Riviera thread, AIC / AFC / APL / AFM / Levante

archer · June 20, 2025, 2:00pm

I have surely posted about it. I think I have even posted photos when I got new tubes.

Yes I did. First off the amp sounds pretty good even with the stock JJ tubes which is usually a good sign.

The first tubes I rolled were Telefunken and Siemens Chrome plate which are usually my go to ones when I get a new amp/preamp. But these didn’t really gel well with my preferences.

Mullards and Brimar were fine. The mullard square plate I tried made the amp sound less exciting.

The best sounding tubes were Valvos/Amperex from the mid 50s. Long plate, angled foil D getters. They accentuate whatever Riviera does best. The Amperex 7316 were also special. They add a bit of clarity at the top while maintaining a balanced profile.
The French long plate D getters were also very good. Balanced and resolving.

Here is the ultra rare Philips Miniwatt made in Copenhagen.

Souldriver · June 20, 2025, 2:30pm

Very interesting. I know people seemed to really like the one black coated telefunken that had a G in the name.

I tend to enjoy a lot of amperex offerings, they seems to not only get most aspects of music correct but accell in most as well. A big emphasis is normally their musicality without loosing their technical prowless. As you said i can see that working very well with how the Riv has been described by many here.