E 813 CC 'Modern Blackburn 83 Valve'

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Revolting1Revolting1 Frets: 295
edited June 2019 in Amps
Any love for these?



Not managed to find myself any yet- how do they sound?

    Is it worth giving whats left of the company a prod to re-start production?

When logic and proportion
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  • Revolting1Revolting1 Frets: 295
    No love?  :/ Any amiability?  
        Anyone got any gestating in a box?
    When logic and proportion
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    What's it equivalent to - an ECC83? It has a completely different internal construction.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18385
    No love?  :/ Any amiability?  
        Anyone got any gestating in a box?
    Lots of amiability on this forum.
    Not much availability for rare valves it seems 
    ;) 
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  • Revolting1Revolting1 Frets: 295
    edited June 2019
    Yep, eqiv to ECC83
     made at the same site- mutated remains of the old Mullard Blackburn factory, it was getting some good reviews;
         but not in production for long before taken out by the banking crisis.
                   I think a part of Phillips CRT division.
                        Sorry for the lack of links Im a bit crap at posting them.     
    When logic and proportion
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18385
    Stick around, you ain't seen nothing yet where it comes to crap posting  ;)
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  • Revolting1Revolting1 Frets: 295
    edited June 2019
    Thanks for the link, didnt know Brimar were getting at it

        Ordinary decent people are fed up with fizzy 83 Valves that sound like angry Hornets shagging on Ketamine when you wind them up a bit!
         lots of proper wierd people are too     o

            Any idea where Brimar got the kit from-Techtube /Mullard phillips or somewhere else?
    When logic and proportion
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18385
    '...sound like angry Hornets shagging on Ketamine"
    I'm really looking forward to hearing that in a sound sample 
    ;) 

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  • Revolting1Revolting1 Frets: 295
    Have to look out that valve.
        Got to warn you it does not sound like it was good Ketamine; might be why they sound so angry :o
    When logic and proportion
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  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723
    From what I remember about these valves they were designed using more up-to-date CRT technology to give ECC83 performance but with lower filament current.

    Only pre-production samples where produced and they had a reputation for being microphonic. I think the suggested retail price was around 26 quid.
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
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  • Revolting1Revolting1 Frets: 295
    edited June 2019
    From what I can gather they got the microphonic issue sorted well enough to work well in combos      -but they wouldnt pass a pencil test (down to a foible in the CRT design?)
    The later production got some good reviews from actual customers rather than just the press.
      I think  they were only on sale to joe public for a few months and possibly only from the factory website.
                                Anyone on here got any lurkers?
                             
    httpwwwr-typeorgboxesbox019djpg
             



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  • boz_hboz_h Frets: 53

    I still have a pair of them.  Must get round to throwing them away.  They were a nice try, but no cigar.  Microphinic, to the point that they came with a silicon condom (helps a bit).  They have way more gain than a standard ecc83, well mine do, but they had big problems with consistency so your mileage may vary.  Sound wise bright to the point of fizzy and generally unreliable (they have had very little use and one has already started to pop and crackle and the other rings like a bell if you even just blow on it).  I so wanted to like these valves as they were made in Britain and someone was trying something new.  I think that the idea was a good one and with time they would have solved a lot of the issues.  Unfortunately this was never to be.

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    I’m very puzzled as to why they used a completely different design. Surely it would have been better to recreate the original Mullard ECC83, being one of the most highly regarded valves?

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • boz_hboz_h Frets: 53

    Two reasons I think:

    1.     They wanted to try and develop something new and improved.

    2.     The parent company manufactured CRT screens and at the time this technology was just about dead.  So they wanted              to repurpose its use.

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  • boz_hboz_h Frets: 53
    Ok an update, I thought I'd give them a try once more.  Yes they were as I remembered them, but then the Wife summund me out of my Man Cave, I forgot to switch my amp off and spent 10 minutes away.  When I came back the sound had changed.  The pops whistles and extraneous noises had vanished and so had the overly bright fizzy sound.  In fact they sound rather good.  They are still extremely gainey, but in a good way.  They even clean up rather well.  So the trick seems to be let them warm up.    
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18385
    Glad that you gave them a chance. If you threw them away, you would regret it.
     They are so scarce that people are prepared to pay quite ridiculous amounts for them based on their rarity.


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  • boz_hboz_h Frets: 53
    Thanks for the info, had no idea they were worth anything, could have made a costly mistake.
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  • ecc83ecc83 Frets: 1589
    This pisses me off! Valves (of old) were peices of incredible precision. Had to be because most of the parameters, ra, gm and especially mu depend upon electrode spacing to micron levels. If a valve is made differently and has higher gain than say an ECC83 then it AIN'T no equivalent!

    Dave.
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18385
    edited June 2019
    boz_h said:
    Thanks for the info, had no idea they were worth anything, could have made a costly mistake.
    I'm not saying that this in any way representative or true... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TechTube-Blackburn-e813cc-Matched-Pair-BRAND-NEW-ULTRA-RARE-/121480769848?_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

    @ecc83  I reckon this was an attempt to use a newer technology (I know, why reinvent a good wheel).
    They seem to have run into severe QC issues, with up to %50 failure rate & crashed.

    Edit: I got it all wrong, they are completely worthless & crap.
    However, I'll take them off your hands for a tenner plus postage.
    I know, I'm all heart. 
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