sheltie dave Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I have really hit a string of good luck yesterday and today finding NOS tubes. Went out in the a.m. yesterday and bought the DuKanes that I have been looking at, stopped by at a nearby house to check on a retro birch dining hutch that could match our Heywood Wakefield dining room set(wife's favorite.) Almost a perfect match, knockoff for 10% of the real stuff. *Yes!* Sold... Wanting to press forward while fortune smiled, I called on a household in North county that was selling a large lot of industrial shelves. We went downstairs, where I've been quite successful getting deals in the recent past. It was poorly lit, with shelving, restaurant equipment, and twenty years of stuff strewn about. As I stepped through the unlit area, I tripped over a box and fell awkwardly on the floor. The mother turned her flashlight on, and here I go again. Not one, but two tube caddies stuffed with tubes. The one I tripped over and barked my shin was filled with output tubes. The mother felt sorry for me, so she suggested I take four or five tubes to ease my pain. For what I saw in the dim light and the five she gave me, I wish they had dental picks and dug under my fingernails. Two Genelex KT 88s, and three WE 300Bs, all NOS NIB Today I'm supposed to call again and talk to her husband. He earns a living going to closeouts and buying up shelving and computers. They have no desire to hold on to the tubes and caddies, and supposedly they have a Mac MC30, but the wife isn't sure if they still have it. Fourty dollars will take all they have with tubes in it, she said. This morning Colleen decided she wanted to go with me to an electrical engineer's estate sale out in St. Charles across the Missouri. As we went through his house, I thought on his life and whether he was happy in his golden years. Everything was organized, collated and labeled properly. He was a man who loved to work on electronics, loved music, and it looked like he entertained frequently. Walking through, I told her I wish we had known him and been friends. Downstairs, we became solid friends. In the fifteen seconds I had at the two tube supply boxes, I found the following NOS NIB Telefunken 4 ECC82, 4 ECC83, 1 ECC81* RCA 4 6sn7 GT 2 5651* 2 6CB6A* Tung-Sol 1 5R4WGA* Mullard 2 ECC83 Two guys came up and snabbed the boxes en toto at that point, and I was not too worried about the remaining thirty or fourty valued tubes out of the couple hundred left. If anyone knows what the * tubes are used for, or needs them, feel free to drop me a line. If my engineer bud had chosen to stay sober last night rather than get obliterated, we would have walked out with a pair of mint Dynaco MkIIIs for $8 as well I never wish anyone anything real bad, but I hope Bob is hung over for a while longer, if you know what I mean Mike S., if I find more WE 300Bs in that output tube caddy, two are coming your way! I owe you for covering my Klipsch Jones when I was in Spokane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hightone Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Dave I am in the market for some NOS 6L6 or KT-66 but I need 8 tubes. So if you see any. I droped you a e-mail about the mullards. Joel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I dought you'll find anymore. Gee, nice score!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 You are a lucky dog Jeff, trip over a box of WE300b's. I'll give you fifty bucks apiece for a couple. Every time I go to look at someone's junk, that's what it is...Junk Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie dave Posted January 10, 2004 Author Share Posted January 10, 2004 Hightone, the Mullards will probably slide in the aux and record preamp slots for the 299c. The one I am really curious about is the 5R4WGA. It is huge, with a sturdy plastic base and flat top. The available ones are those that have an asterisk right after their citing. The au and ax7s I need for current equipment, and I'm going to try my hand at a 6SN7 build myself. A friend here in town called in a favor and bought two of the WE 300Bs for $600, which is what he called a fair price. WTH, he has helped me move before and I promised to return the favor. He was jumping up and down, and the $ will pay for a large dent my sister-in-law put in one of our cars when she fell over and double-dimpled the side fender. I turfed the Genelex to another friend and will have (finally) to buy, mitre, and install the new oak baseboards. Colleen has decided she needs a crash course in tube amp recognition, so the next time she sees ugly $8 amplifiers she has the knowledge to grab them rather than decide they were too plain to be worth any $ We are getting there, slowly, but still getting there. And Mike, I still think your amp would be better as a 300B than a 2A3! Free tubes would tip the scale, wouldn't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hightone Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 O well . What uses a 6sn7-gt tube ? I have 3 rca and one sylvania . Also 1 rca 5Y3 1 each of 12au7 sylvania, rca,and allied any one who wants these is welcome to them. I found them at a garage sale. I got a box of about 50 tubes for 10$ I did not know much about them and tossed most of them just kept some input tubes. O well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie dave Posted January 10, 2004 Author Share Posted January 10, 2004 Hightone, the 6SN7 is a 6 volt preamp tube. Many of the preamp gurus like the 6SN7 over the 12 au and ax7 because the larger size allows for greater spacing distance, with a corresponding cleaner sound due to less induced noise. Have you done a listening test on the difference between the Mullard vs the Telefunken 12au7s? Gary liked the Mullards better - I'm just curious if the majority opinion favors the Mullard, or if the dreaded $ difference does influence listening preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I dunno, these TJ 300B solid plate tubes ain't bad. They are 2.5 volt filaments, however. But The PS transformer has a couple of 5 volt filament windings, heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Wow, the valve gods are looking down on you Dave! What great luck you have tripping over a tube goldmine like that, especially with some NIB NOS Western Electric 300Bs! I'd gladly break my fool neck over a stash like that...it's like winning the $7,000,000 Lotto jackpot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie dave Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Yea Jim, it feels good when it rains pennies from Heaven on you. I tried to convince Colleen that I should be able to directly expend any money I get from digging for treasures, but she laid down the law. The spending priorities are 1) Money to the baby's college tuition 2) ...to repair damage to the house et al from Colleen's handicapped sister 3) ...to set up the new house 4) ...to whatever else that can be thought of 5) ...to stereo Hey, at least it has made the list. Even more so after yesterday, she realizes that good deals can bring in money, which she likes. Plus I have enough stuff that she can't keep track of everything. One of the keys there is crop rotation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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