2. amps-preamps
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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 bimmerlover

bimmerlover's avatar
bimmerlover
66 posts
 

@viridian you statement ‘The "O" in NOS stands for original, as in unused, the way they came off of the assembly line. Once the tube has been powered up in anything other than a tube tester it is no longer NOS.‘ is incorrect  

The “O” does not stand for “Original” but for Old.  “NOS” stands for New Old Stock.

I do agree that if a tube is burned in or particularly aged,” it’s no longer a NOS.

Having said that, I think it is worth keeping in mind that, for example, if you buy a new manufactured tube, say a KT120 at Upscale or even Audio Research, they do burn them in for 48-72 hours and they’re still selling them as new.

So I think being burned in is a more of a gray zone, but they certainly have been burned in on a burn rack for a very prescribed time rather than in actual equipment.

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