For Tube Folks...


Hi All,

I am rather new to tube gear and recently purchased a 'NOS' GE 6550 Power Tube

 

A. It was advertised as:  "New old stock in original or OEM box. A nice USA tube that will outperform any current production 6550 made. An excellent lot, matched to within 5 percent and then aged in a hi-fi shop demo unit. Very low hours, burn-in time only, and the performance has been verified by us..."

B. The seller also sells used GE6550 tubes that are advertised as: "Light use, tested good with good match, and white box..."

 

The large black spot on the glass where it GE is etched makes wonder how many hours of usage this tube has seen...

My question -  Within reasonable certainty, is this tube is NOS or is it USED?  

Thanks in advance for any clarity.

 

 

inagroove

Showing 1 response by audition__audio

Actually test data is very important but doesnt tell you if the tubes are lightly used or not. It is not unusual for there to be up to a 15 to 20% difference in the test readings on NOS tubes of the same type and manufacturer. So you can actually have lightly used tubes which can test higher than true NOS. 

As Ralph points out, the tube pins are probably the best indicator of use. However, if the tubes were tested then there can be vertical marks on the pins. Heat marks/discoloration can also be an indication of use. Problem is that the process of manufacture wasnt exactly as we expect today and variations on things like getter flash, clearness of glass, etc are not uncommon.