Question about tubes... radio/tv vs. audio/hi-fi

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by pscreed, May 6, 2016.

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  1. pscreed

    pscreed Upstanding Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Land of the Free
    So many years ago I was walking down the street and happened upon a garage sale. The children were selling off the stock from their late father's tv/radio repair service. I bought hundreds of tubes, a couple of tube testers, and a pretty cool case for tubes (I'm sure it was for house calls) with a Raytheon logo for pocket change. I made the purchase because as an old guy with a few guitar amps hanging about, I knew that the couple sets of 6L6s, and the many 12AX7s in the lot I could find a good use for.

    I've recently gotten interested in hearing tube hi-fi sounds and ordered some gear from Decware. It seems like I also have some tubes that also could run in that gear (matching numbers from the Decware web site in my stash)...

    So here's the question: is there a way for me to sort through all these tubes with the goal of getting rid of those that are only of interest to radio/ham guys, and keeping those that might be useful for audio purposes? I just want to hang on to those that might be useful down the road if I acquire other tube gear. Maybe it's not that simple, if so sorry about that :)

    Thanks for reading this, I know there are some members that know this stuff backwards and forwards, I'd really appreciate hearing from you.
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2016
  2. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    You may need some assistance with this. Many pairs (like the phase splitter) needs to be carefully matched. Output tubes are the same. I don't know if you tube testers are going to give the information you need, and you also need to have the testers calibrated. I would look for someone with great skills locally that you could barter with, and trade them some tubes or gear in exchange for pulling out matched pairs that are going to be of use to you.
     
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  3. russk

    russk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
    I came across a tube stash like that about 3 years ago. I ended up with an old, out of calibration Hickok TV-7 and about 40 tubes. I ended up bringing all of it to a Hamfest and found a guy to go through them and test all the tubes for me with his setup. I kept the tubes I wanted and sold him the rest. There is a lot to vacuum tubes and testers, more than just plugging the tube in and looking at the meter. That said I wish I had kept the Hickok and got it restored so I could test my own tubes once in awhile
     
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  4. I've been around the vacuum tube world for awhile now. There are tons of TV tubes around, so there is not much interest in them. Probably the only tube-type TV around that anyone is interested in is the Zenith Predicta.
    The type of tubes which people are looking for fit radios, amps, jukeboxes and phonographs.
    People would bring boxes full of tubes to radio meets, but most would be for TV's, so nobody wanted them. Many sellers would leave them behind or through them into the dumpsters.
    Best thing is to sort through your tubes and contact some tube sellers to find out what they are and if they wanted to buy them from you.

    One thing that you might want to watch, the repair guys would put the old tubes back into the boxes that the new tubes came out of, so more than a few times, I've found old tubes in new pristine boxes over the years.
     
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  5. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    We never did that. It was more fun to put them back on the tube tester, turn the filament voltages up to 11 and pop 'em like flashbulbs.
     
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  6. I've seen 'em put old tubes in the new boxes many times and found them there years later.
     
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  7. FJosh

    FJosh Forum Resident

    I don't think he was doubting you.
     
  8. tubesandvinyl

    tubesandvinyl Forum Resident

    Sort out the power tubes: 6L6, 6BQ5, KT 66, etc

    Sort the driver tubes: 12AX7, AT7, AY7, AU7, 6SN7s, etc.

    Also keep the rectifiers: 5U4, 5Y3, 5AR4, etc

    Donate the rest.
     
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  9. pscreed

    pscreed Upstanding Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Land of the Free
    Thanks T&V... Do you know if there is an online reference that would help me categorize these (power/driver/rectifier/other)... That's pretty much what I'm looking for... Or can I derive that from the numbers on the tubes?
     
  10. arem

    arem Forum Resident

    I'd go to one of the online sellers like Tube Depot or Dougs Tubes and look at what they keep in stock, they usually say what purposes the different tubes are for and it will give you a rough idea about value as well.
     
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  11. vinylkid58

    vinylkid58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Victoria, B.C.
    You can search for tube data at Frank's site: Frank's Electron tube Pages ยป

    jeff
     
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  12. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Zenith did not make the Predicta, they built sets much better and much less of a PITA to repair. Philco made the Predicta, and that set was a set technicians disliked repairing.
     
  13. Sorry, I had a brain fart, Philco put out the Predicta.
     
  14. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Yes, and we all have them. Nice tube score and very interesting finds. Love seeing this one. And enjoy!
     
  15. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    If you find any branded Western Electric, set those aside too.
     
  16. tubesandvinyl

    tubesandvinyl Forum Resident

    You're welcome

    Just go to the tubestore, and search power, driver and rectifer tubes.
     
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  17. pscreed

    pscreed Upstanding Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Land of the Free
    Thanks for all the great feedback fellows, exactly what I was looking for.
     
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