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Tubes/Valves
Note: Russian tube prices have been zooming upwards.
Every day the price changes like fish at the market. The prices are
getting crazy!
See the info at the bottom of this page from New Sensor regarding home
tube testers.
Please use your ears to test tubes that I sell from New Sensor
Pre-amp tubes
Sovtek 12AX7WA/7025 Quiet, great sounding Fender pre amp tube.
This is the only 7025 I stock. A 7025 is used in the pre amp stages
on most Fenders.
A 7025 is a better quality 12AX7.
Sovtek 12AX7WB Darker sounding than a 12AX7WA
Great Marshall pre amp tube
12AX7LPS Sovtek This is the high end Sovtek pre amp tube.
12AX7EH Electro Harmonix This is the high end EH pre amp tube.
6072A/12AY7 Electro Harmonix Tweed era pre amp tube.
12AU7/ECC82 Electro Harmonix.
12AT7, N.O.S. Philips JAN
5751 Sovtek Lower gain than a 12AX7
12DW7 Electro Harmonix Ampeg SVT's
12BH7 Electro Harmonix Ampeg SVT's
Sorry, out of stock.
6AN8A
6AN8A - Discontinued Just a few left in stock
6EU7 Sovtek Gibson's
6SJ7 Sovtek
6SL7GT Sovtek
6SN7 Sovtek
Power tubes I buy all my power tubes in matched quartets and then
break them into pairs or singles.
If you order four tubes, you will get a matched quartet. If you order
two tubes I will break a quartet into two matched pairs.
I buy all of my power tubes with platinum matching. This means that
they have been burned in and matched for 24 hours.
It is very rare that I ever have any problems with any of the power
tubes that I sell.
6V6EH Matched pair
Also sold as singles for champs, etc.
6L6EH Matched pair
These tubes have been modeled after the vintage RCA blackplate 6L6's.
They feature larger plate dimensions and improved grid structure for
increased power handling capabilities. They also feature mica spacers
with metal springs to eliminate tube rattle and micro phonics.
Power tubes spring retainers
Sovtek over the top power tube spring retainers Holds tubes tight in sockets.
You can form the top of this tube holder for most large power tubes
and rectifier tubes.
For a skinny EL34 type tube just put the tube in the spring and bend
in the top two pieces until they contact the glass.
You can also cut or shorten the spring for shorter tubes like 6V6's.
Fender style tube clamp springs Grabs the phenolic base of the tube. This clamp is also called
a bear claw.
Sovtek over the top power tube spring retainers
for 9 pin EL84 power tubes.
The metal base will bolt down a 9 pin ceramic style tube socket
to the chassis.
I stock the ceramic 9 pin socket on my tube sockets page. See 9 Pin
ceramic socket #2
See this page for EL84 socket mounting tips http://www.el34world.com/charts/EL84Socket.htm
Rectifier tubes
(M) Solid state rectifier replacement Use to replace 5Y3, 5U4G and 5AR4/GZ34 type rectifier tubes.
(N) Sovtek 5Y3GT rectifier
(O) Sovtek 5U4G rectifier tube.
Electro Harmonix 5U4GB
Sovtek 5AR4/GZ34 rectifier tube New production.
Real 5AR4 with 5 pins.
Sovtek 5V4 rectifier tube Note that some batches of this tube have Russian lettering
on them.
The letters looks like 5u4C but the u is a Russian V. They are a real
5V4.
Please do not email with results from your home tube testers. Home tube
testers are worthless IMO as far as testing the tubes I get from New
Sensor. New Sensor spends a lot of time testing tubes many different
ways before they send them to me. I pay extra to get tubes that have
been thoroughly tested. Please read the response below from Otto at
New sensor regarding home tube testers and how New sensor test their
tubes. You can use your home tube tester to sort out the dead and junk
tubes from the flea market.
From Otto at New sensor: Emission testers such as Sencore Mighty Mite and B&K Dynajet
types do not give an accurate indication of the actual operation of
a vacuum tube. They only check cathode emission. These testers also
check for interelectrode leakage (in which the tester criteria can far
exceed typical application and will test many good tubes as defective).
In the emission test a voltage is place between the cathode and grid
through a load resistance and meter with the tube being tested as a
diode. Many times this is an AC voltage and can be as low as 40 volts
(depending on the tester design). This tells you nothing about the transconductance
(measured as mutual conductance on Hickok testers), which is the tube's
ability to amplify. We use two testers to test small signal tubes.
The main tester is the George Kaye Small Signal Tube Checker. This tester
places the tube in an actual small signal amplifier circuit to test
for gain, voltage output, and distortion. Both sides of a twin triode
can be compared for balance. This is especially useful when selecting
tubes for phase inverter service. This tester also has a small speaker
built in to check for noise and microphonics. If there is anything wrong
with a small signal tube, this tester will quickly and thoroughly analyze
the tube's condition. Vacuum Tube Valley makes a tester that tests similar
parameters. I once built a mock-up of a typical Fender preamp stage
that could select between the two triodes so a studio could test and
evaluate their 12AX7/12AT7 family tubes. They actual ran a CD player
through it and sent the signal to a monitor amplifier to actual listen
to the differences between different tubes. They could even hear the
difference in the sound of different brands of 12AX7 tubes. This would
be pretty much the same as when you put the tubes in the mixer to check
them. When I repair vintage amplifiers, I will try several different
types of 12AX7 tubes for the best sound (some amplifiers like certain
12AX7's over others).
The other tester we use is a New London Instruments Model 901A Transconductance
Analyzer. This tester is set up by using a tube manual for particular
tube being tested. All parameters (plate voltage, grid bias, etc.) can
be adjusted and monitored. You can actually plot tube curves on this
device.
We also have a Military TV-3B/U and some TV-7D/U's that we use for quick
go/no-go tests. These are basically military versions of Hickok mutual
conductance testers. (I repaired and calibrated many of these when I
was in the Navy). If the tube tests defective on these tester, they
are further evaluated on the George Kaye and New London testers
Another interesting fact regarding small signal tubes (especially 12AX7
types) is that the tubes have been modified slightly to satsify the
needs of the musical instrument amplifier and high end audio industries
(the biggest users). Some of these changes are to reduce noise and microphonics
in high gain amplifiers or improve linearity of the tube. Some of these
changes have shiffted the tube curves slightly or altered the geometry
of the tube, causing them to test weak or defective on simple emission
testers. I would say that placing the tubes in the mixer was the most
thorough and valid test, because you could actually hear what was going
on (an emission tester will not detect noise or a roll-off of high or
low frequencies). As stated in the RCA Receiving Tube Manual (RC-30)
in the section on tube testing, the best test of a tube is to place
in the actual circuit in which it will be used.
