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For Tube Folks...

Hi All,

I am rather new to tube gear and recently purchased a 'NOS' GE 6550 Power Tube. 

 

A. It was advertised as:  "New old stock in original or OEM box. A nice USA tube that will outperform any current production 6550 made. An excellent lot, matched to within 5 percent and then aged in a hi-fi shop demo unit. Very low hours, burn-in time only, and the performance has been verified by us..."

B. The seller also sells used GE6550 tubes that are advertised as: "Light use, tested good with good match, and white box..."

 

The large black spot on the glass where it GE is etched makes wonder how many hours of usage this tube has seen...

My question -  Within reasonable certainty, is this tube is NOS or is it USED?  

Thanks in advance for any clarity.

 

 

inagroove
dill
2,543 posts
 

The black part on the side of a 6550 is part of the manufacturing process and is there from day one.

viridian's avatar
viridian
5,130 posts
 

Of course, there are different GE branded 6550 tubes. The straight glass, three getter tube has a side getter so will have silvering on the side in addition to on the top. The ST shaped GE tubes are just rebranded Tung-Sol coke bottles.

BTW, if the tubes have been used, broken in, or "aged" (what a laugh), they cannot be, by definition, NOS. The "O" in NOS stands for original, as in unused, the way they came off of the assembly line. Once the tube has been powered up in anything other than a tube tester it is no longer NOS. Just another used tube.

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,832 posts
 

NOS is an overused term.  Sellers call anything with a box "NOS" and buyers ignore the obvious exaggeration.  I've even seen tubes without a box called NOS. 

 The key is test data.  

inagroove OP
141 posts
 

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