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Coronado tubes question

merlynski

merlynski

Curmudgeon Electronicist
Where do Coronado brand tubes fall in the quality scale? I just came into possession of three fairly large boxes of 20 to 50 year old NOS tubes of various brands and types. One of the boxes is all Coronado brand, but not being a tube guy I have no idea how their quality level rates against more well known brands. Once I have them counted and cataloged I am planning on putting them in Barter Town. I am not asking for prices in this forum, just where their general quality reputation sits. And are there any Coronado tubes that are particularly desirable?
 
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Coronado was a radio brand I think. So maybe made by another company with the Coronado brand on them? Like Baldwin branded Sylvainia tubes, etc. Maybe by posting some good pictures of the tubes someone may be able to ID them.
 
Coronado was a radio/tv brand. I once had a Coronado color tv. I don't know who made the tubes but I do know that they are some other brand as Lavane pointed out.
 
Lavane said:
Coronado was a radio brand I think. So maybe made by another company with the Coronado brand on them? Like Baldwin branded Sylvainia tubes, etc. Maybe by posting some good pictures of the tubes someone may be able to ID them.
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I saw a number of Coronado brand antique radios listed online, but only passing mention of the tubes themselves.

They say 'Made in USA' on them along with the Coronado brand name. They are in original looking red/white or black/white boxes. The red/white boxes have "Gamble-Skogmo, Inc. Minneapolis, Minn." on them. Coronado may have been a 'house brand'.

I am building a catalog database as there are several hundred tubes of various types and manufacturers in the boxes. I will post pictures when I get a chance. They came from a guy who had a TV/Audio repair shop for years.
 
primosounds said:
Some tube brands had the manufacturer make special requirements for the ones receiving their own brand name. Techtronix branded tubes for example.
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That would be info I would like to have for Coronado tubes.
When I worked for Gateway they did not manufacture motherboards or video cards but did custom spec many from their suppliers. They also had special versions of MS Windows that would not install on non-Gateway PCs. They sold a lot of computers under the Gateway brand though.
 
Some may be OCD about boxes. I'm not. I just stuff whatever fits and relable them. It is nice to have extras. You can even buy brand new empty boxes.
 
merlynski said:
That would be info I would like to have for Coronado tubes.
When I worked for Gateway they did not manufacture motherboards or video cards but did custom spec many from their suppliers. They also had special versions of MS Windows that would not install on non-Gateway PCs. They sold a lot of computers under the Gateway brand though.
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Each of the tube manufacturers had their own way to designate a tube . GE, Sylvania, Westinghouse, RCA, If you had a 12ax7 from each of these makers besides the construction differences which is also a give away, the tube label on the glass is also unique to the maker. Only RCA and Tung sol seem to have the same label with their earlier manufacturing.
 
I like boxes with tubes, but I don't get obsessive about it. My own tube stash is largely boxed with recycled boxes from other stuff. Most of them were from useless TV tubes, I simply re-mark them using those little white dot stickers to note brand, type, and test results if needed.
 
Well, I have finished with the second box, I have over 230 tubes of just over 200 Brand/types. One more box to go, maybe 3 dozen larger tubes. What are the most sought after tubes?
 
Dswankey said:
12AX7, 12UA7, 6BQ5, 6V6, 5AR4 just to name a few, obviously if they've been tested and are measure well.
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I don't have a tube tester, and am not likely to acquire one. I have opened every box and visually inspected them, they all appear to be NOS, some very old, with dates prior to 1960. Lots of Pentodes and Triode-Pentodes of different flavors. There are 4 Magic-Eye tubes, I do know what those are :biggrin:
 
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