Warm Tube53 sound

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Tube53 is a vaccum tube amplifier from Japanese company C.E.C. and one of the finest amplifiers I heard. Be sure to see and hear it.

Contrary to some people I know, I'm not against Japanese Hi-Fi devices. Sometimes you can feel scepticism in the air when talking about far east high-end amplifier, but we can't judge if we don't hear. Of course, every pieces of electronic that comes from Japan is not of the highest quality, but we can't forget the whole industry.

CEC Tube53 amplifier

From the other side, I always loved the sound of tubes. Vacuum tube amplifiers have something warm in the sound that I simply don't want to be explained. Yes, I know something about electronics, I made my first amplifier a few decades ago, but I am simply refusing to involve science in tubes. The reason for that certainly can be found in my childhood when I was enjoy the sound of old radio with vacuum tubes, the sound that no transistor can match.

Now you may see why I like Tube53. It is a vacuum tube amplifier from Japanese company C.E.C. and one of the finest amplifiers I heard. It is not the best in the universe, that's for sure, but it has warmth and definitions that I admire and all for that for a symbolic price. Now, some necessary technical facts.

CEC Tube53 amplifier

C.E.C. Tube53 delivers two times 20 W at 8 ohms. The tubes used are 6L6GC, the fast and high-power model of well-know 6L6 family. As it is often the case, 6L6 were designed in the USA in RCA Company some 74 year ago, and it was refined through the years. With new scientific breakthroughs 6L6 gained better reliability and stability and now you can find it in guitar amplifiers. C.E.C. Tube 53 uses two 6L6GC tubes per channel in a push-pull configuration. Power amplifier circuitry is designed in the Mullard type, and the auto-bias setting results in a long service life for the tubes.

Japanese engineers didn't stop there. They added very good output transformer and an additional transformer for the power supply for better rise characteristics. Noise is eliminated by solidifying the transformer with resin and covering it with a steel casing. The other components are of high quality, too, no doubt about it. The other specifications are: Frequency Response 20Hz-20kHz, signal to noise ratio 90dB, and total harmonic distortion less than 0.5 percent. There are three RCA input terminals with sensitivity of 400mV at 100kohms.

CEC Tube53 amplifier

And the sound is... very, very good. The music I enjoy is of different ages and styles, from Beethoven to flamenco to country and rock. Every style has its demands that an amplifier should fulfil. My favourite piece if Ravel's Bolero with subtle beginnings and furies ending. That end sounds powerful and energetic and there's no sign of problems with power of definition. It was a good start. In the meantime, all details was there, nicely balanced in space, with all subtle details that good amplifier must deliver. Tube53 delivered them all.

It must be noticed that Tube53 is not very strong amplifier and you can't expect a philharmonic orchestra in your room. Thus, it is understandable in very demanding works it doesn't fills the space as you'd expected. Flamenco guitar, from the other side, sounds very clear, with clearly defined attack and brightness, while the specific fingering style is excellently defined. The same is true for other types of music and human voice.

You must bear in mind that C.E.C. Tube is not very powerful amplifier, but after short listening you will be surprised with the beauty it can delivers. That precisely why some listeners complains that it can't follow difficult parts of difficult scores. When you remind them of 20+20W, they usually say a simple sentence: "It's magical". If you want warm and beautiful sound be sure to see Tube53.

August 11, 2008

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