Tubes & Audio Research Corp.

If the California guy you guys are speaking of is Kevin at Upscale, I have had excellent results with him. If he refuses to sell to certain people, it may be because the products he carries are low in supply, high in demand, and he feels like he cannot afford to offer much in the way of telephone advise, unless there is a retail sale to make up for the time. I am only guessing about this, but I have bought over $3000.00 worth of NOS tubes in about four telephone calls, and all the tubes were EXACTLY as described and promised. Granted, I did not need much advise, only what he had in stock and how much money he wanted. I have purchased tubes from Ned at Triode, Antique in Arizona, Svetlana (I have an account, direct), New Sensor (account there as well), and from Bruce Berman in New York, Vintage Tube Service (Andy Bowman), Elmira Electric, Salt Lake Instrument and others. I have had NO bad experiences with any of these suppliers. Maybe I am lucky, or perhaps there are other factors that are not being talked about here?

I think it is very forthright that Upscale Audio has offered to bring this in the open. If any of you guys have really got a complaint, here is your chance to resolve the issue. As I said in an earlier posting, Kevin has given me only EXTREMELY accurate information, and excellent service. He even exchanged a six month old 12AX7 Mazda tube that should have been out of warranty. I told the truth when I said that it was part of such a large group (in the purchase) that I had only been running it for about a week when the failure occurred. I returned it, Kevin checked it out, and replaced it at no charge. He even paid the shipping. I cannot find fault in this type of service. Perhaps if others have had a bad experience, you should state your case and resolve this misunderstanding.