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Buying tubes...do they vary???

Been posting about degrading tubes. Thinking I'm in need of new.

Sites like thetubestore.com and the tubedepot.com are out there. I spotted Electro-Harmonix 6550 tubes on thetubedepot.com. By name these are the same as the ones I have in my Conrad Johnson Premier 12 mono block power amps that Conrad Johnson sold me.

Would they perform just the same? You would think so but perhaps I'm missing something. Also, a suggestion of where to buy replacements would be greatly appreciated.

Certainly need to get the performance that I got when I bought those Electro-Hamonix from Conrad Johnson at the end of the day...

Thank you!
Randy

rbschauman

Showing 1 response by geoffkait

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I agree with the poster who stated that NOS really means the tubes test well or test “like new.” The designation NOS is not (rpt not) supposed to mean brand new nor does anyone who buys NOS tubes expect brand new tubes. I would obtain NOS military grade 12AX7WA (Sylvania and RCA) from a friend of mine who worked in tech at NASA back in the 70s and while the tubes had been used previously they were spectacular. Caveat emptor. Don’t be hornswaggled. You have to do due diligence. There are lots of deals out there the last time I looked about three years ago. I did quite well on eBay for some hard to find expensive type NOS tubes like Sylvania Bad Boys. But you really need to do due diligence since some tubes advertised as Bad Boys aren’t really Bad Boys, but are very close. And when you find the tubes of your dreams be sure and check out Herbies tube dampers and contact enhancer for the tube pins.
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