Question regarding value of Telefunken tubes.

thoriated · 16th February 2011, 03:59 PM

Last night I was testing some (hopefully final) xover mods to my HT column speakers (I will provide photos soon), and was using a Scott stereo integrated tube amp to drive them. However, the amp appeared to fail during testing (playing at a moderate average level with little or no apparent distortion even on peaks), so I shut down for the day. Since one output transformer had gotten quite hot and little but hum was coming out of the amp, I more or less assumed the transformer had failed for that channel (after all, the amp has to be around 50 years old).

This morning I powered the amp up again, and the problem was still there. I took a look at the 6BQ5/EL84 output tubes and saw that one was dark, so I turned the amp off again and pulled the tube. I was surprised to see that the tube had broken apart just above the socket and had no vacuum. Just to see if that was the only issue at hand, I powered the amp up briefly without the tube and played sound through it for a couple seconds. Both channels played, but the one with just the one tube was quite distorted of course. This gave me some confidence that the amp itself had survived the ordeal.

The actual tubes in the output were nearly new (probably around 100-200 hours) Telefunken 6BQ5/EL84's, of which I now have three. It occurred to me that it might make sense to put the remaining three up for sale and put some (admittedly lower quality) new manufacturer replacements in this amp. Does anybody have an idea how much nearly new gold pin Telefunken 6BQ5/EL84's might bring on Ebay, for instance?

Miniwatt · 16th February 2011, 06:46 PM

Is your Google out of order?

I got plenty of hits. You could make quite some money it seems.

But isn't the getter supposed to turn white when the vacuum's gone?

LAJ · 16th February 2011, 07:10 PM

With the situation in tubes, I would snap up all that you can.

thoriated · 08:40 PM

Quote:

Is your Google out of order?

So, did you find anything definitive about their worth? What I found there were values all over the map & was hoping to get an expert opinion.

Quote:

But isn't the getter supposed to turn white when the vacuum's gone?

I noticed that in passing as I removed the fragments of the tube from the socket.

VictoriaGuy · 16th February 2011, 11:49 PM

There's only been one eBay auction recently for used Telefunken EL84s, as far as I can see. 5 used, tested tubes for $159.
Item #370480647154
Of course if you advertise them as NOS (like a lot of crooks selling used tubes reputedly do.......) it would be a different story.

16th February 2011, 03:59 PM	#1
thoriated diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: flyover country	Question regarding value of Telefunken tubes. Last night I was testing some (hopefully final) xover mods to my HT column speakers (I will provide photos soon), and was using a Scott stereo integrated tube amp to drive them. However, the amp appeared to fail during testing (playing at a moderate average level with little or no apparent distortion even on peaks), so I shut down for the day. Since one output transformer had gotten quite hot and little but hum was coming out of the amp, I more or less assumed the transformer had failed for that channel (after all, the amp has to be around 50 years old). This morning I powered the amp up again, and the problem was still there. I took a look at the 6BQ5/EL84 output tubes and saw that one was dark, so I turned the amp off again and pulled the tube. I was surprised to see that the tube had broken apart just above the socket and had no vacuum. Just to see if that was the only issue at hand, I powered the amp up briefly without the tube and played sound through it for a couple seconds. Both channels played, but the one with just the one tube was quite distorted of course. This gave me some confidence that the amp itself had survived the ordeal. The actual tubes in the output were nearly new (probably around 100-200 hours) Telefunken 6BQ5/EL84's, of which I now have three. It occurred to me that it might make sense to put the remaining three up for sale and put some (admittedly lower quality) new manufacturer replacements in this amp. Does anybody have an idea how much nearly new gold pin Telefunken 6BQ5/EL84's might bring on Ebay, for instance?

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16th February 2011, 06:46 PM	#2
Miniwatt diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Den Haag	Is your Google out of order? I got plenty of hits. You could make quite some money it seems. But isn't the getter supposed to turn white when the vacuum's gone?

16th February 2011, 07:10 PM	#3
LAJ diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Atlanta Ga. USA	With the situation in tubes, I would snap up all that you can.

16th February 2011, 11:49 PM	#5
VictoriaGuy diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Victoria, BC	There's only been one eBay auction recently for used Telefunken EL84s, as far as I can see. 5 used, tested tubes for $159. Item #370480647154 Of course if you advertise them as NOS (like a lot of crooks selling used tubes reputedly do.......) it would be a different story.

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