Marty65 Posted October 13, 2001 Share Posted October 13, 2001 Anyone know of a good place to purchase new vacuum tubes from? Looking for some 7591A and 12AX7 . Thanks for the help. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 13, 2001 Share Posted October 13, 2001 Posted this before but here it is again. Included are several good links for NOS and new tubes (Sonic Frontiers Parts Connection another one as well): Tube World http://www.tubeworld.com/ One of my favorite places for NOS tubes - they have just about everything there and the page lists it ALL! Much better selection that most of the other online shops. Very trustworthy as well! Ned at Triode Electronics http://store.yahoo.com/triodeel/tubes.html Ned has some of the best prices on new and NOS tubes for most amps. While NOS is the BEST way to go, the price is too much for many to justify. I believe in both camps; nice to know some new options exist without breaking the bank. I think ole Ned still comes in second to Tube World but he has good prices and advice. Upscale Audio http://www.upscaleaudio.com/rare/inventory.htm The better selections of NOS tubes but a bit pricey. Kevin Deal claims he tests all his tubes and matches them to a more exacting standard than anyone. Perhaps, it's true. Regardless, he has some great beauties if you are prepared to PAY $$$. Tube Store http://www.thetubestore.com/ A nice site and clean layout. They have a good selection of newer stock tubes but not the best prices in the world. Still, they are dependable and have the cleanest site. khf>s> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted October 13, 2001 Share Posted October 13, 2001 tubestore sells military grade tube and chinese knock-offs. all junk, all noise, sound like sh*t. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted October 14, 2001 Share Posted October 14, 2001 I can't answer about the oscillations you mention. Oscillators are something I always wanted to own, because they have so many knobs and dials, but not something I ever knew how to use (just check out ALK's web site to see what his oscillators look like). I can't answer about the NOS either. I have not seen a warehouse full of anything left over from the 40s and the 50s, so I am at a lost to describe how massive supplies of vintage tubes can be both new and old at the same time. Besides, many tubes will exhibit virtually no wear and tear at all, depending on the amount of voltage applied to them. Tubes from radios designed before the days of "planned obsolesce" are designed to last almost forever and even today test as fresh as country eggs. The again, I am not a "tube roller" either, so color me skeptic. Clipping, I can tell you something about, because every defender of the tube faith knows that one of the nicest features about tube amps is that they offer soft clipping. Of course, one reason for that, we find out much later, is that tube watts ain't SS watts. The saying is that tubes watts are twice as powerful as SS watts. Now it turns out Tubes Do Something Special (Peter van Willenswaard, Stereophile, September 2000, http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?357). They put out a lot more voltage than we knew. Willensward measured recorded music on a 9 watt amp with 300B tubes. He found that you'd need a 50W transistor amp to realize the same peaks my 9W 300B launched without wincing at my speakers. His tube amp had four and 1/2 times the rated power. Ultra-efficient horns require .03 watts or even less to reproduce normal listening volumes at 73 dB at 3 meters away, so flea powered amps run out of steam on fast musical peaks about 97 dB. That is LOUD. Clipping with any amp is audible, at much higher than normal listening levels. Although many people think that as the sound comes closer and closer to the volume and harshness of a live rock concert, they are not just clipping their amps, but also recreating the live music experience. Most modern receivers pour out most of their power while the dial is in the first half of the rotation. So by the time that you get to 12:00 on the dial, you are really cranking the amps. You don't say what speakers you have (maybe that should be in our profiles), but with super-efficient 95 dB/w/m speakers and a 40 watt SS amp, you are probably clipping your speakers with fast music peaks recorded somewhere between 103 and 106 dB. Tones at this average SPL are very LOUD, but peaks are not. The instruments will simply sound like they are giving out somehow; like there should be more fullness to their tone. Electronic instruments will just sound loud - too loud. This is true not only of tube amps, but SS amps as well. But the tubes, I once wrote " attack like a Blitzkrieg on notes, so fast that the army is already at camp before the surprise is over. They play the middle part quickly and fade away quickly too, like an army sneaking out at night. They startle with the quick string pluck and then swiftly retreat." They may not play as loud, but they can play fast. Sheer wattage itself will not fry your speakers. Maybe some electronic whiz can explain in plain English how this works, but the fact seems to be that the less SS watts you have, the more chance you can burn your drivers, while the more SS watts you have, the less harm you can do AT NORMAL LISTENING VOLUMES. 1000 watt SS amps are not inherently dangerous for speakers. In fact, they can create great sound, but opening the throttle wide can peel the rubber of the voice coils and leave skid marks on your ears. Dinky little receivers are not inherently dangerous either. But I have heard of more college kids, and some insane posters here as well, frying their drivers with dinky units than with massive ones. Go figure. Now that I think of it, I have yet to hear of someone melting their drivers with a flea powered amp ------------------ horns & subs; lights out & tubes glowing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 14, 2001 Share Posted October 14, 2001 I have always heard talk of the problems with tube amplifiers that are driven into "ocillation." I think you dont have to worry about this in a well designed unit. I think, as far as I know, the ocillation manifests itself as poor tone and overheating. I do believe it occurs in the highest, inaudible frequencies..but this does affect the overall sound. Again, this is conjecture. Tube amplifiers clip much smoother than their solid state counterparts (and SET amps are even beter still). When a SS amp clips, you KNOW IT! Tube amp can journey into clipping and the sound might not be as objectionable even though the clipping exists. I wound not worry too much about your 40w amp clipping onto Cornwalls as they would most surely be unbearably LOUD before any harm would be done. I have never blown a speaker with a tube amp but have with SS amps on several occasions. As for NOS tube, I have found them to sound MUCH better on average. Of course, all NOS (New Old Stock) is not created equal. Just because a tube is older and new does not make it a great tube. This is where your tube education comes in from reading and trying out various versions. I have heard Mullard EL-34 that sounded far better than anything I have heard from the new camp. I dont own any having stocked up on Svetlanas but they do sound nice. The vintage EL-84 sounds much better to my ears. Even an RCA EL-84 takes out most of the modern EL-84s I have heard, althought JJ and EI are not that bad. Still, I use RCA and Tunsgram EL-84 if possible. The 6SN7 tube is a whole nother can of decisions. I love a lot of the 60s Sylvania 6SN7s...one of my favorite versions of 6SN7 type valve is the Sylvania 5692 which I prefer over the RCA and CBS. The 12AU7 tube is another version helped by good NOS. So, in essence, good NOS tubes really do make a difference, yet there are some capable modern tubes being made by Svetlana, Sovtek (The Sovtek 2A3 is a GREAT bargain), JJ, and some EI. Best to start reading up and trying them out! khf>s> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardre Posted October 15, 2001 Share Posted October 15, 2001 I too am just entering the tube frontier having resurrected an old ST-70 amp and PAS2 preamp from mothballs. The thing had Mullards. One was busted. Went online to find a suitable replacement and found that sellers were very proud of Mullards. Matched quads were astronomical, even the used 'still tests good' variety. One of the sub-groups of the Audio Asylum (www.audioasylum.com) is the BB called the Tubes Asylum. Lots and lots of good info from 'tubers' there. Very helpful and friendly individuals abound. The love has not vanished yet and even a newbie's like me and my stupid questions (I fried the ST70 by only installing one channel's tubes just to 'test' the amp. Not the thing to do, especially if you - in your haste to fire it up - install a 10A fuse rather than the stock 3A it calls for) were answered with tact and diplomacy, with not even a hint of much deserved ridicule. They pointed me to several of the online tube vendors mentioned in 'mobile homeless's' post above and I settled upon Triode. Excellent outfit. I spent about $40 on a matched quad set of EL34's from Slovek. This was cheaper than Radio Shack quoted me for the Chinese crap mentioned above. I received my order within the week. Popped them in and all I can say is 'holy toledo!!!!' Great sound. Gorgeous sound. Beautiful sound. Many on the BB reckon that the Slovek's are a very close second to Mullards with only the most discriminating ear claiming to hear a difference. Good luck! ------------------ Ed Fronts: Pre-1955 Klipschorns (slightly modified) Center: 1984 Klipsch Belle Sub: Klipsch KSW200 Surrounds: Tannoy PSM6.5's Receiver: Denon AVR1701 Video: InFocus LP350 DLP front projector Satellite: DishNetwork 4722 (DD5.1) DVD: Panasonic A320 S-VHS: Panasonic PV-S7670 LaserDisc: Pioneer CDL-406 CD: Kenwood CD-404 5-Disc Changer EQ (for CD player only): Furman E151X2 Protection: Furman AV1215 Power Condition/Voltage Reg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted October 15, 2001 Share Posted October 15, 2001 I am a bit confused here as to whether you are referring to tubes from Slovakia(JJ/Tesla) or Sovtek/Electro Harmonix(Russian). Well, if you liked older Sovtek EL-34, then you will think the Svetlana EL-34s sound even better. Svetlana was having distribution problems in the USA for awhile, and still may be harder to get, but in comparing them to the Sovtek EL-34, I thought they sounded closer to the Mullard sound then the Sovteks. Ned still has them for sale. The new Sovtek EL-34 replacing the EL-34WXT is now called Electro Harmonix and some prefer this; I have not heard them yet. OF course, if you are referring to the JJ EL-34 made in Slovakia, then that appears to be a smooth, nicely made tube as well. The JJ 12AX7 is not even that bad for a new tube although not as good as various NOS substitutions. khf> This message has been edited by mobile homeless on 10-15-2001 at 01:56 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardre Posted October 16, 2001 Share Posted October 16, 2001 Mobile....just another tube newbie faux pax on my part. I am referring to the 'JJ/Tesla's' from Slovakia. After blowing my ST-70, I wanted to get a set of output tubes to verify operation of the unit without spending an arm and a leg on tubes that might just be the tip of the problem iceberg. Responses I received from others on the tube BB were very favorable towards these tubes, some even likened the sound to a fresh set of Mullards. My experience after ordering and installing is that they sound excellent. Better available? No doubt! ------------------ Ed Fronts: Pre-1955 Klipschorns (slightly modified) Center: 1984 Klipsch Belle Sub: Klipsch KSW200 Surrounds: Tannoy PSM6.5's Receiver: Denon AVR1701 Video: InFocus LP350 DLP front projector Satellite: DishNetwork 4722 (DD5.1) DVD: Panasonic A320 S-VHS: Panasonic PV-S7670 LaserDisc: Pioneer CDL-406 CD: Kenwood CD-404 5-Disc Changer EQ (for CD player only): Furman E151X2 Protection: Furman AV1215 Power Condition/Voltage Reg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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