[BrucYSN]

My WA22 is shipping next week, So I need some tubes to play with.

So where do you guys all buy your tubes in general? Ebay?

The other things is that one of Woo upgrade tubes is a pair of Shuguang Treasure CV181 tube for $280,

However, I found a seller on Ebay selling the matched pair for like $130 or so. I wonder If there is any different in quality of those two.

It like twice more expensive on Woo Site.


Thanks


Bruce

 

[Ultrainferno]

I'm sure there are lots of suggestions in the WA22 thread http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/423296/woo-wa22
I've bought tubes on ebay before, but I don't anymore. I'm sure some sellers can be trusted but most of the time you don't have test results and you never know what happened to the tubes. I'm only buying NOS tubes in a local store (I have the luck to work close to one of the worlds biggest seller/resellers)

 

[computerparts]

I have never had a problem with buying tubes on ebay. The thing about most tubes is they last quite a while. Buying tubes that test as NOS generally isn't necessary unless you're concerned with having that peace of mind that goes hand in hand. There are great deals out there that people who insist on buying tubes that test as NOS will miss out on. I don't know about the Shuguang Treasure tubes but the regular Shuguang are garbage IMO. Also, don't buy into the "matched" stereotype. There are various ways to "match" tubes that a lot of people don't realize. Some match by the test readings which IMO is more accurate. Others match by date codes and some even match by label alone believe it or not. Another misconception people have is microphonics. Unless the tubes are going into a phono stage or a guitar amp, microphonics is a non issue IMO. I don't think that WA22 uses CV181 tubes. I'd experiment with some 6SN7 first, then go from there. For a plethora of info on tubes see this page