Tubes....did I pass up a good deal?

Too many variables at play here. If Andy at Vintage furnished you tubes you have quality assurance and recourse.

If you paid $80.00 at the flea market and none or only one of the Amperex tubes was usable in your ARC, you would be screwed.

This assuming they were genuine Amperex. There are tons of copies that are pure junk.

I occasionally take chances with used no warranty tubes just as you describe. Awhile back I purchased a whole box of military test gear pulls. I negotiated down to $6.00 each to allow for duds.

There were some genuine diamond bottom Telefunken and Dutch Amperex, even a couple of Mullards, but a good many landed in the trash can. Too far out of spec to be of any value to anyone.

The jury is mixed but, there was a quad of the Amperex Orange Globe 6922 gold pins here on Audiogon for $150.00. So maybe the price was right. But I think it is best to pass on a deal if it doesn't feel right.

Keep bugging Andy, it will be worth it to you in the long run.

I was just speaking with Andy this week, and I believe that he said he just got in a bunch of NOS 6922's. Go with Andy...otherwise, there's just to much room for error out there!