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Post by cementman on Jul 30, 2007 8:05:39 GMT -7
well, i have bought from this respected dealer for a few years, i like to get certain tubes that go in z amps and some others, sometimes to save for a rainy day, i bought maybe 3 to 4 times a year. i didnt read the policy/fine print,, i thought it was similar to some other dealers, 60 days, 90 days,, etc. so the last two times i bought a couple of tubes i did not use them for a few weeks, one became terribly microphonic when i put it in,, it was a preamp tube over 50 bucks, and then a few weeks later a 40 dollar tube worked for two days, then the light in it went dim and wouldnt power the amp,, i have decided that the only nos tubes i will buy in the future is maybe an ef86 and just stick with new tubes with a better warranty. to hell with buying nos tubes to save for a rainy day.. posted so you might not go down the same road...
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Post by myles on Jul 30, 2007 9:39:24 GMT -7
As a matter of a side note .... on the road I only use new production tubes so I can have spares close at hand..
It is always a good idea to check any NOS tube when you get it while there is time to go back to the vendor if there is a problem of any sort.
As a second side note .... on rectifiers I generally use NOS on the road and off the road and save the original as a spare.
On EF86 tubes I generally use only NOS and always have a spare NOS.
GT has a six month warranty on their preamp tubes by the way and it covers failure, microphonics, low output, noise, etc., and is pretty much a no questions asked sort of deal.
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Post by nitehawk55 on Jul 30, 2007 12:30:08 GMT -7
I've dealt with dealers in Europe that I trust on my GZ34 tubes but even they admit that the preamp tubes can be risky and it's hard to stand behind them . I decided that the current production 12AX7's are doing a decent job and that the NOS are too expensive but I have collected some good NOS EF86's of various makes . I do as Myles suggests and run test them in my amps to make sure they work good as soon as I receive them .
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Post by cementman on Jul 30, 2007 14:36:26 GMT -7
right myles,, i have had nothing but success with all groove tube tubes i have purchased. never a problem...
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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Aug 9, 2007 5:59:28 GMT -7
I bought a NOS 5751 from KCA and it turned out to be too noisy to be usable. Unfortunately I didn't determine this until after the return period had expired. Still, it made me wonder how thoroughly the tube had been checked out in the first place, and it kind of soured me on the whole NOS experiment.
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Post by jzguitar on Aug 9, 2007 11:03:09 GMT -7
I bought a NOS 5751 from KCA and it turned out to be too noisy to be usable. Unfortunately I didn't determine this until after the return period had expired. Still, it made me wonder how thoroughly the tube had been checked out in the first place, and it kind of soured me on the whole NOS experiment. I've had a couple of issues like that with stuff I've bought from KCA. Once was a NOS RCA 5751 that was noisy right off the bat, so I was able to exchange it. A couple of others got funky after the return period.
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Post by mikekca on Aug 18, 2007 7:41:27 GMT -7
Sorry guys, I average about 5 in 1,000 shipped tubes with problems on the receiving end. Testing only guarantees that the tube is good BEFORE it leaves the tester. The 30 day warranty covers you for those that don't arrive safely. It's the nature of the business but it seems to work out 99+% of the time.
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