Any experience with EZ-80s, 5687s or Bendix 6900s?

Thanks Kgproperties! You and I must have similar tastes. Your description of the Tungsram sound is exactly what I told Darren yesterday. I reviewed the original version of the AMR for Stereo Times and just had Darren send me the .01 update (with Tungsrams). I still have both players.

I am having a hard time finding the RFT EZ-80s. I have a friend loaning me some Telefunken EZ-80s and Bendix 6900s to try. It sounds like the RFTs may be what I am looking for from your description. Do you have any sources for the RFT EZ80s?

Regards,

Frank

I have tried a bunch of EZ 81 rectifiers in my system and the old Mullards are King. The plain old RCA's are also very good and probably less rare and precious. Now, according to Cary, the EZ 80 is a direct drop in replacement for the EZ81's in their SLP 90 preamp. I am not sure however if we can assume that to be the case in all equipment and applications. Perhaps someone else out there could enlighten us on that question. I was told they have exactly the same electrical specs. What does the tube reference manual say?

Hifiharv,

Here is what I learned about the EZ81 as a drop-in for the EZ80. The EZ81q is pin-compatible but draws nearly twice the heater current (1.0A vs. 0.6A). I am not sure if the transformers in the AMR have enough capacity to take the EZ81 but I will try to find out.

Hi Frank:
I purchased the RFT's on ebay just a few weeks ago. The seller was/is "LCI_ELECTRONICS" (which looks to be the same seller as "ORPHEUS_2005", both located in Bulgaria. I purchased the RFT's & Tesla's from the same seller, and received both sets in just over a week from the payment clearance date! Go to ebay, and type in EZ80; he is still listing more of them for sale.

Please let me know how the Bendix 6900's sound in the AMR. I am very tempted to purchase a set, but at $600 a set...
Ken G.

Frank, here's an update for you:

I was fortunate to find a lightly used pair of Bendix 6900’s within 5 miles of my front door. The seller agreed to let me try them on the condition that I could return them to him if I was not happy with the sound. Upon replacing the JAN Philips 5687’s with the Bendix, any thought of returning them quickly vanished. From an already very quiet background, it is now even quieter. Voices (now) have a much more detailed, textured and richer quality – a “3-dimentionality” if you will. Lower mid-range is much fuller and layered than before. Bass response is also significantly improved. As with the mid/low-mids, bass has a fuller and richer presentation. As mentioned in my earlier post, changing the position of the damping rings on the tubes also allowed me to “tune” the tubes to my liking. The Bendix easily surpassed my expectations!