Hello all taking a break from the kitchen rehab salesmen.... Quick question on Tube suppliers other than The Tube Store and Upscale Audio. Who are you all getting tubes from and what do you like about them. BestEarl.
June 27, 2024. I just had a very pleasant experience with Brent Jessee Recording re: the purchase of a matched pair of NOS 45 tubes for my Alan Eaton mono blocks. Brent very clearly states his warranty is 30 days. I bought the tubes and within a few weeks went out of the country for three weeks. When I returned I turned on my system and after a few days realized I had one dead channel. One of the 45 tubes was dead. I sent the tubes back to Brent so he could match up the good tube with another tube from his stock. To my pleasant surprise he returned a new matched pair at no expense to me. Brent Jessee-highly recommended.
Matching is a bit of a shell game. The tubes are seldom run and matched under real world conditions which vary mightily between amplifiers. A match at one point may not at another.
For a well matched set, they should be run for several hours before matching.
Amplified Parts doesn’t have a single mention of matching as related to tubes on their website, so quite possibly are selling sets matched by the original tube vendor.
All the above are excellent sources for tubes Richard Gray , my tech geek swears by Amplified Parts, so thats where i now get my 12 power tubes, 4 sets of trios, Not so easy to match, which AP does their best to fulfill,. RG says they have excellent testing equipment to match. My next set will be EH KT88's.
Yes there were, but when you see large quantities of NOS in white boxes that arent JAN or industrial and there is only 1 seller making this claim it should give you pause. True NOS is like being pregnant....you is or you aint. Original boxes dont prove NOS, but they are a very good indication.
Krelldreams...from the original Russian tubes I ventured into Sylvania "chrome domes," new Tung Sols, and others I can't remember but stuck with a quartet of NOS GE 6SN7GTBs which have lasted a very long time.
I won't try to tell you what to buy, audition_audio, but tubes were bulk packed for industrial and military users. So NOS tubes can come in white boxes.
Andy, Kevin Deal and Brent Jesse all know what they are doing. Certainly one of the best is the guy in Wisconsin (Brendan?) and Gregg Levy at High Test in New Jersey for guitar amp (pro) tubes.
I wouldnt buy from any dealer that says they have a bunch of: "NOS in white box" tubes. Should read "tests as NOS in white boxes".
I’ve been most impressed by Andy Bouwman at Vintage Tube Services. Very knowledgeable, and really cares about fitting you with the right tube for your equipment. That said.. I also get tubes from RAM tubes… and only from them for my Music Reference amps. I used Upscale Audio many times years ago, and frankly they’re hit or miss… (in my experience). Andy asked a lot of questions about my gear, and what I’m looking for in sound. He has detailed records of all kinds of specific tube gear, and how it sounds with various tubes. Great resource.
Andy is one guy so he can get backed up. But he delivers the goods. Brent Jesse is great too and fast in my experience. But I care about the tube not about the wait.
So I placed an order for KT170 (awesome sounding tubes) with Viva Tubes, prompt confirmation and updates throughout the process had my package in 3 days.
I placed an order with Andy at VTS - great to talk to and knowledgeable.
Said it would be a month until he could ship and that didn't happen... nor did the charge to the card so I went back to Brent Jesse. Prompt shipping and service.
I've bought many tubes from Brett Jesse and gotten great support. He tends to focus mostly on obscure NOS (and expensive) tubes.
Recently I've bought quite a bit of tubes from the Tube Depot and have been very impressed with their service, selection, and prices. The Tube Depot mostly focuses on new production tubes, so the prices are generally pretty attractive.
I've dealt with Brett Jesse, Kevin Deal, Andy and Viva tubes on multiple occasions and have had great success. I have also purchased 30 or 40 tubes from a local dealer in PHX that has been very good. Dave at Arizona tube supply. Very good. I would say he seems to have mostly USA NOS tube brands, not so much on the European brands. Great source.
I purchase new tubes from The Tube Store and NOS from Uncle Kevvy at Upscale Audio. Extremely satisfied with both dealers and shipping is about the same.
the viva shop in mass is good, they ship quickly, communicate very well (sometimes a problem with andy at vts as he is older and essentially a one man show, as is jim m), viva is also very responsive when issues arise with tubes they sell
that said, i don’t believe viva does extra testing in house or burn in on their tubes, which can be quite important and valuable with some tubes for some amps... for new stock tubes i believe viva relies on the factory testing and matching, which for some makes and tubes may not be so great
The only reason not to call Andy at vintage tube services would be if you can't wait 2-3 weeks for your tubes.
I can wait 2-3 weeks for someone who is so far beyond all the others mentioned on this thread. For someone with far better equipment, testing, and knowledge -- absolutely.
I have a story about a local company- ****Tube Supply. They will allow you to buy same day-when open- but they do have a limited pickup window 4-5pm as I recall. I made a couple purchases there then went back for another purchase. The clerk tells me my last invoice is not marked as paid and would I please pay him the $100 he showed as outstanding.
This place is heavily secured. Small glass window you deal thru. Small room. If you need the toilet an escort is provided.
So I said "Wow that seems hard to believe". I had no recollection of walking out with something unpaid for. But I often tender cash rather than a card for reasons some of you will follow.
So I asked if the likely cash payment possibly went into some employees pocket? Then I heard about how long everyone had worked there and even the camera which monitored their work area.
I suggested that if he reviewed that day's video log and could prove that in fact I had not paid I would then pay it.
Never heard from them. Keeps me wondering if they are now "hiring".
Sold the Tube gear and moved on to Solid State Pass gear not because of this incident but maybe was a sub conscience move.
I've had a pair of kenrad 6sl7 tubes from Andy in my preamp for over 3 years powered up 24/7, they still sound much better than the stock Russian tubes even after over 3 years.
First of all go to Andy’s website and immerse yourself for an hour or
two. Take note of his test equipment. That’s a collection by itself!
I’ve spoken with him at length about tubes and not only does he have a
grasp on that subject, but he knows circuit design in detail.
I remember when I wanted to tube roll some 5687s in my ModWright
Anniversary PreAmp. He started asking me some questions about the output
circuit design (most of which I couldn’t answer). He then called Dan Wright directly to find out what he needed to know. He
called me back and we had a discussion about the sound characteristics I was
looking for. I was looking for some “vividness” without it being etched. I felt
if the sound was overemphasized in the upper mids/lower treble, I could
compensate downstream. I had the Amperex brand in mind and he completely agreed
with me.
He recommended the Amperex 7119, D
Getter, Pinched Waist (Late 1950s). They weren’t cheap but when I popped them
in place, the sound absolutely glowed. No hiss, no hum, no microphonics, no
unwanted sound at all. I’ve had them in place for a few years now with NO
problems.
This man has seen it all when
it comes to tubes. And he is willing to go the
extra mile to make sure the tube is compatible (and optimal) with the circuit
it is in.
I also bought two Amperex
6922, 1965 “USN”, White Label, Gold Pins for my ModWright modded Pioneer CD
player.
These two components along
the MOSFET powered Modwright KWA 100SE are a match made in Heaven!
If you speak directly
with Andy Bouwman, you will realize the
level of his expertise. He’s my tube guy for life!
@invalid Thanks for the clarification. So this person has better testing and equipment than Brent Jessee, Jim McShane and the others mentioned? I've never asked such questions of my vendors to even find out what they did or had -- glad to know there are serious folks making these detailed comparisons and rankings. Super helpful to know there's one vendor way beyond the others. Thank you!
Brent Jessee is always my go-to guy. If you can describe the type of sound you are looking for and what your budget is, he'll provide recommendations and he also provides an optional warranty and will stand behind it.
Regarding TC tubes, a copy/paste from a previous post: "My last octet of NOS GE 6550As came from TC Tubes. When one finally went South(after a couple years), they managed to find one, in their inventory of too-weak-to-sell-NOS, that matched my seven well-worn, and gave it to me. Didn’t even charge me, to test those seven. That’s service!" For honesty's sake: At the same time time, I was ordering a quad of Russian repop, Gold Lion KT-88s, for listening tests. Still: Gotta love those guys!
After trying E-Prey, Upscale Audio, Tube Depot, Viva Tubes and some dude on USAM, the only issue ever encountered was with the Tube Depot. One tube, of the pair, was not up to snuff. The Tube Depot rectified the situation in no time flat.
I have bought several tubes from various vendors, but found Brent Jesse to be the best. He takes his time listening to you (no interruptions) before recommending anything.
BTW, I've heard that the Qualiton XP200 sound really good with KT150s and 170s.
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