You will need to spend in the $500-1000 for a unit that is in working condition and calibrated for accuracy. Plus you will have to maintain it as well. Testers in that range will tell you if tubes are good or not but cannot match tubes correctly if you want that feature. My recommendation is just find a testing service like this one I use.
Showing 9 responses by tksteingraber
@fuzztone here’s an example of an old tester in good working order and recently calibrated per the seller? $699 plus shipping.. |
Ok I just got sucked down this rabbit hole even though I was in the camp “I don’t need a tube tester”. Won on an offer a Hickok 600A in very good working condition per seller and pics. It was calibrated in 2022. Cost me $250 + tax shipped to my door. Only issue reported is a stuck settings scroll which is no big deal. A printed list will work just fine instead. Pretty nice testing unit feature wise at a price that can’t do much damage if I decide to resell. Certainly not a nice Amplitrex AT1000.
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@oddiofyl or others …my Hickok 600A arrived and It seems to be working as expected. Numbers vary compared to other testers but it seems very good at determining if a tube is good or bad, it’s strength and how well balanced the triodes test. |
Anyone know the test settings on a Hickock (600a) tester for Kt 77’s. None listed on their comprehensive listing chart? Would it be the same as EL 34 or different? I am 2 weeks into ownership and I have to say I am glad I made the decision to buy a tester. I have tested my entire tube collection and have a much better understanding of the tubes quality level. I only identified one tube with one bad triode. It still plays and sounds good to my surprise. Many of my tubes I bought on ebay trusting the sellers test results and have verified almost all were similar to my testing. A few %’s or triodes were off but tested fine. These calibrated testers are good for determining if a tube is good, how strong it is compared to other tubes and how balanced the triodes are. I don’t feel they are accurate enough to throw Gm numbers around as exact especially with their age , the dials worn analog parts. Glad i took the plunge. |
@atmasphere thank you for your input. The reason I asked is that the number listed on the Hickok chart does not appear to be the min and I read it was what an average new tube should test at and I wanted to verify that with experienced Hickok testers. An example…the 12at7 is listed at 4000 on the chart which is in the middle of good on the meter and replace begins at 2600 (65%) on the meter, 12au7 is listed at 2200 and replace begins at 1300 (60%). 12ax7 is listed at 1250 and is too low to follow the gm meter good/replace readings and needs to use the good-bad test by adjusting the english down. I do realize these calibrated testers results are approximate and not real accurate but good for determining if and how good a tube might be. Just learning here! |
The tester just proved it’s usefulness. Bought a pair of new, nos, matched tubes from Viva Tubes. Visually did not appear new? So I tested them. One tested replace and second one tested just barely good. Also, the tubes were 25% different and were nowhere near matched. Contacted seller and they said their tubes were fine and that old testers are unreliable and can’t compare to modern ones they used. Told me to try them and they will play fine. The boxes had results (different scale) written on them with gm results 30% apart. Their results even confirmed the tubes were not matched. Blame the buyer anyway. Returned them and Viva Tubes is a do not buy from seller. |
@atmasphere thanks again for input. The tester is stock orig meter. English (sometimes referred to as shunt) is a setting in addition to bias. See picture link below.
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@atmasphere Yes the english setting dial has three settings(red dots) one for each of the 3 scales to measure and compare against the chart listing. 0-3000, 3001-6000, 6000+ |