I stumbled upon a handful of these yesterday - are they really the pinnacle of the 12ax7 type?
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I think I can't mention figures here but I'd characterize the money my quad brought as "stupid".
Hmmm, doesn't M stand for 1000. So would 10M stand for 10,000 (hours) ?the 10Ms were guaranteed for 10,000 hours !
There are also incidences of unscrupulous sellers who faked the '10M' on the bottle. I am sure i have seen a few on the bay where the printing just did not look right. You always need to be sure of what you are buying if you are going to shell out big bucks for a supposed SQ tube. There are guys who can easily gold plate pins and make up fanciful stories of how special or rare their tubes are when in actuality it is all BS. One notorious seller has changed his epay seller's name because of all the negative publicity posted on audio forums. PM me if you want to know who this person is.You are definitely correct ! There was an old thread about the 10Ms on another site which had posters doubting their sound quality or long term usage was any different from "normal" small plate Mullards. While we can all vouch that small plate Mullard, Amperex, Philips et al ECC83s were/are excellent performers, the 10Ms were guaranteed for 10,000 hours !
Now, today, I can vouch for some small plate and large plate Mullards which have easily lasted that long length of time. 40 hours a week, at 50 weeks a year is only 2000 hours. So, imagine using these tubes during a "typical" work week, for five long years, without any noise or microphonics or duds. Try that with the Sovteks and let me know the results, please....
So, if you are a musician or audiophile type, who worries about a tube crapping out over time, the 10Ms could be your "guaranteed" choice. However, where can you redeem the IEC guarantee, if needed ? LOL ! While I am certain there are "collectors" who "stockpile" the 10Ms and any original Genelex 12AX7s they can find and get, these tubes will eventually be used and listened with, hopefully....
In speaking with the person I got these from, he says he found them at an estate sale. Probably paid a few bucks for them. I paid very little - nowhere near the going rate for these. I was able to snag 2 of the 12ax7a and 1 12au7a.