Can you recommend a tube tester?

[Alsatian]

Greetings! I have need for a preamp tube tester and was wondering if anyone can recommend a good one to buy. I have heard the Maxipreamp testers are good - thoughts on this? Advice is desired. Thanks!

[speakerfritz]

maxi pre tester is fine. on the used front a mercury 1000 is a good tester and easy to calibrte. its a deal becuase the guts are famous brand but it gets little attention in a mercury case. last made in mid 70's so it supports a verywide portfolio of tubes. tube data is up on the net.

[Alsatian]

Thank you, Speakerfritz. If anyone else has advice, particularly on the maxipreamp, I'd like to hear it.

[v4lve lover]

if money is no problem go for an amplitex


if you want something oldskool :
Neuberger 370 375 Funke W20 avro Mk 1 through 4 CT160
Dont forget the metrix U61

If your the King of DIY build your own

[radiostar]

Try to find Neuberger RPM370 RPM375 ... great testers and last for centuries ...

[v4lve lover]

Yeah those are Beasts, but unfortunately out of many peoples price range.

Your are a user right . could you tell me if the tester requires you to adjust the plate voltage once a tube starts pulling more current ?

I'd like to know just out of curiosity.


V4lve.

[Alsatian]

The truth is, V4lve, I don't think so. I just need to test the tubes to see if they are good. I'm pretty new to working with tubes (very new!) but I just inherited a large number of old tubes and I think its wise to be able to test them.

[battradio]

An Eico 666 or 667 is a good medium of the road tube tester , i use one as back up to my hickok 539C .

[v4lve lover]

i would opt for a I177 tvd7/u if your in the USA it tests quite alot of the old tubes. and is not nearly as junky as some of the other stuff. its also on the cheap end of the scale and gives pretty comparable measurements

Check your tube stash if their TV tubes dont bother you wont recoup your investment . except if some ultra rare sweep tubes ofc..



v4lve

[ArtG]

In this day, I’d imagine that most of the tube testers in the US spend 99%+ of their time unused. I consider audio a hobby, and only a hobby. Should you just happen to be located anywhere near south central PA, you would be welcome to bring your tubes, and use my recently recalibrated TV-7 to checkout your “stash”. If it’s geographically impractical, perhaps, there are others that would extend the same offer.