I’m sorry to hear about your burnout, but the sellers didn’t test the tubes before they sent them to you. My guess is that they have a large enough volume going out that they can afford a few pissed off customers.
I had a "nos" 12ax7 rca blak plate literally implode on me in my conrad johnson mc55. That was a real b---- to get out. Lesson learned.
There is nothing wrong with NOS tubes as long as they are tested beforehand. If they test good, then they will likely run ok. I don’t mean testing on a mutual conductance tester, those are crap and you would find those in drug stores in days past. I’m talking real Mu testers that test at actual operating voltages.
If you can find a seller that does that, then you are pretty much guaranteed to get a good tube. If not, then you will be playing Russian roulette. I had a very good looking st 6v6 blow the fuse right off the bat on me because it was shorted. Unless the glass is broken and the getter has gone grey, you can’t tell that a tube is bad or not. Hence the testing....
I had a "nos" 12ax7 rca blak plate literally implode on me in my conrad johnson mc55. That was a real b---- to get out. Lesson learned.
There is nothing wrong with NOS tubes as long as they are tested beforehand. If they test good, then they will likely run ok. I don’t mean testing on a mutual conductance tester, those are crap and you would find those in drug stores in days past. I’m talking real Mu testers that test at actual operating voltages.
If you can find a seller that does that, then you are pretty much guaranteed to get a good tube. If not, then you will be playing Russian roulette. I had a very good looking st 6v6 blow the fuse right off the bat on me because it was shorted. Unless the glass is broken and the getter has gone grey, you can’t tell that a tube is bad or not. Hence the testing....