Anyone Here Ever Purchased A Tube Tester?

I just think you leave yourself ’blind’ without a simple inexpensive tester.

For most of us, we don’t know detailed measurements. When something is amiss, quickly check tube: short? strength? strength matched to other ’matching’ tubes?

Buy new or used tubes, test them, supposedly matched tubes, test them.

IF you are tempted by the simple type, like the Accurate 257, I will have my friend check the booklet to verify it can test your tube types.

I look for shorts, and strength on the meter, and if strength matched. As I said, my Accurate Strength always matched the big heavy Jackson’s results, so I gave the Jackson away.

I frequently blab about everyone who has tube equipment getting an inexpensive tube tester.

I bought this Accurate Model 257 for a friend.

It's results matched the results of my smaller model 157. My Model 157 always matched my big heavy Jackson, so I gave the Jackson to a friend who used to bring his tubes here.

viridian

KISS.

I purposely avoid knowing stuff, so I can make decisions that are 'good enough', like a simple tester.

If it sounds damn good, like my Sony xa5400cd player I got with help here, I don't want to know about anything else, unless it breaks. I probably would just buy another xa5400 without even looking at anything else.

I had a big Hickock, and the Jackson I mentioned, never went beyond shorts/strength/matched strength? Big, took more space, heavy, not easy to take to a friends house ...

After 'little accurate 157' simple short/strength answers were ALWAYS the same, I gave both the Hickock and Jackson away to friends.

I have a LOT of used tubes, hundreds, some of them actually new. I test them before giving to friends, or using myself, a few for the 2 Fisher 500C's I'm going to sell if I overcome my reluctance to ship.

I'm between NYC and Philadelphia, perhaps I will try pickup only.