well i mostly deal with solid states, not tubes and once i've ordered a set of NOS transistors via ebay. they came to me with clear signs of being mounted onto the heatsink(dry traces of heat sink compound!) so it looks like NOS isn't really NOS but perhaps UOS with unknown hours.
Bad NOS tubes...
I just want to put this out there...as much as I would not like to...my head says otherwise. Tube buyers beware!!!
On 3/7/16 I bought 6 NOS Mullard 12au7 4003 tubes for my preamp from a vender out of Minesing, Ontario Canada... under the store front name of ’mullard.com’ http://www.mullardtubes.com/Mullard-ECC82-12AU7-CV4003/?ID=0&ProductID=153 and ’ tube products.com’ http://www.tubeaudioproducts.com/Mullard-Brimar/ProductDetail.aspx?CatID=65&ProductID=153#
The owner is one Alfred Kayser. On his site/sites he states all of his tubes are tested and matched for best performance values. Well,I went ahead and ordered and received said tubes. After 2-3 months of use I started to hear unacceptable levels of noise from my speakers,you know, the dirty sound of that dreaded tube noise of a scratching, distorted, dirty volume pot type of noise,which totally infringes upon the music. I went ahead and called Alfred and asked him about it and he just responded there is "nothing he could do" for me. Hey,no problem,but he advertised full-up tested tubes. If it was only one bad tube,I could understand,I’m a realist...things happen.
But!!!
Long story short,I came to find out that four of the six tubes are defective and are not what I paid for. Two are fine. So the moral of this story is...When buying tubes,do not go the cheaper route,find and use a "reputable" tube vender and save yourself some time,money and aggravation. Of course I will never use this guy again for any of my audio needs... Hope this is of some help to the Audiogon membership.
On 3/7/16 I bought 6 NOS Mullard 12au7 4003 tubes for my preamp from a vender out of Minesing, Ontario Canada... under the store front name of ’mullard.com’ http://www.mullardtubes.com/Mullard-ECC82-12AU7-CV4003/?ID=0&ProductID=153 and ’ tube products.com’ http://www.tubeaudioproducts.com/Mullard-Brimar/ProductDetail.aspx?CatID=65&ProductID=153#
The owner is one Alfred Kayser. On his site/sites he states all of his tubes are tested and matched for best performance values. Well,I went ahead and ordered and received said tubes. After 2-3 months of use I started to hear unacceptable levels of noise from my speakers,you know, the dirty sound of that dreaded tube noise of a scratching, distorted, dirty volume pot type of noise,which totally infringes upon the music. I went ahead and called Alfred and asked him about it and he just responded there is "nothing he could do" for me. Hey,no problem,but he advertised full-up tested tubes. If it was only one bad tube,I could understand,I’m a realist...things happen.
But!!!
Long story short,I came to find out that four of the six tubes are defective and are not what I paid for. Two are fine. So the moral of this story is...When buying tubes,do not go the cheaper route,find and use a "reputable" tube vender and save yourself some time,money and aggravation. Of course I will never use this guy again for any of my audio needs... Hope this is of some help to the Audiogon membership.
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- 47 posts total
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Did you clean them? When were the tubes manufactured? Gold plated steel pins I assume? How tight do the pins of the tubes fit the tube socket female contacts? Did your tubes come boxed like this? Copy and paste between the brackets. ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfBTlJBWoGw[ |
Jea48 asked... Did you clean them?....Yes I did. When were the tubes manufactured?..... I don't know the manufacture date. Gold plated steel pins I assume?..... Steel pins,no gold plating. How tight do the pins of the tubes fit the tube socket female contacts?.....Extremly tight. Did your tubes come boxed like this?..... Yes. |
- 47 posts total