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Do you Know a Trusted Seller of Chinese Vacuum Tubes?

With the terrible Russian offensive/war and the drying up of NOS tubes, I ventured more deeply into Chinese tubes.  

Does anyone have a recommended seller who might actually test for noise/microphonics?  I wish Kevin Deal's outfit would start carrying some of the premium offerings.  I'm surprised he doesn't given (I think) Primaluna branded tubes are likely Chinese (Shuguang, maybe?).  

Some of the Chinese preamp tubes I've tried sound glorious. Getting them without noise can be a challenge. 

 

jbhiller

Showing 3 responses by audition__audio

audition__audio
1,622 posts
 

Why limit yourself to Chinese? Still a great many old stock preamp tubes available from numerous reliable sellers. 

audition__audio
1,622 posts
 

Some JJ power tubes had serious problems ranging from premature death to pin size issues. This is heresay. 

If you buy NOS tubes in the future you need to get them from a seller that tests for noise and microphonics with a guarantee. The only preamps that I have had problems with that werent phono preamps were offerings from Audible Illusions, Schiit (weird noise problems) and the 12AT7s in one of the Atma-sphere preamps. Oh and also the older CAT preamps in the 6922 section.

 

audition__audio
1,622 posts
 

immathew thanks. Yes it was meant to be hearsay. 

Problem with extra testing is that these procedures take time and often buyers are not willing to spend the extra money. New production tubes are considered, often, just a commodity. 

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