Rarest of the Rare: Amperex Holland 7308 Bugle Boy Ever Verified by AudioTubes.com!

https://zosoncsu.com/2017/09/11/1963-amperex-holland-7308-w-bugle-boy-logo-first-one-ever-verified-by-audiotubes-com/

(Copy of pic is sharpened to show Date/Batch code)




Never before seen 7308 Bugle Boy Tube: Amperex (Holland) 7308 labeled (eqiv. E88CC or better) w/ the Bugle Boy logo (w/ production & date codes: 1963). First 7308 Holland Bugle Boy Ever Verified by AudioTubes.com in 20 years and counting.

Audio Tubes.com Email:

"In 20 years of tube collecting and tube selling, this is the FIRST real Bugle Boy 7308 I have ever seen! It appears your tube was originally imported into Canada, as it has HOLLAND etched into the glass at the top. This was standard for all Philips/Amperex tubes that were imported or sold in Canada. It is just possible that for some reason the Bugle Boy labels were only sold in Canada? The Holland name sandblasted into the glass is only seen on Dutch Philips or Amperex tubes coming out of Canada.


I think, due to the extreme rarity of a real Holland made and date coded 7308 Bugle boy, that 99% of those you actually encounter are fakes from Richardson Electronics. Your pictures do reinforce some facts that still tell the real thing from the fake: The fake 7308 or 6922 tubes NEVER have date codes or production codes on them. Yours does, so I will concede that you have one of the very few real Bugle Boy 7308 tubes in existence." - Brent from AudioTubes.com in an Email Response to Me


I am gauging interest to see where people would put the value of this ultra rare and amazing sounding tube vs. other rare tubes. However this is different caliber of rare even to say CCa Siemens or MiniWatt, those are just hard to find due to cost at time of production. The tube I have which still tests 77/100 on my 82A tube tester (in line with orig Ebay test results in link above) made in 1963 and found its way to the US through Canada.

When I found it on Ebay and had a strong suspicion this could be a diamond in the rough (ugly metallic Tektronix Sticker rating). However I had to take a chance on it and pay the premium for an Amperex 7308 Holland ($70-$80) testing about 85% with no shorts or leaks present. Screen still in good shape, overall the tube itself was nearly perfect except that ugly sticker..

I was offered $200 in 2015, but turned it down right after Brent from AudioTubes.com verified the tube as a real Bugle Boy, the first spotted online. $200 is about what a CCa brings, so what would you all value this tube at?

The sound really is beyond my Siemens CCa and my other Amperex 7308. The top end of the tube is detailed, but smooth and pleasant. The bottom end isn't the best of all 6992/E88CC equivalents I have heard, but it is tight and refined. I am basing these opinions off of my Aune T1 that uses the tube as an EQ buffer and then I am sending line out to my Magni 2 headphone amp for these comparison tests.

 

I hope I didn't come off in a light I didn't intend. I am genuinely looking for some smart tube guys to take a closer look at this tube. Consider the known history of fakes and then why would one suddenly appear in 2013 when I made the first thread? Less than a month later I had email verification from AudioTubes.

I will be posting high res images w/ 10x macro filter/lens on 50-200mm lens Samsung NX30000 soon (next week). These new pics will make batch and date codes very obvious without having to enhance the photo in any way.

I'd like to be able to figure out a general value in the current state it sits in (I don't use it much anymore), so the readings given in my tester above should be the same as now.

I am trying to get AudioTubes.com to update their website to reflect the fact they now know of ONE 7308 Holland Bugle Boy with real stamping/etching from factory which can be verified.

Thanks for any help or insight you all can provide on this rare tube I was lucky enough to get my hands on.

 

What equipment did you use for your evaluation of its sound quality?

 

Just a note to say that we at Richardson Electronics promise to do better on our NOS Bugle Boys!

 

Buying up a lot of early-'60s Revox G36 and Tandberg 64 reel to reel machines are goldmines for -at least- MiniWatt and Telefunken 12AX7's

 

Awesome! My headphone amp needs four of these tubes in matched pairs. Find three more and get lucky to be able to match pairs and I'm set.

 

I have never seen the tube, so NO, it is not the rarest. The rarest that I have seen and touched are a pair of Western Electric 252 mesh plate tubes. The person who owns that pair was offered something like $30k for them and turned that down. The rare stuff I own are 12 Western Electric 248s, 12 Western Electric 249s (both types for a 133 amp) and a pair of Telefunken 803S.

Just the other day I was talking to someone about 300A tubes and he pulled one out of a drawer to show it to me.

How about this for rare: an Electro-Harmonix 6sn7 that does NOT become noisy?

 

You should send it to Andy at vintage tube services for authentication and testing, if he does that. I only buy NOS from him at this point.

 

Thanks to everyone who has taken time out of their day to discuss rare vintage tubes.

I only have one device currently that accepts a 7308/6922/E88CC, my modded Aune T1 (cap upgrades & amp ckt removed) into a Schiit Magni 2 into my Audeze EL-8s.

Lol. If I manage to find just one more I would be shocked.

 

As promised here are some HQ pics with links to full resolution from my Samsung NX3000 + Macro Filter w/ Hood:

To begin, here is a known genuine Amperex Holland 6922 Bugle Boy and most importantly it is from a 1963 tube, same as mine.

Now you need to keep in mind all of our images on the 7308 Bugle Boy logo are from the reverse side since a Tektronix sticker is covering most of the logo except the very bottom at the pins of the drawing below.

Reference Logo:



Okay now the last time I did picture I added color to the batch codes to make it easier to see, but I am hoping if my uploads maintain quality you can see the V in almost all of the images on that side. The R is harder to see, but I found at least one picture where you could see it was there. I wonder why the date code below the batch code is still in great shape, but the other is almost invisible without touching a marker to it.

I am going for the fake-7308-tube's jugular right off the bat, here is exactly what I just described above. I put a small box around the location to be easier to spot. We are talking about tiny differences/depth in glass texture from a silk mask, but I can see it and I think most who look over it close will too. If you open the full size pics, you want to post it into a new Chrome window and it should zoom back out to fit (other browsers will too of course) the screen. The full size images are 8-12MB each.



Full Res 0: https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/15893060/img/Amperex-1963-7308-Holland-Bugle-Boy/1963-Amperex-7308-Bugle-Boy-5-Batch-Closeup-w-Box.jpg

I adjusted this photo to give us the best shot at some of the Bugle Boy logo on the far side and even in this photo you can see the date code.



Full Res 1: https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/...d-Bugle-Boy/1963-Amperex-7308-Bugle-Boy-2.jpg




Full Res 2: https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/...d-Bugle-Boy/1963-Amperex-7308-Bugle-Boy-3.jpg

How about we zoom in a little? Now we can see the same Amperex writing lower than the Holland etching and easily visible since very little tube is in our way at this angle.



Full Res 3: https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/...Bugle-Boy/1963-Bugle-Boy-Cropped-for-Logo.jpg

 

Again, here we can see date and batch code to the now trained naked eye including the large Holland etching.



Full Res 4: https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/...d-Bugle-Boy/1963-Amperex-7308-Bugle-Boy-4.jpg

Here we can see the beginnings of the Bugle Boy logo just barely poking out the bottom of the metallic Tektronix testing sticker.



Full Size 5 : https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/...and-Bugle-Boy/1963-Amperex-7308-Bugle-Boy.jpg

Comparisons of the known good logo from a ECC88 Amperex Bugle Boy and the bottom of the sticker (close-up)



Full Size 6 : https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/...e-Boy-Logo-for-Comparison-with-7308-Botto.jpg



Full Size 7 : https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/...d-Bugle-Boy/1963-Amperex-7308-Bugle-Boy-6.jpg

Hope this is useful down the road for someone trying to verify their finds.