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In Reply to: How many tubes total in your system??? posted by RFGumby on March 10, 2007 at 13:33:11:
1. How many tubes have you stockpiled of the same types used in your system?
2. How many tubes are in your stash for which you have NO current-day matching equipment needs?
Follow Ups:
stockpiled/current use types: approx. 120
retained/former use/hopefully future use: approx. 100I've been through a few tube phases since the '70's. In the late '80's I went around SE New England offering all the dealers, tv repair places, music shops and mom/pop shops money for their remaining audio tubes.
I also (through my employer's acquisition of) found out that The Grass Instrument Co. (Quincy, MA) was about to scrap their remaining stock of selected (by them) for ultra low noise Telefunken 12AX7's. They were used in their EEG machines. I was able to buy 53.
When I became disgusted with tubes in the late '90's I sold most of them to a guy in Hong Kong and Sandy Gross of Definitive Technology. I kept some for myself which is lucky because all three of my tube amps use the 12AX7.
The Telef. 12AX7 is certainly excellent but overrated imo.
...or I soon wouldn't be able to get into my musicroom. Also, I tend to stock up, early, when I buy a new piece of equipment. I recently bought a pair of Music Reference EM7 SETs...
...so I'm currently accumulating 13EM7s. My amps use 4 and I'm up to 21, which ought to last me beyond my lifetime, but I'm sure I'll buy more--my wife calls me Mr. Excess for good reason. :-) Will be selling my ASL Hurricanes and will NOT be keeping the spare Penta and ValveArt '88s, and will be selling the ASL AQ1006(845)s and their 845s, too...BUT...I'll be keeping/hoarding the couple-dozen Tung-Sol Roundplate 6SN7s I've accumulated.I've also decided to accumulate TS-RP 6SL7s and have almost a dozen. These are strictly investments--since they quit making them maybe-50 years ago, the value is going UP, not down. We'll see.
My c-j preamp uses six 6C4/EC90/M8080s. I have a couple extra sets of those, almost all British Mullards, about the only brand that's usually not microfonic.
...so I'm currently accumulating 13EM7s. My amps use 4 and I'm up to 21, which ought to last me beyond my lifetime, but I'm sure I'll buy more--my wife calls me Mr. Excess for good reason. :-) Will be selling my ASL Hurricanes and will NOT be keeping the spare Penta and ValveArt '88s, and will be selling the ASL AQ1006(845)s and their 845s, too...BUT...I'll be keeping/hoarding the couple-dozen Tung-Sol Roundplate 6SN7s I've accumulated.I've also decided to accumulate TS-RP 6SL7s and have almost a dozen. These are strictly investments--since they quit making them maybe-50 years ago, the value is going UP, not down. We'll see.
My c-j preamp uses six 6C4/EC90/M8080s. I have a couple extra sets of those, almost all British Mullards, about the only brand that's usually not microfonic.
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Tin-eared audiofool and obsessed landscape fotografer.
http://community.webshots.com/user/jeffreybehr
As to question one;In use/spares, some NOS, some used
6sl7 1/30
6sn7 4/100
300b 4/14
5u4 2/25
5a4r 2/20Question 2;
I don't know, thousands. Some NOS some used.
I have well over 100 NOS 12ax7s G.E. and Sylvania
About 100 used Telefunken 12ax7s
30 or more used 6ca7s and a few NOS Mullards
70 6as7s Mostly used (I used to use DIY circlotron OTLs)
50 6b4gs New and used (I used to run push pull 6b4g amps)
Dozens of NOS and used 12bh7, 12au7, 6072, 12at7, 6L6, etc.
14 NOS Amperex BB 6dj8 30 or more used 6dj8s
Many more I can't think of right now without walking out to the shop and looking.
I ended up with the tube stock when we closed the recording studio and I've spent years collecting.Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
Not that I am hoarding them or anything. :))
I must confess to collecting many hundreds of a few select
types of tubes, but only if I have equipment that uses them.That being said, I have many times more tubes than I have hours
left to listen to them, and I'm not that old.
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