Are Marshall branded Yugoslavian Ei ECC83 tubes good?

Hello to all forum members.
I've been offered a good price for a two NOS and new in box Marshall branded ECC83 Ei tubes that look exactely the same as the Philips and Siemens Ei ECC83 I already have and that I like their sound on my EAR 834P "clone" Phono preamp.
Does anybody have any experience with them? May they be of lesser quality of the Philips and Siemens branded ECC83 tubes I already have.
By the pictures they look the same as the ones I have which by the way have no golden pins, they are the regular version of Ei ECC83's.
Thanks in advance for your input.

 

I never cared for the regular Ei's, the gold pins were definitely better.

 

+1

 

So you think the Marshall branded Ei ECC83 may be the same as their Philips or Siemens branded counterparts.

 

I've really liked EIs in some units. But not so much in others. It all depends on whether these are a good match for a given component, and inside of a given system. But nobody can know how good of a match these will be inside of your system other than you (by trial and error).

 

Marshall (or any other corporate) branding wouldn't bother me. The difference to my ears is the silver plate version (which I strongly dislike, metallic sounding). The grey plates all sound very good to me (how good ultimately depends on the circuit they are used in). I like them a lot. I have ones branded Ei and others that are randomly branded. Some just say "Yugoslavian". Others say "National"? Etc. They all sound characteristically the same except, of course, for the silver plates. I may have a silver plate in a phase inverter position in a guitar amp; but, that's about it.

 

Most Ei tubes sound very good, but are prone to flame outs. So, are the plates gray or silver color? Some say the silver (made of nickel not silver) sound better. They are commanding very large sums on Ebay now.

 

If they have the same plates, the gold pins are no better, just gold platted pins, some times matched better, but that's it.

 

Yes, they have the same smooth plates, but the gold pin versions were specially selected and they absolutely sound different.

 

Thank you all for your replies. The ones I've been offered are grey plates El that look exactly the same as the ones I already have, so I'm getting them.
Thank you again for all your input.

 

Marshall branded? As in the guitar amplifier company, Marshall U.K.? Script “Marshall” logo? If so, they’re just Ei tubes rebranded by Marshall.

The Yugoslavian Ei ECC83 smooth plate tube was manufactured on reclaimed Telefunken tube manufacturing equipment. Ei purchased the Telefunken tooling and reisssued ecc83 tubes. FYI - Some Ei ecc83 are microphonic so you may have to sort through them to find quiet ones.

Marshall Amps

 

Thanks for your reply. As of now I have 4 Ei ECC83 tubes with grey plates, two Siemens and two Philips both of them NOS and new in box and none of them are microphonic, I hope the new ones to come are not microphonic either.
I use these on an EAR 834P "clone" which has a peculiar topology. Every tube does something for every channel so it's not the typical "one channel, one tube" design. Tube 1 does 75% of amp (I use on that a NEC 12AD7,they're great tubes for a Phono preamp, dead quiet, smooth,detailed and warm sounding. Tube 2 does the remaining 25% of amplification plus RIAA de-equalization, that's where I use an Ei ECC83. Tube 3 can be either a 12AX7/ECC83 (suggested by the manufacturer) or a 12AU7 and it's used as a buffer tube on a cathode follower configuration, I use on that an RFT ECC82. As I like this combination a lot I want to have enough of these NOS tubes (all of them) to be set for life.
I've read several times that the EAR 834P design wears tubes at a higher speed than normal, I've been told that on an average tube Phono preamp, tubes can last up to 8 or 10 years with a normal use of 2 hours a day, but not on an EAR 834P which with a normal use of two hours a day wears its tubes in 3, 4 years tops.
The original design has the tubes encased inside the Phono preamp with small ventilation holes. My clone is a plain silver and black box with no vent holes at all but the top lid is so heavy that I have it unscrewed so it moves back and forward, when I'm using my EAR 834P "clone" I slide the top lid backwards leaving the three tubes on the clear and with space to cool down. I'm thinking about buying 3 heat sinks for tubes as even like this tubes get very very hot compared to the Yaqin MS-23B I previously used and that I still own.