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Re: NOS VS USED TUBES

Posted by kentaja@yahoo.com (M) on January 13, 2004 at 20:20:37

In Reply to: NOS VS USED TUBES posted by vivid 2 on January 13, 2004 at 16:01:28:

I think the other posters have provided enough information to give a definate NO on buying used tubes. Unless of course you are purchasing from a reputable dealer.

Home testing will never give you a complete picture of the actual health of the tube. A good dealer has invested a tremendous amount of money in a variety of testing equipment to get the job done. Home testers are not even close. They will only reject the real turkeys. Many power tubes that are questionable will pass with flying colors on most of these testers. It is only when you plug them into your amp that your get the truth! The fire storm that will follow is actually kind of cool looking, but oh the pain to the wallet!

I actually prefer a used tube over a NOS, or new production, if they have minimal usage and come from a reputable source. They have passed the typical infant mortality problems of even the most highly screened tubes. Yes, dealers that really test their tubes with good procedures and test gear will cull most, if not all of the duds. But sometimes a bad tube will get through. A used tube with a few hundreds hours of use has really been tested!

I would avoid used power tubes from eBay and similiar sources. You are really taking a chance with your gear and your wallet!

I don't know what power tubes your are using. In my case I use 6550. I have all the goodies! Tung-Sol, Sylvania, GE, GEC KT88. To be frank, I honestly do not hear a tremendous difference with these tubes in my circuit(ARC) versus the standard Svetlana 6550C. In fact, I think some of them sound worse! But a couple are a bit better, but that difference is oh so small. Of course, for some, even this minor improvement/difference will be worth the headache and cost.

Input and driver tubes have far greater sonic impact with any amp circuit than the output tubes. Investing in good quality NOS input tubes will yield far greater sonic results. While used driver tubes with defects/abuse/end-of-life can cause circuit damage, in most cases they can give up the ghost and not hurt the amp. Not so with power tubes. Failures typically cause major damage to the amp.

If you budget demands used power tubes, and you want the NOS stuff, I would definately stick with reputable dealers that sell used tubes. I believe another poster has given a few of these dealers and they are all excellent sources with great reputations. You can buy with confidence from these guys.

I think Kevin Deal has given the best advise. The money you save buying used power tubes, or new tubes, from questionable sources is best placed in your savings account. You will need that cash when the amp goes to the repair shop. And then you will also need a new set of power tubes!

Good luck!

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