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Tell us about your best tube score(s)

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Quality over Quantity
I love everything that has to do with tubes. I find them very addictive, only rivaled by my obsession with vinyl.

Good tube scores don't seem to happen very often and seem to require amply of perseverance and footwork. So make me jealous and share your best tube finds. I would love to hear them.
 
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I don't have one, but the post not long ago from the person who claimed to score four Mullard 10M tubes for $1 or something like that at a church bazaar must rank right up there.
 
A decade ago, I could find a lot of good but unusual small signal tubes at hamfests. I have 5842s, 12AT7s, 6085s, lots of good numbers. Any small signal tube with an outrageously high mu is likely worth having. I have bunches of scope pulls: 6DJ8s, 12AU7s, etc. Haven't been lately, but I expect that bargains are still out there.

Bargains are still out there if you are willing to accept odd filament voltages. I have about a dozen RCA 8BQ5s that I will do something with ... someday.

Hopefully when I die at a ripe old age, someone will appreciate all the junk I have in my basement.

Need pics?
 
A couple pairs of Sylvania 6L6GC STRs, both pairs free at different times, counts as pretty good for me, IMHO. Those have been put into the archives, as spares for my Eico HF22s!

Getting my entire Harman Award A300 for free (only needing an output tube and volume pot, and some recapping), years ago, and finding it full of original Telefunken 12AX7s and 12AU7, that all still measure as new... that wasn't bad either.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Not exactly what the OP is getting at - but I found this on the scrap metal pile at our dump a couple of years ago. All original tubes intact.

ST40frontsanstop.jpg
 
Not to many vintage amplifiers do it for me. And certainly none of the vintage integrateds or receivers do it for me either, there is just to much junk in the way for my tastes and often needing a lot of rework. Some of the Vintage power amps are very nice like the Heath Kit W5M's, and of course some of the Dyna's and others as well. But for my needs I typically have to build my own as really good stuff is way more than I can afford.

But one can often improve upon a decent vintage design substantially!

My buddy bought this Pilot EL84 Integrated that I took right down to the basic power amp section. The amp is sensitive enough for CDP direct with a passive volume control and has more supply reserves. Its still constructed with carbon resistors for that vintage flavor of sound. The amp is also substantially quieter then the original circuit layout which I re did in a symmetrical layout of both channels.

The amp was bought for a little over $100 and I believe he has another 3-$400 into it. Using all the original iron construction is brass and walnut and looks and sounds like as good or better then amps costing much much more.

So for $100 the amp was a score, we just put some elbow work into the amp.

Don%27s%20Amp.jpg


SET12
 
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Little scores add up so I just keep buying anything with tubes in it. I recently opened up on of my scavanged pieces to find 3 telefunken 12ax7's, 1 bugle boy 12ax7, couple bugle boy 12au7, telefunken 6ca4 rectifier. Since working on it right now, my Bogen AP-250 came with a near new Mullard GZ34 recitifier and a new in box Mullard GZ34. Highly coveted and a lifetime supply for me most likely.
 
$30 for a complete, intact and functional Stancor Williamson mono amp with the ultralinear transformer is probably my best. Though considering I've been looking for a mate to it for almost 3 years its beginning to irk me.

I also was given a pair of Magnavox AMP150 amps, the tuner, and the speakers once. I sold the tuner to someone who wanted it for his console restore, and I traded the amps for a pair of 9300's.
 
Way too many to list, but the best was probably the Heathkit W5M found on the curb a couple of blocks from my house with the original Genelex KT66s still intact.
 
About 10 years ago, a local tube guy was cleaning out the storage unit and gave me several thousand tubes. I had an '89 Suburban at the time and I filled the entire vehicle behind the driver's seat floor to ceiling, front to back with boxes. My wife still wonders about me. There weren't any extremely rare treasures in there, but lots of useful tubes.
 
picked four as new philips brownbase DD-getter 6CA7 years ago... for less then 120 together. not lots, but excellent.
 
hey-Hey!!!,
At one stop I got several sets of Langvin amps with pre's( 7 pairs and a single), all in their original rack mounts with Cannon connectors. Also included an RCA SA751 6146 amp, two MC75( consec serial numbers ), two dozen UTC A-18 transformers, two HF50's( with xf1 power tubes, and metal-based GZ34 ), and some misc tubes like GEC KT88 and 6550A...I have some pix somewhere, if I find, I post...:)
cheers,
Douglas
 
PakProtector said:
hey-Hey!!!,
At one stop I got several sets of Langvin amps with pre's( 7 pairs and a single), all in their original rack mounts with Cannon connectors. Also included an RCA SA751 6146 amp, two MC75( consec serial numbers ), two dozen UTC A-18 transformers, two HF50's( with xf1 power tubes, and metal-based GZ34 ), and some misc tubes like GEC KT88 and 6550A...I have some pix somewhere, if I find, I post...:)
cheers,
Douglas
Click to expand...

What - they had no pallets full of Marantz No. 9's or 10B's?

Hard to see why you bothered.......







J/k - O. M. G. !
 
after being told i was on layoff, i went driving before going home, saw a garage sale sign, upon looking up the driveway i spoted a couple of electronic items... up close i see a couple of Mac's a mr-71 tube am/fm tuner and i 2500 preamp/amp. i only had 35.00 surely i just couldnt ask there was no price on them. but the lady did ask how much i would give for them, being on a few bills and just getting laidoff in the last hr i told her i only had 35.00. she went inside and came out and excepted the monie...all the way home i was screaming i caqnt believe i just bought both pc's for 35.00...plugin and waaalaaa. after about 5 yrs i sold the tuner for 1400.00 and the amp for 500.00. although i got laidoff that day and i spent everything i had on me.. i did have the tube gods smile upon me that day...
 
About 15 years ago I had bought a complete Heathkit ham setup missing the amp. At that time they were going for like $400 on the bay. Well I was with the wife and kid one day going to drop off the kid at the library and the wife took a strange way home.

I am just sitting there looking around and up ahead I see some stuff on the sidewalk, As we drive by I see a popcorn machine. Big one with glass and such. Then behind it I see this certain color thiningie and said "STOP" she says you don't need more junk!

I yell "Stop" again and run back to see it is the missing amp I need! Whoo Hoo. I grab it and dash to the car. I get home and she works great everything original.

That was a good day,

Scott
 
Used to run ads in the local shopping guides 10-20 years ago and had a few good scores.
one was a pile of Hallicrafters radios, a box of Tung-sol black plate 12ax7 bulk packed and all there, and test gear. Asked him what he wanted and he said $200 will do it. Wow.
Another was a fellow who called said he had some tubes. Got to his garage and one wall was lined with tubes to the ceiling! He wanted to get rid of them all and I obliged. He also wanted $200. It was 2+ full to the brim loads in Mom's Caprice Classic Wagon - a huge car. Included a pair of RCA black plate 6550 NIB ! :yes:
Another old fellow here in town had a big outbuilding that was home made and kept going on and on into the darkness. They were mostly used tubes but there were probably 40x 5gal buckets full at least and he wanted $100.

Never scored the corn crib full of tubes as I've heard were out there.

Where have all the good old days gone? 10-25 years ago they were just old obsolete junk. Of course 10-25 years ago $200 bought something and was not a little bit of dough so my Karma is Aok.
 
I don't remember the details exactly but got a few hundred very nice output tubes through barter town for $100. Tele's, Buggle Boys, RCA, Mullard, Amperex, General Electric, Sylvania etc. lots of 12ax7's 12au7's 12at7's enough to keep me in tubes for the rest of my life. I've also been able to pull at least 3 quads of Tele 12ax7's from old castoff gear.
 
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