DON:T WAIT! Replace Those Old Power Tubes!


For several years I've cobbled together the required quad of 6L6GC power tubes for my Raven Audio Integrated amp. I say 'cobbled' because out of two sets I culled four which would perform what I perceived as reasonably decent sounding. Being on the last best four I feared one more failing tube would put me out of the music. So, I ordered another quad from Raven Dave (Thomson). At first I thought to just saved them for an emergency but on a whim I decided to just put all the Chinese New Old Stock (NOS) in place. APPARENTLY, and obviously, my smorgasbord set in place previously had various quirks including but not limited to: hum, occasional buzzing, and a bloated`slow tone. My wife immediately stated: I don't hear anything in the background. Indeed there isn't anything but dead silence. NOS tubes are always a "Russian roulette" deal but their unique and amazing "real-ness" is worth the gamble. (IMO) So if you have been waiting until you absolutely have to, DON'T WAIT any longer. The improvement is profound. These tubes are as old as I am! Only difference is I've not been in a box traveling around the world for over 60 years! 

allears4u

Showing 1 response by larryi

Some testers, like the Amplitrex, do test at full power and do give one an idea of how much life is left in the tube.  This tester, if attached to a computer, will curve trace the tube.  Someone who owns dozens of modern and vintage testers told me that he likes the E-Tracer which is bought from Taiwan as a kit; it too curve traces and delivers very close readings to the Amplitrex.  Another supposedly good tester/tracer that comes as a kit is the Sofia tester.  

The Amplitrex is extremely easy to use.  You don’t need to look up test parameters to adjust it; just find the tube type in its dropdown menu and it will do all the settings automatically and then produce a detailed readout including the expected readings so you can compare actual to expected readings.  The primary downside is that it is expensive.

A local shop uses a TV7 tester as its main unit.  It is good for finding bad tubes and weak ones, but, it tends to be a bit generous in its rating—it will give strong readings for tubes that the Amplitrex says is not that strong.  This shop also uses a modern, very compact tester called the Orange, but they mainly use it for small signal tubes.