bean_counter

I think this is my first post here... lurked off and on for years and years, recently joined. I'm mostly a JBL guy , though I would love a pair of Jubes. I'm too 'frugal' (wife says cheap) to buy a hi-end tester. But I want to at least check all of my tubes. So, I bought a couple of lower-end mutual transconductance types - a Hickok 532 (in an open face benchtop case) and a Mecrcury 1000. Neither is "desirable", they're both clumsy to use vs better models, but they are good enough for my needs, and between the two of them, will test everything from antique 4-pin tubes to compactrons. The two most valuable tasks these fulfill for me: - test "new to me" tubes for faults, and weed out obvious weak tubes - COMPARE TUBES OVER LIFETIME, particularly amplifier outputs. I test every 6 months or year or so of use. Pretty reliable indicator of when it is getting close to time to swap in new tubes. I find that the changing sound of weakening tubes can "creep up" on you, as it usually happens so slowly. System just isn't as "engaging", and you don' know why... But using these old machines for grading tubes, matching? No way.