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Genalex tubes who to buy from

98.114.239.169
Posted on January 8, 2017 at 09:28:03
Permanent Waves
Audiophile

Posts: 155
Location: Keystone state
Joined: December 23, 2016
 Hi guys,
I would like to buy a few high end vintage gold lions 12ax7 12at7. Can anyone recommend who I can trust to purchase these rare expensive tubes from? Or where to look to find any to buy?
Sitting here on the Group W bench

 

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RE: Genalex tubes who to buy from, posted on January 8, 2017 at 10:24:04
Jim McShane
Dealer

Posts: 5910
Location: Chicago
Joined: January 13, 2003
 Are you talking about the current production or the original British made tubes?

 

RE: Genalex tubes who to buy from, posted on January 8, 2017 at 10:58:36
sony6060
Audiophile

Posts: 1465
Location: USA
Joined: August 8, 2014
 If current manufacture tube, seriously look no further than Jim McShane. Every tube is carefully tested by Jim.

 

RE: Genalex tubes who to buy from, posted on January 8, 2017 at 11:17:04
Michael Samra
Dealer

Posts: 36118
Location: saginaw michigan
Joined: January 30, 2005
 Jim McShane of course.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

:-) /n, posted on January 8, 2017 at 11:43:44
Ivan303
Audiophile

Posts: 48887
Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM
Joined: February 26, 2001
 n


First they came for the dumb-asses
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a dumb-ass

 

"Vintage" usually means something not currently produced..., posted on January 8, 2017 at 12:33:30
Steve O
Audiophile

Posts: 12383
Location: SE MI
Joined: September 6, 2001
 ...does it not? In this case, "British Made"?

 

RE: Genalex tubes who to buy from, posted on January 8, 2017 at 12:36:00
Permanent Waves
Audiophile

Posts: 155
Location: Keystone state
Joined: December 23, 2016
 I was actually talking about the original British made ones and yes I know what to expect to pay if I can even find a few to buy. But if I can't find anything I might try some of the new production ones and already heard you were the man to see about them from reading other posts. For now I'd like to find an original 12ax7 & 12at7 to add to my tube rolling collection. Thanks for the responses
Sitting here on the Group W bench

 

A good example of the modern Genelex, Tung-Sol, Mullard, etc causing confusion with the originals. nt, posted on January 8, 2017 at 13:47:33
viridian
 nt

 

RE: Genalex tubes who to buy from, posted on January 8, 2017 at 16:32:49
akolegov
Audiophile

Posts: 979
Location: Russia
Joined: July 1, 2010
 If you know what to expect to pay, try Tubeworld...

 

RE: Genalex tubes who to buy from, posted on January 8, 2017 at 17:29:46
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 Is there any particular reason you must have these tubes? Why not try the current production first before you go out with wallet in hand.

Just my opinion but the current B759 is a great tube whether it be new or old.

 

RE: Genalex tubes who to buy from, posted on January 9, 2017 at 06:09:47
marlin
Audiophile

Posts: 154
Location: Sandy, Oregon
Joined: November 20, 2012
 For vintage tubes look no further than Brent Jessee Recording.
Good selection and reasonable prices. No affiliation just a very happy customer.
For current production Gold Lions of course Jim McShane.
Without music what is there?

 

RE: Genalex tubes who to buy from, posted on January 10, 2017 at 02:36:59
Mechans
Audiophile

Posts: 1804
Location: East Coast
Joined: May 23, 2004
 As you can see there is no reliable source.
You can take a big risk and buy on the open market, with many more counterfeits and other crap, or possibly buy from a good dealer at astronomical prices. The luckiest break you may get is a fellow collector, who would be willing to make a deal with you.
BTW that is not me. The only real B339s(???) I ever owned were bought burned out, but sounded great. I kid you not.

 

I have several of the NOS/NIB Genelex and GEC KT88s., posted on January 10, 2017 at 23:10:06
Michael Samra
Dealer

Posts: 36118
Location: saginaw michigan
Joined: January 30, 2005
These on the top are some of new old stock I pulled out of the boxes.I also have 7 new sealed in the packages with the data slip that I never opened.


These are used ones that test around 90% and you see Tungsol 6550 black plates in the bottom row.


" I'm going to level with you.I don't sell tubes but I own an awful lot of vintage NOS tubes and to get the best set,they would have to be matched.That is very hard to do especially these days with stocks being so depleted.
The truth is,you are wasting your money IMHO because they are not as great as people once thought they were. When the Genelex reissues came out along with tubes like the Shuguang Treasure KZ,people all of a sudden were realizing with proper biasing and buying from a seller that knows how to match them,the new tubes easily rival or beat the originals as they have now perfected the art of building them.
I have put my originals on many times and compared them to my reissues and I have found that the reissues have a more alive sound while maintaining the accuracy and musical body of the originals.The truth is,the best sounding GEC/Genelex originals were from 1956 to 1964 and I have one pair of those and all the rest I have were made from 1966 to 1977 and all UK made.I never really thought GEC was aiming for the audio market with tubes like the KT88, they were going for the industrial market.The seven that I have new in the sealed package from Ford motor co were used in a plasma cutter. I also got nine that were used and only two were good and the rest were arced over.Being I got all 16 tubes for buying the manager lunch,I'm not complaining.
They made the UK GEC KT88 up until 1988.CJ and Audio Research were both building 6550 amps at the time but chose the GE 6550 over the GEC KT88. At that time,they were priced within a dollar of each other because they were both current production tubes.They both chose the GE 6550 and as expensive as those amps were,I don't think five dollars difference for four tubes was an issue.They liked the voicing of the 6550 more. I have sold off about a dozen of my GEC and Genelex KT88s and I may sell more.I want to warn you tho,if you are expecting this big sonic jump,you are going to be disappointed because it just isn't there being tubes have gotten so much better.
Now the bottom row of New Jersey made Tungsol 6550 black plates,that's another story.Those are very sweet and musical and not dry and lifeless like the UK Genelex/GEC. Again,it will be a chore to find a matched quad of them in new old stock.You may find a slightly used matched quad,but an NOS matched quad will be next to impossible.
You also inquired about 12AX7 and 12AT7s,I think GEC bought those from Mullard or Philips.I have a GEC 12AX7 and it looks like an Amperex bugle boy as I recall.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

RE: I have several of the NOS/NIB Genelex and GEC KT88s., posted on January 11, 2017 at 09:38:19
Permanent Waves
Audiophile

Posts: 155
Location: Keystone state
Joined: December 23, 2016
 Thank you Michael very kind of you to write a lengthy informative response. I was mainly looking to own them for collection purposes but I can see it's probably too hard to achieve as they just aren't available to buy anywhere that I can find. Thanks to the member who turned me on to tube world I didn't have that in my dealer line up. I'm very new to all this and just now looking to buy my first non guitar amp for audio use. But I don't know where to start. I want something for hifi audio use that I can use my plentiful supply of el84 and 12ax7 tubes in my collection so I got a lot of reading on the forum to do to educate myself on that topic.
Sitting here on the Group W bench

 

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