of detail in the lower octaves than the 6900


In doing a search of this particular 5687 there are countless brands of 5687 all at a very low price. Apparently these tubes I have are made in France for the French military so they are often priced much higher

This could be a new benchmark. Stay tuned

As I said, I can't believe I posted in a tube rolling thread but this was so impactful for me I felt it worth mentioning

 

[wil]

Can you provide details on adapter needed? Double adapter?

 

[Steve Williams]

Yes it’s a double adapter

 

[Steve Williams]

I just checked

6900 to 12AU7

12AU7 to 6sn7

 

[Golum]

Can you provide details on adapter needed? Double adapter?

Wil you do not need two adapters…just get this one…
Leter I’ll give a bit more insight on SW 5687 tube as i guess people will “jump” on them

 

[Golum]

As "Genie is out of the bottle" few details about the Thompson and idea. Since 6900 was immediate jump in sense of trying to source them i contacted Gunter Tobian as I've already mentioned xyz times that he's sitting on a pile of more than 100k tubes which he's using in his units but also tubes which are purely collectibles for him, so he's always a fantastic source of information and knowledge. On top I do trust his ears a lot. So when I asked him about Bendix he said "well i have something better to propose to you and you'll keep some money in the pocket and sound quality wise you'll thank me later". Being German/Swiss he pulled out notes from early '90s when he was doing this type of tubes shootout for his projects and basically what Steve wrote above is aligned with what his notes were saying while also for him (not only for him) this tube is more natural and musical vs 6900 (makes sense somehow being of French origin - romantic, sensual vs straight to the point US one )
As Steve said there is a bunch of CSF 5687 variants but the only "correct" one is Thompson CSF 5687WE with OPEN plates as there is a version with closed plates plus some other versions which are massively cheaper. Version Steve got is proper rugged military version with min 10000h life span.
A bit FW and in picture comes source of tubes in France which I used for TMFB1 DHTs and quite a few guys from here as well and voila he had several matched pairs of the correct 5687 new in box so again lucky few from this group are set as these tubes are really rare and difficult to source.
On another note I know he still has several matched pairs measuring perfectly but without original boxes and yes they are removed from eBay and left ONLY for the good people of WBF!!
Ah yes - as Steve said adapter 5687/6900 to 6SN7 is needed (as per picture I posted above to Will)

Few pictures of the ones from Gunter Tobian...

 

[dminches]

There is no need for a double adapter.

1pc Gold 5687 6900 7044 TO 6SN7GT B65 6H8C 6N8P CV1988 tube adapter | eBay

1pc Gold plated 5687 6900 7044 TO 6SN7GT B65 6H8C 6N8P CV1988 tube converter adapter for your amp. Every product will be tested before we send out.

www.ebay.com

 

[wil]

Does this look like the right one? I don't see the rectangular perforations in the picture, but maybe they're hidden from certain angles? Is that what you're referring to as "Open"?

 

[Golum]

Does this look like the right one?

Left one seems to be the one…

 

[Steve Williams]

I have mentioned several times that when Lukasz was here and rolling tubes in and out of th Horizon, th changes most often were quite subtle except for the Brimar 6060 with the Yellow T. It had an immediate pop that the 6900 didn't have, which I attributed to the gain being greater than the 6900.

However when I took out the 6900 and inserted the Thompson CSF 5687 the overall improvement in SQ was immediately better and it only continued to improve over these past few days

This is truly a giant slayer

 

[wil]

Are Woo Audio adaptors considered better than the lower priced ones on Ebay?