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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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In Reply to: Is it just me .... or are others detecting some panic by buyers in acquiring good NOS lately? * posted by PureAudio on January 16, 2007 at 15:48:37:
PureAudio,Fortunately, I've recently been winding up what I consider to be more or less my NOS tube collection- just over 500 tubes. Originally, my intention was to have three spares of every type I use and a forth froto have a choice of sounds. As my tube gear uses 131 tubes of 32 types- and quite a number of those 32 types haven;y been made in a long time, some of the shopping was only to be able to continue to use the gear forever if I coose to keep, and of course, the other buying is to try a variety of sounds- to have a "palette". If I multiply my 131 tubes times 3, that's 393, and then there's the fourth set for sonic variety for a total of 524, so I'm not far off. Btw, I figure this collection cost on average about $10 per tube- I began in 1990.
The thing is, in the last year, the prices for anything of the premium or sought after versions have gone to insane levels- especially the good 5751's, premium 12AX7s and anything in the 6922 and 7308, but also 12AT7's and 12AU7s too. In particular the 12AU7 is now as expensive as 12AX7s were a year ago. I notice too that in the US, I rarely see any 6201s in Ebay that are not the GE- actually a worthwhile tube, but not an early 60's Philips one. With 12AU7's, I followed a recent auction for three used Amperex 7316 with one being an early D-getter and these three tubes ended up costing someone $168- and over $50 each seems a lot for used and one was the "ordinary" short plate, halo getter one. I fortunately have 7- 7316's- I wanted enough of those and of the Siemens triple mica 5814A to use them everywhere I use the 12AU7, but these were for me $12- 20- well, one Amperex Bugle Boy 7316 was $40 two years ago- my most expensive single tube purchase, but I certainly wouldn't have either of these in those numbers if I had to pay today's prices.
There are still millions of NOS tubes to be sold, but the premium ones are seen more rarely and the prices are escalating daily- the astounding prices of yesterday are becoming the ordinary of today.
I recommend those after NOS tubes to concentrate on the premium versions and tested NOS to get "settled" soon in a collection as this will be a savings in the long run.
Fortunately, the reports of new production tubes shows continual improvement- the power tubes are so good I don't collect really any NOS power tubes, the Tung-Sol reissues seem to have a good reputation, and the small preamp tubes are getting better all the time- some have said they think current Shuangang 12AX7s to be just fine, the EH6922 acceptable, Sino GZ34' don't blow up now, and so on.
Don't panic, but walk quickly if a Telefunken ECC803S is your flavour!
Cheers,
Bambi B
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Follow Ups
- By coincidence, I was thinking of a " NOS panic" post - Bambi B 10:29:46 01/17/07 (2)
- Hi, Bambi. It all sort of has the feel of the early tech stock bubble. Acquisition trumps ... - PureAudio 10:56:06 01/17/07 (1)
- Except - hartwerger 11:28:42 01/18/07 (0)
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