Did Ei Nis from Jugoslavia ever made real E88CC?

[My3gger]

Hi,

i phoned one of the tube sellers about buying "tested NOS" E88CC of good quality like at least Tesla is. He said there are some Ei Nis in stock, although online resources mention only ECC88 and PCC88 made by them. This is for parallel output stage at 150V/18,5mA, which is a bit too much for regular ECC88.
Since seeing situation on eBay and many other sources with fake or used "NOS tubes", beside trying them too, i'm not taking claims for granted as before.  All of this is such a lost of time and money if not taking right choices. As i wrote in another thread situation changed a lot in last years, it takes or took me way too much time for getting good tubes again. I might be too sceptic and slow, although it is just EF86 type  along E88CC and it takes all this search, sorting. Well...
I know this might belong to another thread about it already opened by me, but this way more people can see the question.

 

[moamps]

I newer saw EI tube with gold plated pins. But, believe that NOS EI ECC88 will work satisfactory  in REDD preamp.

 

[ruffrecords]

I use EH6922 which are current production and work fine.

Cheers

Ian

 

[moamps]

Chandler uses JJ E88CC.

 

[My3gger]

I newer saw EI tube with gold plated pins. But, believe that NOS EI ECC88 will work satisfactory  in REDD preamp.

Could be similar to NOS Tesla E88CC, those with white printing didn't have gold pins. Quantities released to market in last few years are huge, which is a mistery to me. Prices seem to be too low, printing is different from Tesla and almost always white only, shields are sometimes from nickel when original was black, pins seem new or somehow treated again.
Technical engineer from Abbey Road told me E88CC in this preamp had premature failures very often because of hot bias and not as good heat managing, compared to V72s used before. This is why i prefer E88CC for output, beside lower noise and more working hours, if at least part of it is similar to old production. Price difference isn't big, another reason.
[/quote]

I use EH6922 which are current production and work fine.

Cheers

Ian

EH works well for me too without noticable change in sound quality. A few 6922s i tried last time didn't need selection for noise even when used as input tube. Just need some more experiences with their EF86 to find out how many are needed to find two good for 2ch i'm working on. From the last two one was good for input, while other only outputs; hiss could be heard a bit if used for input.

Chandler uses JJ E88CC.

This is another confirmation about JJ making good small signal tubes, companies like Chandler for sure can't afford using bad tubes. JJ is a bit cheaper from EH too. From the start of company friend and i had failures with their ECC88 and power tube, can't remember if it was 6L6.
Btw, i checked build quality of Chandler, judging by problems of traces lifting up Emrr mentioned a few times it might have this problem in the long run, especially when in rack verticaly like many people like it. Controls are similar to our tests here when some wanted wider gain range and found it doesn't have the same useful sound on most positions.
Good p2p has advantages here, i'm still trying mount tubes horizontaly like they do, although with 2ch it might lack space for moving transformers around if needed, modifications aren't as easy  compared to 3U either, if too much interference show up. Not many built and showed 2ch p2p tube preamps, so i'm on my own about it. Heater will be regulated and i hope wiring around grids or other critical parts won't be a problem with vertical tube mounting.

 

[marinbnm]

I can also confirm goldplated pin from EI, as well i think i once saw some E88CC from EI too.

 

[My3gger]

Thanks. I asked Serbians on one of their respected audio forum, they said old ones were ECC88 without gold pins for sure. Gold pin versions might be from last desparate attempts to revive the company, or more likely some kind of fakes. Also, Ei Nis didn't invest in machines and other aspects of tube production, so if real they are just tested  ECC88 from any period.
There is Ei Nis ECC88 Elite (among other types like ECC81,82,83), found only one company claiming gold pins on these, many random pictures and other sales show silvery pins. Another hint about Ei producing only ECC88 are sellers notices Elite are tested ECC88.
Factory also produced PCC88, some people run them at 6,3V or lower, which probably prolong lifetime if voltage is not really too low. This are considered by some as E88CC from Ei...
Faking took me way too much time to pay for NOS ever again, when new production is available. If more people finds out information along tests like i did, NOS market might lower prices even some more, beside having difficulties selling them. Btw, one of NOS tubes i have in stock as a reference costed ~8eur years back, now it is up to 150eur and i can't hear difference compared to new in no NFB circuit... Hope the story of new vs NOS ends here with buying only new or Russian stock until they last, at least for me.