Brimar CV4003 / 12AU7 Platinum Grade / No Cryo Reviews

4.9 Rating 147 Reviews

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Phone:

909.931.9686

Email:

joel.m@upscaleaudio.com

Location:

2058 Wright Avenue,
2058 Wright Avenue
California
91750

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“I have loved Brimar tubes forever. I'm from the UK and was used to having access to them so easily, but here in the States they don't come up. So when I saw Upscale had them I was thrilled. They are superb in my VAC. They have the midrange glory of a Mullard but still remain super open. Now this comes down to taste as I love Mullards too. It's system dependent. Mullards are just a teeny bit softer on top. I'm an engineer by trade, and set up a rather sophisticated noise analyzer. I've bought supposed "low noise" tubes elsewhere and they are always just tubes. Not low noise tubes. In my system I must have REAL low noise tubes...not B.S. Upscale does impress I must say. Every tube I've bought that is Platinum grade really is Platinum. Good job.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Great, airy tube. I'm running one of these and one Cifte in each channel of my Prologue Premium preamp on Maggie 3.7s. . Try it, you'll love it.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

Clarence Boggs

Unverified Reviewer

“Love these tubes, the air, the sense of space, worth the price”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

Vance Dubberly

Unverified Reviewer

“Used in tandem with a Tung Sol 5998 in my Bottlehead Crack + Speedball. Leaps and bounds beyond the stock tube or the Gold Lion I had in it previously. Very quiet, dynamic, nice sound stage and rolls off only at the deepest sub bass.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Best tube I've used in the Bottlehead Crack! Better soundstage and bass slam and extension compared to the Mullard. Comparable highs to the stock RCA's. Slightly more forward mids compared to both. Now my daily driver...”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Running these in a Primaluna Dialogue Hp integrated and love them. They have great bass, phenomenal midrange and a nice layed back top end. They through a nice wide soundstage and sound great with classic rock, singer song writer music. Very impressed.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“The Brimar CV4003 is one of my favorite driver tubes for the Bottlehead Crack OTL headphone amplifier. It brings to mind the story of Goldilocks. Highs, Lows, and Mids all sound “just right” no matter the musical genre.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“These are great tubes for adding texture, layers of resolution and musical inner details to the sound while not being too warm, analytical or etched. I was looking for some more depth and richness upon switching my stereo to featuring a solid state amp after using a KT88 based tube amp. I didn't know about Brimar and took Kevin's advice to try them in my PrimaLuna cd player. After hearing how wonderful they sound, I purchased six more to use with my PL Premium Dialogue Preamp. I have to admit this tube rolling stuff is a dramatic and significant part of the performance and ability of tube gear to be fine tuned and sound so excellent. The differences are easily heard especially with PL gear that starts out with such a good design. I'm a professional musician and member of the Philadelphia Orchestra for over 35 years. These tubes balance and integrate the sound of my equipment and bring me several shades closer to the realistic sense and illusion of hearing live musicians. Getting tubes of this quality is like when a wind musician finds a great mouthpiece or a string player finds a bow that lets their instrument sound better and enables them to perform music at a higher level. I'm enjoying vocal lines by hearing greater clarity and enunciation from singers. The instrumental harmonies and string sections are more easily heard with the distinction of the ensemble sizes showing in the soundstage. The violins, violas, cellos and bassi are no longer just a mass of strings but can be heard within their sections, space and depth of the hall. The timbre of the instruments have the same color as in life. These tubes are real winners for me! Equipment in use: Daniel D'Agostino Master Power Classic Stereo Amplifier Bob Carver Cherry 180 amplifier PrimaLuna Premium CD Player PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium Preamplifier VPI Prime turntable Manley Chinook phonostage JL Audio e112 Subs Magnepan 20.7 speakers speaker, interconnect, and power cables by Kubala-Sosna”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago