2. analog
  3. 125078-1452

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.

aolmrd1241

Showing 1 response by mcgowdog

mcgowdog
18 posts
 
I agree with the op.

I bought a refurbished set of Mark iiis that came with nice new Tung Sol 6550s and I had bought a nice old Pas 2 from Gold Sound on South Broadway in Denver (Englewood technically ), and it sounded really nice.

I got some nice nos EIA 12ax7s from my brother for the Pass 2, a nice NOS Hammond  driver tube and nicely matched Svetlana 6550s for my mark iiis, and wow.  

Not that it sounded like mud before,  it really didn't. 

As far as the nos vs brand new tubes, I'm not going to dog some audiophile's religion. I just don't have the time.  Let YOUR ears be your guide.

I also hear that really good nos or highly tested used old stock tubes last way longer than the new stuff.

So there's another opinion for ya, based on my own experience,  of course.
More to discover