I know this may sound like a stupid question but I've been out of the loop, regarding stereos, tube amps, tube pre-amps and various tube amplifier kits.
Since I recently regained my passion for all this stuff I started browsing eBay and Google and several of the online retailers that are still in business from my bookmarks.
Case in point, maybe 2 or 3 years ago I purchased the kit amplifier pictured below.
When I bought it I paid $39 plus shipping. Today I went to see if that kit was still available and I noticed that they expanded the line a bit but what really caught my attention is that my $39 8 Watts per channel tube amplifier kit is now selling right around the $200 point? What?
I'm serious, could someone please fill me in on what happened to make the prices for these things to jump sky high in a relatively short amount of time?
Next there is eBay and everyone who has any type of tube amp or pre-amp listed it with "Vintage" listed in the title. Some of those "amplifiers" looked like they were buried in the ground for the last 10 years and yet they are being bid on and actual bidding wars take place. I saw some amp go for over $270 and it was complete junk. I mean I've been buying audio gear at garage sales (some really fantastic gear at that) since I was 12 years old and that amp that sold for $270 wouldn't get a second look from anyone back then. I can't explain just how horrible this amplifier was, just horrible. Naturally no tubes included, some of the wiring broken and the transformer half eaten by rust.
Guys, please, I'm begging you. Please tell me what calamity transpired in the 2-3 years that I was away from audio gear that cause prices to explode and everyone else collectively losing their spit?
I hadn't thought about the Bottlehead Foreplay in many years but since I was looking up kits I thought I'd see how much my first project was selling for now. I was extremely disappointed that the Bottlehead Foreplay (the original) is gone and replaced by the Foreplay II and then the Foreplay III and a much higher price point.
I'm kinda kicking myself for selling my Foreplay a few years ago as I could really use a decent per-amplifier right now.
It seems like there aren't any decent kits out there for less than $150 and that is really depressing cause sometimes you just want to buy a kit for the fun of building it and at that price that's a little expensive as just a fun afternoon activity.
Edit: If anyone has an extra tube for the pictured kit amplifier that you can spare than please PM me and we'll figure something out. Unfortunately one of my tubes broke when I was moving so I need to replace it. Also, if you happen to have a good idea for a nice enclosure/case to mount it in than please let me know.
Since I recently regained my passion for all this stuff I started browsing eBay and Google and several of the online retailers that are still in business from my bookmarks.
Case in point, maybe 2 or 3 years ago I purchased the kit amplifier pictured below.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
When I bought it I paid $39 plus shipping. Today I went to see if that kit was still available and I noticed that they expanded the line a bit but what really caught my attention is that my $39 8 Watts per channel tube amplifier kit is now selling right around the $200 point? What?
I'm serious, could someone please fill me in on what happened to make the prices for these things to jump sky high in a relatively short amount of time?
Next there is eBay and everyone who has any type of tube amp or pre-amp listed it with "Vintage" listed in the title. Some of those "amplifiers" looked like they were buried in the ground for the last 10 years and yet they are being bid on and actual bidding wars take place. I saw some amp go for over $270 and it was complete junk. I mean I've been buying audio gear at garage sales (some really fantastic gear at that) since I was 12 years old and that amp that sold for $270 wouldn't get a second look from anyone back then. I can't explain just how horrible this amplifier was, just horrible. Naturally no tubes included, some of the wiring broken and the transformer half eaten by rust.
Guys, please, I'm begging you. Please tell me what calamity transpired in the 2-3 years that I was away from audio gear that cause prices to explode and everyone else collectively losing their spit?
I hadn't thought about the Bottlehead Foreplay in many years but since I was looking up kits I thought I'd see how much my first project was selling for now. I was extremely disappointed that the Bottlehead Foreplay (the original) is gone and replaced by the Foreplay II and then the Foreplay III and a much higher price point.
I'm kinda kicking myself for selling my Foreplay a few years ago as I could really use a decent per-amplifier right now.
It seems like there aren't any decent kits out there for less than $150 and that is really depressing cause sometimes you just want to buy a kit for the fun of building it and at that price that's a little expensive as just a fun afternoon activity.
Edit: If anyone has an extra tube for the pictured kit amplifier that you can spare than please PM me and we'll figure something out. Unfortunately one of my tubes broke when I was moving so I need to replace it. Also, if you happen to have a good idea for a nice enclosure/case to mount it in than please let me know.
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Many things on ebay are now more expensive than they used to be. In some cases they are more expensive than buying in a shop or from a dealer. Yes, there are people who will pay more for an item from an unknown seller with no warranty than they could get it from a dealer.
Audio has now become a 'lifestyle' option so it attracts people with money but little knowledge.
Audio has now become a 'lifestyle' option so it attracts people with money but little knowledge.
Well eBay has always been a double edged sword, there are deals to be had but there are also people who get caught up in bidding wars and drive prices up. Ebay isn't the major point for me though. The amp pictured above I bought from an online retailed a couple of years ago for roughly $40. It's a really nice little amp but I was blown away when I started checking up on things and found that the amp sells for right around $200 and that's not an eBay price either.
Just wow.
I really hope that 12B4A & bigwill are right about the tube in question because I honestly haven't a clue.
It's strange but the remaining tubes I have for it have absolutely no markings of any type on them.
BTW, if you two are right about what tube that is then you've just saved me a ton of homework in the form of research.
I've seen that amp mentioned here before. It's the 8 watts Stereo Audio Amp and I believe it's from the same line as the KG amp kits though I could be remembering that wrong so don't take it a gospel.
I hope it's OK if I post a link but I'm 95% certain that I found exactly which amplifier I have.
Almost positive it's the S-5 Electronics K-12M Tube Amplifier Kit.
K-12M Tube Amplifier Kit
If it's not exactly the K-12 then it's from the same family which means that the tubes will likely be standardized between the brother amps, at least that's how it looks to me.
Almost positive it's the S-5 Electronics K-12M Tube Amplifier Kit.
K-12M Tube Amplifier Kit
If it's not exactly the K-12 then it's from the same family which means that the tubes will likely be standardized between the brother amps, at least that's how it looks to me.
Its the end of the world dude, I'm fully preparing for mad max down here and getting my XT500 out of storage...
I was put off that kit because it was $200 when Scott17's kit was $299 without transformers or chassis... http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendors-bazaar/180897-kt88-se-basic-master-kit.html
Like the sign says, "speed's just a question of money. How fast you wanna go?"
I was put off that kit because it was $200 when Scott17's kit was $299 without transformers or chassis... http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendors-bazaar/180897-kt88-se-basic-master-kit.html
Like the sign says, "speed's just a question of money. How fast you wanna go?"
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yeah the reason why i say its the end of the world is because the prices always go up but the income stays the same.
Were headed for hyperinflation I think, this is the main reason why I build all of my equipment inorder for it to outlast me.
I know that its offtopic to talk about politics but i've actually wanted to talk for a long time about equipment failure and how to avoid it, and that is something that we CAN talk about on here.
I wouldn't have bought Scott17's amp for example unless it had those paper in oil capacitors in it, PIO caps last forever.
I wouldn't have bought my new motherboard (asus p8z68 deluxe gen3) unless it had solid capacitors in the psu and it was horrendously overbuilt for the task of running a core i3 2120-T
Were headed for hyperinflation I think, this is the main reason why I build all of my equipment inorder for it to outlast me.
I know that its offtopic to talk about politics but i've actually wanted to talk for a long time about equipment failure and how to avoid it, and that is something that we CAN talk about on here.
I wouldn't have bought Scott17's amp for example unless it had those paper in oil capacitors in it, PIO caps last forever.
I wouldn't have bought my new motherboard (asus p8z68 deluxe gen3) unless it had solid capacitors in the psu and it was horrendously overbuilt for the task of running a core i3 2120-T
It's possible that I'm remembering it wrong but I distinctly remember thinking that kit was more of a toy than a real amplifire so I can't imagine spending that much back then. Naturally I no longer think of it as a toy after listening to it quite a bit over the years but back then, I dunno. The Bottlehead Foreplay looked far more impressive in person and it was my first experience with kits.
freax, you're a man who know how to think on his feet and is prepared for every eventuality. I like that. Once the world ends and the last roving gangs take over whats left of the earth I will make you my right hand man in my dictatorial administration. ;-)
freax, you're a man who know how to think on his feet and is prepared for every eventuality. I like that. Once the world ends and the last roving gangs take over whats left of the earth I will make you my right hand man in my dictatorial administration. ;-)
That is definitely good to know.
The problem is that this kit barely has a name. To look at the board you'd be hard pressed to figure out who produced the kit, when and with which tubes. Finally, to make the game even more fun they used tubes that have absolutely no markings of any type on them. Maybe I need to take one of the good tubes I have into a shop around here that deals with all manner of strange electrical things and part to see if maybe they have a way of figuring it out.
I've been buying "vintage" audio equipment on epay for over a decade and was able to buy some great gear cheap in the first few years. I remember passing up a Western Electric portable amp used as a replacement in the case of failure of the main amp because $400 seemed like a lot of money. Anyway, the price of vintage audio has easily doubled in the last 5 years and some of what I see people pay for decrepit derelicts is astonishing. We have to remember that we are competing for items in a global market place when bidding on epay and that exchange rates between currencies can make the prices expensive for some and cheap for others with strong currencies. I think this contributes to the high prices. I have to wonder how long these strong prices last and if this is a good time to unload all the piles of gear and tubes I have acquired over the years.
I hadn't thought of it in those terms but you're 100% right. I just saw a news story where a man brought his family over from Europe to go shopping on "Black Friday" in US stores. The reason he gave was that even with airfare and lodging he would still be coming out ahead in regards to Christmas costs.
Now granted, he's probably buying a TON of things and is obviously well off but still, that story took me by surprise.
I guess this must only be true for tubes.
I tried selling class AB and class d amps and couldn't give them away at cost to make prices !
I guess it is just supply and demand.
post a photo of those tubes. and i'l see. the ECL86 has a very distinct triode section witch is ribbed. the ECL82 has a very distinct long flat triode section. and the PCL85 has a short boxy triode section. there is also the . this is by Philips types witch make up 90% of found tubes here in Europe.
kind regards.
V4lve
kind regards.
V4lve
back when I first got into tube gear - it was 1989. No one wanted this junk except for a very small clique of freaks. I got my first Dynaco 70 - with a separate Lambda regulator to power the front end - for $100. I bought my girlfriend a Scottt integrated for $90. My friend was running all Mac gear - stuff that he bought for just a few hundred dollars - like the McIntosh 240, a pair of 60s, 30s, etc etc. Another guy stripped down an entire C-22 to build his own preamplifier in it. I got to see and hear many of the classic Western Electric amplifiers.
And the tubes! I saw boxes and boxes of original Gold Lion, Telefunken, Amperex, Mullard, RCA, etc audio tubes.
Back then, little did I know how the popularity of vintage gear and the tubes themselves would take off. Of course I was a poor college kid back then and could barely afford the Dynaco 70!
And the tubes! I saw boxes and boxes of original Gold Lion, Telefunken, Amperex, Mullard, RCA, etc audio tubes.
Back then, little did I know how the popularity of vintage gear and the tubes themselves would take off. Of course I was a poor college kid back then and could barely afford the Dynaco 70!
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