Tubes....did I pass up a good deal?

Too many variables at play here. If Andy at Vintage furnished you tubes you have quality assurance and recourse.

If you paid $80.00 at the flea market and none or only one of the Amperex tubes was usable in your ARC, you would be screwed.

This assuming they were genuine Amperex. There are tons of copies that are pure junk.

I occasionally take chances with used no warranty tubes just as you describe. Awhile back I purchased a whole box of military test gear pulls. I negotiated down to $6.00 each to allow for duds.

There were some genuine diamond bottom Telefunken and Dutch Amperex, even a couple of Mullards, but a good many landed in the trash can. Too far out of spec to be of any value to anyone.

The jury is mixed but, there was a quad of the Amperex Orange Globe 6922 gold pins here on Audiogon for $150.00. So maybe the price was right. But I think it is best to pass on a deal if it doesn't feel right.

Keep bugging Andy, it will be worth it to you in the long run.

I was just speaking with Andy this week, and I believe that he said he just got in a bunch of NOS 6922's. Go with Andy...otherwise, there's just to much room for error out there!

Another great source is Kevin at Upscale Audio in Ca. (upscaleaudio.com). Competitive prices and quality assurance. And, he answers the phone and calls back

Rwd- if your willing to take a chance, you can get used 6922s purported to be Amperex for much less than that on ebay. I bought 4 lightly used Valvo CCas for about $110.00! And Amperex PQs should run you about $10 if they are used.

Without knowing more it's hard to say if it was a good deal or not. If they were NOS, then yes of course it would have been a good deal.

RE: Upscale - unless you have bought gear there, dont' bother - the 6DJ8/6922's (anything other than old russian tubes) are limited to the so-called cookie jar and only sold to customers who have bought gear there.

Andy did call me to mention he had 6DJ8s. Of course, it was about a year ago that I had inquired! Such timeliness. ;-)

Valvo = Phillips = Amperex = Mullard. All were brands/companies owned by Phillips, so yes, it's possible Valvo and Amperex were made on the same lines. Check the date codes for plant of manufacture. Good luck finding Amperex PQ's for that cheap ($10), even used they still easily fetch 20-35/ea if test-as-new, gold pin, 6922s, etc.

FWIW,
-Ed

FYI - I prefer Andy to Kevin anyday, much nicer - IMHO