Hello,
I need new tubes for one of my diy amps. Until now, I used to buy them at well established online shops (tubeworld..).
As I want to stay cheap, i intended buying them on ebay. I had some real desappointments with previous buys there 😡 (used commecial hifi elements mainly, before i went diy)
Did you have any "surprise" with the announced quality / measure values for tubes on ebay ?
Thanks
Eric
I need new tubes for one of my diy amps. Until now, I used to buy them at well established online shops (tubeworld..).
As I want to stay cheap, i intended buying them on ebay. I had some real desappointments with previous buys there 😡 (used commecial hifi elements mainly, before i went diy)
Did you have any "surprise" with the announced quality / measure values for tubes on ebay ?
Thanks
Eric
I do not have a tube tester, however I ordered a quad of "matched" kt88's from a big tube-store on Ebay, the tubes were bad. On one of them the plate itself started glowing.
It ended with a diffrent quad, this time from a private seller, also on ebay, who assured me that the tubes he had up for sale had only been used for an hour or so, then replaced with another brand he favored.
Those tubes were flawless, no problems at all.
I have also bought some russian tubes, direct replacement to ecc88, they were sold more or less "as is", no matched sets, I had nothing to go on except my ears and they sounded and looked wonderful.
I have also bought a matched pair of 300B a couple of years back. They were also ok, I can not verify that they lasted as long as they should since I sold the amp a year later.
It ended with a diffrent quad, this time from a private seller, also on ebay, who assured me that the tubes he had up for sale had only been used for an hour or so, then replaced with another brand he favored.
Those tubes were flawless, no problems at all.
I have also bought some russian tubes, direct replacement to ecc88, they were sold more or less "as is", no matched sets, I had nothing to go on except my ears and they sounded and looked wonderful.
I have also bought a matched pair of 300B a couple of years back. They were also ok, I can not verify that they lasted as long as they should since I sold the amp a year later.
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Unless they tell how they are matched, I consider most ebay matching to be done by emission testing which is just about useless.
I've bought several lots of Russian tubes that were fine with the exception of an incident with a 6P1P-EV that looked like a flashbulb. That out of a lot of 50.
I had four more tubes fail after that by testing them in the same amp, and I suspect damage to the amp caused the subsequent failures.
I've bought several lots of tubes that were advertised as NIB and they were fine.
I've never bought any used tubes so I can't say about them.
I'm waffling on putting a few new and used tubes on ebay. A lot of them are used and check 75% or so even though they are in proper boxes.
I've bought several lots of Russian tubes that were fine with the exception of an incident with a 6P1P-EV that looked like a flashbulb. That out of a lot of 50.
I had four more tubes fail after that by testing them in the same amp, and I suspect damage to the amp caused the subsequent failures.
I've bought several lots of tubes that were advertised as NIB and they were fine.
I've never bought any used tubes so I can't say about them.
I'm waffling on putting a few new and used tubes on ebay. A lot of them are used and check 75% or so even though they are in proper boxes.
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I'm selling my NOS power tubes on eBay currently. All of them were tested, but anyway if arrives non-working or damages I will refund. Sometimes they are dropped in post offices, no packing can help.
I think it depends on what tubes you're buying, and where they're from. I bought a lot of 50 NOS Svetlana (Winged-C) 6BM8's from Russia - NIB, and they were - for $50. Got them in 1 week, and all tested perfect.
So, you need to really think about how they're advertised and where they're from.
Used, I'd be very careful. New, and not too popular, I think you might find some real deals.
Bill
So, you need to really think about how they're advertised and where they're from.
Used, I'd be very careful. New, and not too popular, I think you might find some real deals.
Bill
I've been careful with these boxes of tubes and still found two broken ones tonight that I'm sure were not broken a couple of months ago.
Sad, one was brand new by the looks of it.
Sad, one was brand new by the looks of it.
I've bought new and used. Look a how long he seller has been around and at their feedback. Do they sell a fair amount of tubes? If so, then you can probably trust what is stated in the posting. I usually look for real test results. Some sellers take pictures of their tester. Both can be faked of course, but again that goes back to the sellers reputation. Some real bargains can be had from sellers who have good reps but don't normally deal in tubes and therefore can't test them. Higher risk for the buyer, but the price should reflect that.
I've had a few duds, but most of the used and new tubes I bought were as advertised.
I've had a few duds, but most of the used and new tubes I bought were as advertised.
I've had generally pretty good luck on and off ebay. Leave your bull dust detector on no matter where you shop and you will usually be ok. Use greater rigor when you are spending more more money and remember, if it looks too good to be true...
Works pretty well for me.
Works pretty well for me.
I bought a 0C3 tube from AES that was dead on arrival. I called them up and informed them that the tube they sent me didn't work. They sent a tested one out right away - no questions asked.
I've bought some 5AR4's on eBay. Work great.
Like anything else on eBay, you gotta read up on the seller and remember that in most cases you get what you pay for. But also remember that many of the tube places on-line offer return policies or no dead on arrival guarantees that along with their reasonable prices blow the eBay traders out of the water.
~Tom
I've bought some 5AR4's on eBay. Work great.
Like anything else on eBay, you gotta read up on the seller and remember that in most cases you get what you pay for. But also remember that many of the tube places on-line offer return policies or no dead on arrival guarantees that along with their reasonable prices blow the eBay traders out of the water.
~Tom
I bought a pair of dud 45s. It was risky as the posting was short on details but claimed they tested strong. When I got them, both had bizarre physical defects that I could spot in the eBay picture after the fact (getter material blown off the glass and floating around the bottom of the tube). They did test strong, but I have not used them for fear of shorts.
Slightly off topic, but I have excellent customer service over the years from both AES and more recently from TubeDepot.com. Both their prices are very competitive and they are my preferred vendors for new production stuff.
I got a bad quad of JJ KT77s from AES. Two had cathodes that slid down out of the mica and shorted on one of the other straps. The initial failure fried a brand new JJ 5AR4. I then arced a Chinese 5AR4 several times in the same amp before I figured out the problem. AES exchanged both the quad and the 5AR4 that had been fried, no questions asked.
More recently, TubeDepot.com offered replace a weak EL84M that I bought in a quad almost a year ago but had never used until now. I ended up buying a new pair anyway, but Brian was very nice to work with.
Slightly off topic, but I have excellent customer service over the years from both AES and more recently from TubeDepot.com. Both their prices are very competitive and they are my preferred vendors for new production stuff.
I got a bad quad of JJ KT77s from AES. Two had cathodes that slid down out of the mica and shorted on one of the other straps. The initial failure fried a brand new JJ 5AR4. I then arced a Chinese 5AR4 several times in the same amp before I figured out the problem. AES exchanged both the quad and the 5AR4 that had been fried, no questions asked.
More recently, TubeDepot.com offered replace a weak EL84M that I bought in a quad almost a year ago but had never used until now. I ended up buying a new pair anyway, but Brian was very nice to work with.
Ebay is like anything else, "Buyer Beware".
Couple of points when buying on ebay.
#1. The "overall" feel of the listing. ie; does the seller know what he is listing and is the price "fair" for the item. Pricing too low from someone appearing to be "knowledgeable" would be a "red flag" to me.
#2. FEEDBACK. Look it over carefully.
#3. Return Policy clealy stated. There is nothing wrong with NOT taking returns of NOS or USED tubes but NEW tubes should be guranteed somehow.
#4. Again Buyer Beware a "Deal to good to be true" probably ISN'T TRUE
This being said, I have bought a lot of used or NOS tubes along with Tube Lots and have very rarely if ever found them to be "bad" tubes.
Couple of points when buying on ebay.
#1. The "overall" feel of the listing. ie; does the seller know what he is listing and is the price "fair" for the item. Pricing too low from someone appearing to be "knowledgeable" would be a "red flag" to me.
#2. FEEDBACK. Look it over carefully.
#3. Return Policy clealy stated. There is nothing wrong with NOT taking returns of NOS or USED tubes but NEW tubes should be guranteed somehow.
#4. Again Buyer Beware a "Deal to good to be true" probably ISN'T TRUE
This being said, I have bought a lot of used or NOS tubes along with Tube Lots and have very rarely if ever found them to be "bad" tubes.
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