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In Reply to: How about coin based, side gettters, GE 6SN7 GTB tubes? posted by pastito on October 04, 2004 at 15:55:00:
unfortunately, the sonic quality is directly proportional to the price. Had I not quite literally thrown away half a dozen NOS coinbase 6SN7's, I would send them to you for the cost of postage....they are pretty awful sounding.I presume you want to pay $10 for a pair of 6SN7's with a perceived street value of $100 or so...naturally..me too. The first thing you have to do is learn which 6SN7's have that high perceived value, and one of the best ways is to spend some time at Audiogon looking at the 'botique' 6SN7 vendors. They have great photos of the most desirable tubes along with descriptions and they range in price from $40 to $120 a pair. It's a great place to learn which are the most coveted, tried and true 6SN7 tubes. I would print those vendor pages or take notes for reference. Fortunately the majority of 6SN7's manufactured in the '40's, '50's and '60's of the last century sound pretty good..some are of course, outstanding.
So...after learning the good ones...how do you get them for $10 a pair? You get away from the audiophile crowd. We are the only ones who place a value of $120 on a pair of 6SN7's. You want to get in with Amateur Radio guys and if you can find some older TV repair shops (you're in Argentina?) you will be in luck...the 6SN7 was a big number in tube television. Most major urban areas will have a few ham radio types either in a loose or well organized club and those larger areas will have older TV shops...I have absolutely no doubt that Argentina has some great 6SN7's just waiting to be discovered..good luck hunting them.
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..Certainly can't speak for your locale but where I'm at the hams and antique radio guys are fully aware of what audiophools will pay for the correct 6SN7 and they price accordingly. Most don't understand the 6SN7 mystique and make condescending jokes about their audiophool customers but they don't hesitate to take their money either. Just don't tell the antique guys about the old radio you bought at the flea mkt for a few $ and trashed just to get the 2A3s...
The internet has created efficient, knowledgeable markets for just about everything so the bargains are pure luck these days.
I admit to buying 110 vintage 6SN7s from a ham for $50 last month. He advertised $15 for the lot, so I just threw another $35 at that $15 to close the deal.
...that's what I'll pay for used tubes. At a recent hamfest, 100 used/untested 6SN7s of mixed brand were sold for $400 because they were in clean RCA boxes...the buyer only wanted the boxes and any good tubes was just icing on the cake. Wonder what the buyer was going to do with 100 nice RCA boxes?????????
Ahhh.. hunting tubes....I live in the middle Atlantic states..between Baltimore and Washington and during the summer months, there are a couple hamfests per month...and I try to not miss a one..Here's what I have learned.. Broad Generalizations to follow:...Most of today's hams (I still have my Gen. ticket myself) don't know very much about tubes..not nearly what tubeophiles know about them. I have asked hams who are selling tubes..boxes of tubes everywhere..
"Got any 6SN7's?"
"Oh sure.."
"Any idea which boxes?"
"What do they look like?"...that is an actual conversation last month and this ham was selling a lot of his own gear as well. My experience (for the last 4 years at hamfests) is that the folks buying the tubes, seem to know alot more about what they are buying than the sellers...and most sellers haven't a clue as to what a Sylvania 6SN7W is or what it's worth. I recently paid $10 for a Natl. Union 6SN7GT black glass that I had been hunting all year...so in desperation, I paid the $10 asking price from a guy only selling 6SN7's (odd, but he was a 6SN7 dealer catering to audiophiles)...Later, a tube/old radio dealer friend of mine nearly had a stroke that I paid so much for that tube..having himself sold me pair of Tung-Sol Black glass for $3 each...
Although most of my experiences to tell are antedotal, it is typical in this area to pay $1-$3 for used 6SN7's, sometimes tested, sometimes not. And there are always some very desireable tubes in the mix as I dig through boxes of tubes...I never come home empty-handed. It really is a Forest Gump box of choclates out there at ham-fests...One more revealing experience to tell and I'll shut up...eBay has certainly changed in terms of buying and selling tubes...Last week I posted a little over a dozen tube auctions...several of which were nice, fairly desirable pairs of 6SN7's (good tubes, but not my really really good ones)...and eBay now seems like a desert wasteland...I take good pictures (I'm a wedding photographer, but I take pretty good snaps with a little digital)...Well tested (I have calibrated Hickok TV-10D/U) and nicely described...I sold a pair of Ken-Rad 6SN7GT black glass (very strong, close to NOS) for $16.95...only one bidder. What I didn't sell was even more revealing...a pair of Sylvania 6SN7GTA (early versions) and 4 RCA 6SN7GTA sidegetters...both open at $12.95-(no reserve) went unbid on...All tested very high, were clean and I have 100% Pos feedback...my conclusion is that there are really not many buyers hanging out on eBay and the ones that do are clueless bottom-feeders looking for a miracle. I was amazed...and don't think I'll waste any more time on eBay....I think eBay is "circling the drain" as far as tubes are concerned...Thanks for the rant-time. ...Oh..and I was grinding my teeth while the above thread was going on (the $7 coin-base one).....grrrrr : > )
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