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Where Do you buy TRANSISTORS?

There are PLENTY places to buy tubes, but nothing much around to buy TRANSISTORS. NTE replacements mostly BAD. Where to get REAL Sunken, Motorolla, Toshiba, NEC power transistors? Don't offer me ebay. Recently purchased NOS with clear marks of mounting onto the chassis and sent them back without even mounting them.
czarivey
rodman99999
6,160 posts
 
That’s another reason I prefer tubed equipment over SS. Both types of gain devices wear out/go bad, but tube designations and availability have historically been far more consistent than the ever-changing and constantly obsolesced plethora of sand-based devices.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
ever-changing


Yes for the better nearly every time, it’s called evolving. Tubes if anything have gone backward, that’s why the real tube die-hards prefer NOS, than to todays tubes. Like NOS RCA black plates, Seimans, Brimar, GE, Telefunken, Mullard ect ect. than todays rubbish from China and Russia

Back in the old days I was told by a tube guru they had things like nickel plates in them, today that’s been outlawed. Also thicker glass in yester-years tubes, bakelite bases ( polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride) and it had asbestos mixed in as well, also outlawed. Todays are plastic bases and microphonic thin glass. Flick and NOS GE green label mil spec 6550 with you finger nail, it goes thunk, todays Chinese or Russian 6550 goes tinkle!

Cheers George

rodman99999
6,160 posts
 
"Yes for the better nearly every time, it’s called evolving." What good is, "for the better", if the, "evolving" SS transistors are so hard to locate and OEM replacement parts are virtual unobtainium(the OP’s and my point)? The crappy, new production valves you refer to will still be easily available decades from now, which can(at least) quickly return a tubed component’s functionality. Further, EAT is currently manufacturing a few popular tube designations that sonically compare to their better quality, original counterparts (at a price). BTW- Flick any of my 70’s, welded-plate GE 6550A’s(or two 40’s, tall bottle Sylvania 6SN7W’s, two 40’s, Tung-Sol Round Plates or six early 60’s, Siemens grey plate CCa’s) and you’ll get virtually nothing(outside of maybe a broken hand). Cheers......=8^)
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