What do you know about a WESTERN ELECTRIC 86-A amp ??


I have a all original W/E 86a amplifier, I would like to find out what people know about these amps and there sound quality .......Mine has all original W/E tubes  .....THANKS

autospec

I have looked this amp over, it appears to be untouched, You mentioned the 300-a tubes but this amp has 300-b tubes and matching code date 274a tube  .....I am not going to even think about plugging it in.....I think the best thing to do is take a bunch of perfect pictures, inside and out and send it down the road.....I had at first though about hooking up, but after talking to Andy Bowman at Vintage tube sales , he told me not to plug it either ........But I will see what other people think............W

The amp, regardless of tubes in it, is extremely valuable.  If you don’t know how to check it out, find someone who can inspect it, slowly reform the caps with a variac, and test the tubes, etc.  It will be worth much more if you can confirm that it is in good working condition.  With Western Electric gear, something that old COULD still be in good condition.  Even capacitors could still be good.  

I know someone who found a 124 amp that needed no work at all to sound great.  All the tubes were in good shape too (those 348 tubes are quite pricey, even more than the 350B output tubes).  I like the fact that this amp is being used every day instead of being treated as a museum piece.

A couple more thoughts.  While it would have been a welcome miracle if the tubes were 300A’s, any original 300B in working order will also be valuable.  The engraved-base 300B’s from the 1930s can go for $20,000 a pair.

if you decide to sell the amp, you should contact Deja Vu Audio in Virginia.  That is the dealer I mentioned in my post above that specializes in vintage tube amps and re-building of such amps.  I have a 133 clone made by their Italian builder that is terrific sounding.  It utilizes a lot of genuine parts, including the correct input and output transformers, but it is configured for stereo and has a modern power supply; the amp also runs very rare 348 and 349 tubes.

Wow! A 9 out of 10 condition rating on something that has not been plugged in.  It goes to show how low the price can be on an untested amp.  I would expect another zero to the price of a good working example.