Anybody know where to get 845 tubes?????


Closing a deal on a Bel Canto intergrated and looked for 845 output tubes at thetubestore.com and they had one availible a Sino chinese make.No ruskie tubes?Or any other current or former totalrian regime make 'em?Leads any one???
chazzbo
I don't think GEC ever made an 845. Agreed on the prices for NOS ones. I've looked long and hard and have been able to scratch up a few. Amperex also made 845s. Honestly the Chinese ones sound *quite* good, much better than any other chinese tubes I've heard. Save the $ and put it into the front end tubes, I'd say. That said, the NOS ones *are* better, but the price vs. value is something you have consider yourself. They occasionally come up on Ebay, I Think there are a couple there now. Prices there have averaged around $300-350 for the last half dozen that went through there. Www.tubeworld.com/tubes.html has some - but be prepared to bend over... and bring a big wallet. ;-)

-Ed
I used to be able to pick up NOS Amperex 845's for about $60- at K-Mart until they went Chap. 11. Of course, I'm just kidding! However, the man that you want to speak with is Andy Bowman at Vintage Tube Services. (www.vintagetubeservices.com. Tel. # is 616-454-3467). You'll definitely be impressed. Since he is a one man operation, it's best to CALL, not email, but definitely check out the website! I've used other so called "tube gurus" who fall way short when compared with Andy. Happy Tunes!
Chazzbo- The Sino 845 is fine as has been pointed out already. In a really tweaked system, there is really no comparison with good NOS 845 though. The Sino tubes sounds thin and harmonically lean compared to the United 845. In my system, there simply was no choice. I had to have NOS 845 once I tried them. As previously stated, you will likely pay 300 to 500 per tube. However, considering the fact that a pair of NOS 845 tubes will likely outlast your ownership of the amplifier, I'm not sure if I would consider the money unwisely spent. Just one man's opinion. Good luck.
Try triodeelectronics.com . I just purchased a complete set of tubes for my Audio Research VT 100 mk II and the price was great. No I did not order 845 tubes but I checked there web site and they have a variety of 845's including Sovtek. Like I said I just ordered tubes on 3/09/02 so I did not receive them yet.

Good luck,
Kevin