I just got back from a friend's house checking out some old boxes of tubes his son left in his storage shed.
He had the usual assortment of small TV tubes, plus a few WWII era tubes.
But he also had four Western Electric 205D tubes in the original boxes. The one I unpacked looked new, and one of the boxes has never been opened.
I looked on ebay, and they seem quite valuable.
I assume they are used for low power triode audio amplifiers, but I had never run across any of these before.
The dad was willing to just give them to me for free, but I needed to look them up first since I didn't know what they were.
I told him to set them aside and consider selling them on ebay, as it wouldn't be fair to his son for me to just take them for nothing.
Anyhow, can anyone give me any background on how these are used in the audio world?
He had the usual assortment of small TV tubes, plus a few WWII era tubes.
But he also had four Western Electric 205D tubes in the original boxes. The one I unpacked looked new, and one of the boxes has never been opened.
I looked on ebay, and they seem quite valuable.
I assume they are used for low power triode audio amplifiers, but I had never run across any of these before.
The dad was willing to just give them to me for free, but I needed to look them up first since I didn't know what they were.
I told him to set them aside and consider selling them on ebay, as it wouldn't be fair to his son for me to just take them for nothing.
Anyhow, can anyone give me any background on how these are used in the audio world?
Looking at the datasheet on page 8 here:
http://www.6v6.co.uk/vcomp/manuals/pdfs/Western Electric Tube Manual 1933.pdf
It appears to be useful as either a driver, or as an output tube for low power output (1.2W).
It was used in WE Amplifiers (WE 25b, 32A and others) and anyone possessing such an amp would be interested in the tubes.
In addition, there are people who wish to build their own amplifiers with them.
http://www.6v6.co.uk/vcomp/manuals/pdfs/Western Electric Tube Manual 1933.pdf
It appears to be useful as either a driver, or as an output tube for low power output (1.2W).
It was used in WE Amplifiers (WE 25b, 32A and others) and anyone possessing such an amp would be interested in the tubes.
In addition, there are people who wish to build their own amplifiers with them.
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More detailed data: http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/frank/sheets/136/2/205D.pdf
The 14W plate rating is impressive; however the tube does not conduct well, and is rated only 400V, so 1.3 Watts output is about all you get, and that at high impedance.
Agree that since you/they do not know what it is, sell them to a fanatic.
The 14W plate rating is impressive; however the tube does not conduct well, and is rated only 400V, so 1.3 Watts output is about all you get, and that at high impedance.
Agree that since you/they do not know what it is, sell them to a fanatic.
These are used in "Pre" WWII Cinema Amplifier system (Amp+Speaker). Here is a schematic for the Western Electric 42A. You get more than 1W since it is used as Push-Pull and for power supply. However these 205's are so expensive and hard to replace, I wouldn't push or pull more than 2W out from them.
This won't be a normal projects. I wouldn't try unless there are special reasons and the attention plus know-how needed.
This won't be a normal projects. I wouldn't try unless there are special reasons and the attention plus know-how needed.
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Another vote for getting them into the hands of someone with a Western Electric cinema amp. They will be able to afford full market value if they have those amps, so don't let them be given away.
Hello,
Did any of you have the opportunity to compare the different recently manufactured tubes with the same characteristics to replace a Western Electric 205D
Because I need to buy some waiting to find good original WE 205D
Did any of you have the opportunity to compare the different recently manufactured tubes with the same characteristics to replace a Western Electric 205D
Because I need to buy some waiting to find good original WE 205D
If you are going to build an amp with a tube from the times when tubes were invented and not having a stash of it already, it needs faith and deep pockets. I would never choose such a rare tube and even when I had them available, I would sell them to fund the project and use other tubes.
There are no real bad tubes and NOS is plentyfull available.
Do you know the guy who build a first class amp with a PL82? People with their 300B amps have changed to that design, when possible.
This one is so cheap, probably can buy hundreds for one 205D.
There are so many other things that make an amp sound good or bad, most often the tubes aren't to blame.
There are no real bad tubes and NOS is plentyfull available.
Do you know the guy who build a first class amp with a PL82? People with their 300B amps have changed to that design, when possible.
This one is so cheap, probably can buy hundreds for one 205D.
There are so many other things that make an amp sound good or bad, most often the tubes aren't to blame.