“Very nice tube. Many of the current new low signal tubes on the market tend to have an overall glare in the midst and highs. The Cifte offers a really enjoyable sound. None of the artificial air that one hears with many tubes including 6H30s. Clean and clear, with no sense of brightness. Great response from low to high. Currently using six of them in a Primaluna HP Integrated with Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolutions. Great combo in my opinion. I whole heartedly recommend them.”

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Posted 10 years ago

“wanted to try a bit of tube rolling in my PL 2 and Kev's description had me intrigued. These tubes are really nice - i'd say better than RCA clear-tops (not as bright as them and the mids are much better), but perhaps not as detailed or as tight in the bass as the 60's 12au7 telefunkens that are my main 12au7 benchmark tube- still their a lot less $ so two thumbs up!”

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Posted 10 years ago

“This is it, The bloom, the texture,the love,its all there!!, Truly a super tube.I am very happy and would never use any other tube in my weytech preamp. You guys are the best.. im buying another set now!!! don't ever want to be without these tubes, I would just die...Marc”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 10 years ago

“This tube is extremely quiet, but it's most endearing quality is an incredibly open and deep sound stage. I have yet to hear another tube like these that put as much air under the cymbals or creates a sound where the speakers simply disappear and you are listening to the stage or recording session.”

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Posted 10 years ago

Rob Richardson

Unverified Reviewer

“I recently upgraded two of my six preamp tubes on my PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium Integrated with the Cifte 12AU7s. I had read through a lot of tube descriptions and the detailed analysis of the Cifte spoke to what I was looking for. I called Upscale and spoke with Kevin and briefly described what I was looking for (3D imaging, detail without thinning out the midrange and bass). Well, Kevin suggested I try the Cifte's! And even further, I was ready to buy six of the Cifte's and Kevin urged me to try two and see if I like the direction the Cifte takes the sound. Well, I am so in love with the sound I am going to buy 4 more of the Cifte's next week!”

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Posted 10 years ago

“I'm running a set in the Eastern Electric Minimax preamp with a couple of Bel Canto monoblocks driving Legacy Studios. Sounds great. Delicate, clear highs, sweet but full mids, and quick. Tight rounded bass without bloat. Gorgeous wide sound stage with near holographic imaging on good quality 50s/60s era jazz recordings. Far more open than the Mullards, at least in this rig. Thanks for the recommendation, Kevin!”

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Posted 10 years ago

“I only gave this tube 4 stars because I am new to tubes and there are much more expensive tubes out there. I owned Ayre balanced solid state equipment and it was difficult to tune and optimize, with thousands in accessories and a cardas mathematically based listening room. But it was Amazing when dialed in, huge soundstage and great imaging. So I built a tube preamp kit based on the PAS3 to get my feet wet and eventually bought these tubes because the description said 3D, my goal. I was rolling $20 to $80 12AU7s and beginning to fear I sold my Ayre preamp too soon. But I am now getting that clear 3D imaging performance with a VTA tube preamp kit and these tubes, out of the box no tweaking. I am learning tubes are everything, and these tubes are great. I have a tube phono section and these line stage tubes were able to reveal subtle differences in all the 12AX7 phono tubes I rolled, so these tubes had to do it all. These seem to be the tubes I was looking for regardless of price.”

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Posted 11 years ago

“I was focusing on a few other tubes on the Upscale Audio list of 12au7 but I kept coming back to Kevin's description of the Cifte and decided to try it along with three other brands. The other tubes have their own special character, they sound excellent and have some qualities the Cifte doesn't but overall the Cifte stands out the most. It seems that it's become the tube to beat. Initially it sounded very nice but one evening after I'd been listening to it for a few days it made an amazing leap in sound quality. I was in the kitchen listening to my music system which was in another room and I heard a distinct improvement in performance. It caught me so off guard I had to check to see if something was going on with my amplifier. This tube may not be considered "warm" like a Mullard but it sounds so good from the terrific, open and lively top end to a really nice bass that being warm doesn't seem to matter. The warmth factor didn't occur to me. It's a very musical tube. My Rogue Audio Sphinx integrated hybrid amp has responded quite favorably to this Cifte tube and so have I. Highly Recommended!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 11 years ago

Cifte 12AU7 Gold Grade / No Cryo Reviews