Titan 606’s. Monday evening purchase off the bay. Sounding fantastic. Much better clarity than 20+ year old Monitor Audio GR60s.
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Be interesting to see how hot your Atom HE runs. Like you, I’ve had Naim stuff going back 39 years. The Atom HE runs hotter than any other piece of Naim kit. My new 500 is nice and cool.
Very nice. Is that the Liquid Amber finish ?
I was watching that pair!
It is indeed. It was either going to be that or oak for me
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Well……after my acquisition of the HMV Gramophone I managed to purchase a box, small metal thingy, of Regal Zonophone needles for the arm ….
What an improvement in tone and volume ……best thing to happen since the guitar got its frets ……
Yes my friends there’s life beyond the cheque book !!!
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I have been watching them for a while, particularly as the price kept dropping. And I told myself if they came down to 8k or less I would push the button, and then they did on Monday 
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This is one of the holy grail rectifier tubes. The metal base GZ34. This one has the Mullard branding but was made in Holland by Philips rather than Mullards Blackburn factory. This one was NOS in its original box. These things have a massive lifespan… just as well!
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NOS ?..…I’ve been bitten several times ….looking at the pics this valve has been in an amp and for a fair while ……logo disintegrating due to heat and scratch marks on the pins and base from being plugged in……but they do have a long life, hope you didn’t pay megabucks but NOS it ain’t ……
My hesitation was based on the fact they weren’t local to me, so I wouldn’t be able to check them out first. Hopefully they are as described.
Maybe if I see a pair ‘oopp norf’ I’ll be tempted 
.
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NOS it is. The paint is so old it rubs off with contact with your hand. The text will all be gone in a short period of time. A reasonable amount of the paint came off just cleaning it up.
Pins didn’t have any scratches one before using it but pitting which I also needed to use wire wool to clean up to improve the contact
Also, second independent check, away from the seller also confirms NOS and very balanced.
If I see perfect print on a tube of 70 years of age I would worry more. Telefunkin tubes print also just wipes off in your hand.
Edit, just for reference. This is a photo of the new one alongside one that has approx 90% of life remaining (on the right)… again confirmed independently. As you’ll see, no scratches on the pins.. might be a minor one from being put into testers.
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Also might have been stored in perfect conditions but, the main thing you are missing… Mullard used a different ink/ printing process compared to our European cousins. The metal base was made in Holland, telefunkin tubes in Germany also have print that wears off very quickly..
Edit… I thought something was a little off when you said made in 1969… and the British Made bit. The tube in your photo has a wide (fat) base and they were only made between 1958-1962 - Type F31. After this point F32 onwards the bases were the same width as the glass. Below is a F31 fat base (left) with a type F32.
Anyway a quick check online revealed a “New Production” tube with the exact same base and text as the one you posted. Try googling new production GZ34 and you’ll see loads of the tube you’ve posted.
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I finally got a projector screen installed above my system for the LG Cine beam projector I got a few weeks ago. My phone camera does not do the picture justice, but it’s fantastic. Especially with Watford playing on Sky Sports!!! Great sound through my system 
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I bought some Nos Telefunken with some dark traces on top, like after burning. I learned after that they can look like that, as new tubes, but old stock.
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Telefunken produced some of the best tubes around. Some of the getter flashing prior to 1955 can also be black looking on the outside instead of silver and were completely NOS. Depending on the make, the change from Black to Silver getter flashing will vary. It was basically just a different method of applying the getter flash and not a sign of ware.
What I found interesting is the tube they posted above that they said was from 1969 is actually a new production tube. They were introduced in 2016 and are available all over the place. Google “New Production GZ34” and you’ll see a ton of them.
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I finally got around to ordering an MC Pro form Michael Fidler at the weekend. It was delivered yesterday. I was hoping for a radical difference for the better because of all the reviews i have read.
I was not disappointed. This is such a departure from the Dynavector P75 Mkiii, that it’s very hard to describe. The noise floor really is so low that so much detail comes through you really have to be there to understand. I now fully understand why so many of the reviews say that this phono stage can outshine any but the very best and most expensive stages on the market.
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Yes I have one and it’s been amazing 
enjoy it.
I had a Atom HE for 10 months, driving ATC SCM40A speakers. Had no problems with overheating. 
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Mine was driving a pair of 135s. Maybe active speakers a better match than a power amp.