[MiamiBoy]

And to add another point to my lesson learned .... if a deal seems too good to be true it probably isn't. I was trying to buy two nos  tubes and I purchased them from the vendor because they were almost half the price that everyone else was asking for the tubes. The two tubes were DOA. Neither tube produced any sound. The vendor said "their policy is to only give a credit"  but he would give me a refund if I help him file an insurance claim, which I did. Then he said I needed to return both bad tubes at my expense, fully insured. That is when I decided it was best to open the issue with PayPal and not deal direct with the vendor.  Still waiting for it to work through the PayPal resolution process.

[rick2546]

I have used a number of tube vendors over the years but would agree with many that Andy with Vintage Tube Services is fantastic.  His knowledge is exhaustive and he is a genuine pleasure when talking on the phone (imagine that, you actually get to talk to the business owner directly when you call!).  You might find some tubes cheaper on sites like ebay but you never know what you are getting.  Prices are fair and the products are the real deal. 

[eichlerera1]

Agree completely regarding VTS
Andy is the Jedi Master when it comes to tubes!
Thru Andy I have retubed my ModWright Pioneer CD player and Anniversary Preamp, as well as my VTL 225 Monoblocks.
The only tubes that are not from Andy will be the JJ E34L output tubes which seem to have an unusual affinity for the VTL 225s.
He's not giving away his tubes, but rest assured you are getting the BEST and will be fully satisfied!

Paul Galli

[eichlerera1]

Any experience with Tube Museum?

[NeilBlanchard]

This is a long thread, and I want to mention Antique Electronic Supply again:

https://www.tubesandmore.com/

I just ordered four 6922 EH tubes for my Audible Illusions Modulus 2C, for $16.75 each, plus postage.

Edit: I ordered them Friday, and the arrived today Monday; shipped via USPS Priority mail. They are plugged in, and playing. So far, so good!

[ArthurDent]

Based on a recommendation from Don Sachs for spare new tubes for my amp I recently checked out these folks    https://www.china-hifi-audio.com/en?zenid=dc2648d037b7a1b86688bc0c55f40559  While they didn't have the the Shuguang WEKT88 +, I did pick a set of WE6SN7 for use in a couple of my pieces, and some WE6CA7 + for rolling in my AVA Ultravalve. Service was very good, tubes arrived in about 4 days if I recall from China, so not bad. Prices competitive from the looking around I did, though they're only new PSVane or Shuguang manufacture supplies. I picked up a spare set of PSVane KT88 T Classic Mk IIs from Viva, also recommended by Don, as well as various folks here. In both cases it was an  issue free experience.

Now to find a nice NOS 5AR4 or two that doesn't cost an arm & leg, and get some input on 6N1P alternatives. Will check some of the other sites recommended here, keep 'em coming folks.

[jjss49]

andy at vts
jim mschane and brent jessee in the midwest
the tube store in canada
kevin deal upscale in socal
all excellent

nobody is a fool, you want good old stock tubes, tested, you need to pay

like they say, they ain't making em anymore yet folks still want em

[JackD]

Andy at VTS has the 5AR4's made in the Japanese Matsushita plant set up and tooled by Mullard for in the mid-$60's last I looked.  You would be hard pressed to hear a difference between them and the Blackburn Mullard's for three times the price.  A boat load of those tubes were sold in the US by Westinghouse and other long gone brands.  Just today I rotated one into my Supratek preamp in place of a Blackburn Mullard and can't hear a bit of difference.

[ArthurDent]

like they say, they ain't making em anymore yet folks still want em

So true jjss. PM recv'd, will be in touch, Thanks.

Andy at VTS has the 5AR4's made in the Japanese Matsushita plant set up and tooled by Mullard for in the mid-$60's last I looked.  You would be hard pressed to hear a difference between them and the Blackburn Mullard's for three times the price.  A boat load of those tubes were sold in the US by Westinghouse and other long gone brands.  Just today I rotated one into my Supratek preamp in place of a Blackburn Mullard and can't hear a bit of difference.

Thanks Jack, I noticed those reissues in my poking around. Will touch base with Andy as well.

[JohnR]

This is a long thread, and I want to mention Antique Electronic Supply again:

https://www.tubesandmore.com/

Be careful buying "NOS" tubes from them. The ones I received were most definitely well used.

[NeilBlanchard]

Be careful buying "NOS" tubes from them. The ones I received were most definitely well used.

Okay - mine arrived (ordered Friday, delivered Monday via USPS Priority - from AZ to MA in 3 days!) and the boxes were perfectly new, and I have no reason to suspect these have been used. They are in the Modulus, and playing, and so far so good.

Edit: I think these are new tubes - not NOS. They are they only new tubes that Audible Illusions recommends without any caveats.

I may decide to go ahead and get the Amperex NOS graded and matched set of 4 from Audible Illusions, anyway; if only to have a good back up set of tubes.

[rbwalt]

I suggest the Tubeaudiostore. It is part of Ram Labs/ Music Reference . Roger before is death was easily one of the very top audio designers in the US. He really started tube testing the proper way. I buy all my tubes from them  and so do allot of the major tube amp builders.

[CarmineRed]

This is a great list, thank you, everyone.  Man NOS stuff is getting expensive.........

Trying to find a Mullard ECC35, yikes

[Tom Bombadil]

Be careful buying "NOS" tubes from them. The ones I received were most definitely well used.

I have twice received clearly used tubes purchased from Upscale Audio as NOS.  It has been a few years since that happened, but then I've never ordered tubes from them again.

[FullRangeMan]

Be careful buying "NOS" tubes from them. The ones I received were most definitely well used.

I have twice received clearly used tubes purchased from Upscale Audio as NOS.  It has been a few years since that happened, but then I've never ordered tubes from them again.

I never bought from this store in question but from another seller AC member I got this junk below as new tubes, he refused to made a refund, Paypal was useless, for details PM me.






About these broken pins above:
In Russian factories the QC technician who tests the valves is obliged by safety determination to break the tube pins when the valve is rejected since these valves are intended to military use.
If an airplane crashes by a defective tube the OTK number in the tube is the number of the technician who tested the valve, so these tubes above were rejected by the factory QC and are sold for cents or free to the public.

[CarmineRed]

Just bought a pair of Sylvania VT231 from audiotubes.com

Excited

Thinking I might go with the RCA 5691 instead of a mullard ECC35, save $200 and easier to find.

[bigsled]

First time buyer at TubeDepot.com...color me quite impressed 

First off, he (Joe) answered the phone at 5PM.  When he did, he was crisp, professional and to the point.  The price of the JJ ECC81/12AT7's bought were very good and he offers a range of testing extras (matched quad adds $2.00 each tube, and low noise and microphonics adds $4 a piece).

http://site.tubedepot.com/preamp_options.html

Shipping is a reasonable $3.95 and it was packaged in overkill packaging.

Confirmation of order was sent via email the day after and it got here (from Memphic, TN) in only 3 days.


Hello do you still recommend the tubedepot ?

Thanks

A fine performance I think...one that I will probably reward with future tube orders 

[FullRangeMan]

First time buyer at TubeDepot.com...color me quite impressed 

First off, he (Joe) answered the phone at 5PM.  When he did, he was crisp, professional and to the point.  The price of the JJ ECC81/12AT7's bought were very good and he offers a range of testing extras (matched quad adds $2.00 each tube, and low noise and microphonics adds $4 a piece).

http://site.tubedepot.com/preamp_options.html

Shipping is a reasonable $3.95 and it was packaged in overkill packaging.

Confirmation of order was sent via email the day after and it got here (from Memphic, TN) in only 3 days.


Hello do you still recommend the tubedepot ?

Thanks

A fine performance I think...one that I will probably reward with future tube orders 

Chair Guy passed away years ago also you wrote in the mid of his post.

[bunkertoy]

I'm definitely calling this Andy guy from VTS. My head is spinning trying to figure out which tubes to get for my VTL 2.5. I recently bought 4 tubes from Tube Depot.
Wasn't a cheap experiment. I'm pretty happy with the purchase though. Bought 2 X 12AU7 Genalex Gold lion & 2 12AT7 JHS Sylvania (1950's).

I would like to buy another full set as a back up. Curious what Andy will suggest. Tube rolling baby !!!

[FullRangeMan]

Keep us informed on Andy suggestions.