Valuable Valves

[babblefish]

Wow! I've been out of vacuum tube audio for quite awhile, but I didn't think the value (according to Vacuum Tube Valley) of some NOS tubes have gone up that much. I guess I've been around tubes for so long that I take them for granted and I only see their monetary value of what I paid for them many (MANY?) years ago. Tubes such as the Amperex 12AX7 Bugle Boy, made in Holland - I have at least a dozen, new in the box. A couple dozen military grade 6L6, don't remember the maker(s), but I believe they were from the Korean war era. I can't even find a value for matched sets of made-in-England Mullard Gold Lion KT88's of which I have two match pairs, new in the boxes. Guess it's time for me to start thinking about a new audio project so as to not let some of these tubes go to waste.

[greenvalve]

You may be better off to sell them and build an amp with tubes that actually sound good. I'm just kidding, but only a little.

[andyjevans]

I'm not kidding at all - sell the lot and get some DHTs! collecting is one thing, great sound is another.

andy

[Glowbug]

http://tubedepot.com/nos-kt88.html

http://tubedepot.com/pa-12ax7-13.html

Better than the stock market.

[Palustris]

Yes, the same thing happened to me as I started with tube amps in the 1970s. I ended up selling some of the most valuable tubes to buy a really good CD player and the best output transformers I could find. I still have all the small signal tubes, but I am in no hurry to sell them even though I will probably not ever use them all. Ironically, I am still waiting for my best sounding tubes (to my ears) to appreciate in value as I bought way too many, but they remain depressed in price.

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by Glowbug

http://tubedepot.com/nos-kt88.html

http://tubedepot.com/pa-12ax7-13.html

Better than the stock market.

Does anyone actually buy these? If so it has to be people who don't listen to music and just collect the tubes.

I wonder where prices will go in the future? The prices of NOS tubes started to go up because there was no other source of quality tubes but now that there are good quality tubes being made again the NOS tubes have less real value except as collectable objects. The bubble could bust on the collectable market at any time.

The only trouble with the stock market is that most people don't follow the basic "buy low sell high" advice. They buy only when the market is high and going higher and then bail out when it crashes. I think the NOS tube market is near peak. It's a good time to be a seller, not a buyer.

So Yes, I'd sell the stash and build an amp with current production tubes that sound good.

[Glowbug]

The prices of NOS tubes started to go up because there was no other source of quality tubes but now that there are good quality tubes being made again the NOS tubes have less real value except as collectable objects.

For some tubes, though, I don't know if the ones being made today are the equals of the older ones. For others, I'd totally agree that the new ones are as good.

[Wavebourn]

10 years ago when I left Russia I had hundreds of 6E1P, 6E2P, 6E3P, 6N1P, 6N23P, 6J32P tubes in the closet, all in original boxes. I bought them as cheap as a dirt. Unfortunately my daughter and her husband did not know their values and throw them away to spare some space to store some shoes and similar things...

[aardvarkash10]

Originally Posted by Wavebourn

10 years ago when I left Russia I had hundreds of 6E1P, 6E2P, 6E3P, 6N1P, 6N23P, 6J32P tubes in the closet, all in original boxes. I bought them as cheap as a dirt. Unfortunately my daughter and her husband did not know their values and throw them away to spare some space to store some shoes and similar things...

So, do you speak to them at all these days?

[Wavebourn]

Originally Posted by aardvarkash10

So, do you speak to them at all these days?

A first, they did not know about values of tubes. Second, I did not know that some day I loose all my positions in software business and start trying to return to electronics design. Second, how is it possible not to speak to own children? And last, what all that goods are against human beings?