[Strat-Mangler]

   
 
All of my tubes have come off Ebay and all of them have performed flawlessly, that is including the 5 tubes in my modded Fender Blues Jr. 
 
You just have to find a reputable tube seller like greengirl613 (I've bought matching GE EL84's from her) or feelincolorado (bought my Siemens 6992 from him and this tube is a perfect fit).  As long as they are showing test results from something like a B&K 606 DynaJet or Hickok 6000A (these are obviously just random examples of test equipment) and they have a good reputation of selling tubes, you are completely fine.  Hell most online tube stores list their stuff on Ebay also.
 
There is no reason to pay twice the price for the exact same tube if you can find it on Ebay that much cheaper (as long as what I said above is in place for the sale).

 
I'd like to add an element of precision to this.
 
Tube sellers all test tubes differently. For that reason, eBay is not necessarily (on paper, anyway) the most reliable way of getting tubes. Having said that, the tubes I've received worked perfectly.
 
And if you think 5 tubes is a lot, it's a good thing you don't own my '71 Super Reverb! Try 9 tubes.

 

[SirMarc]

Hey, good news for HTC one m8 users out there, USB audioplayer pro bypasses the boomsound feature!!! It's expensive at almost 10 bucks, but totally worth it. On a side note, just ordered an amperex 7308 from upscale and driver grade is 65 now. I'll post back when I get it

 

[NCSUZoSo]

   
I'd like to add an element of precision to this.
 
Tube sellers all test tubes differently. For that reason, eBay is not necessarily (on paper, anyway) the most reliable way of getting tubes. Having said that, the tubes I've received worked perfectly.
 
And if you think 5 tubes is a lot, it's a good thing you don't own my '71 Super Reverb! Try 9 tubes.

 
Lol, yea I am running all NOS in my Fenders Blues Jr.
 
If you are interested you can see everything I did here: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/glowing-bottle-tube-amp-forum/439758-meet-ultimate-blues-jr-nos-tubes-g12h-billm-etc.html
 

 
Those are all off Ebay and all perform flawlessly, especially when I changed out that 12AX7 in V1 to a 12AY7 for more clean headroom and yes that is a Celestion G12H made in England (the speaker they designed to be as close as possible to the speakers that Hendrix used)
 

 
 
So I have bought a total of 9 tubes off Ebay from reputable tube sellers (all with test results) and not one has given me a single problem.  I agree there are sellers on Ebay that are selling tubes that do not perform how you expect, but normally those tubes are very cheap and you will notice they have no test results in the ad.
 
 
Anyway back on topic! 

 

 

[sandab]

They're not likely to give you problems, but when you have two channels you want matched parts, which requires measuring them.  The other problem is there are a lot of fakes out there: contemporary inexpensive tubes relabeled and sold as NOS.

 

[NCSUZoSo]

  They're not likely to give you problems, but when you have two channels you want matched parts, which requires measuring them.  The other problem is there are a lot of fakes out there: contemporary inexpensive tubes relabeled and sold as NOS.

 
 
Well just for example my Sylvania 12AY7 ($35) has perfectly matched triodes (completely balanced)
 

 Sylvania 12AY7 w/ round "getter gray plates" (tested on a Hickock 752A, results being Triode 1 = 2000 microOhms / Triode 2 = 2000 microOhms

 
Also with power tubes like the GE EL84s' 6BQ5 ($75 for pair), sometimes you actually get a "sweeter glassy" sound out of them slightly off balanced than perfectly matched like the V1-V3 slots for the preamp.
 

 NOS GE EL84's (these were both tested on a calibrated Hickok 6000A and the results were 7500 and 6800 microOhms)

 
Then you have the Siemens 6992 that is in my Aune T1 ($63 tube)
 

Tester: Calibrated and very consistent B&K 606 DynaJet where NOS 6DJ8/6922/7308 typically test 83-88...
Tube"s test as follows...      
Tube 1 tests...88/89
Shorts, Gas, Grid Emissions-None
All tubes are fully tested at least twice, if not more before I list them...If I even think a tube is questionable, it will never make it to Ebay...I guarantee all tubes I sell to be as stated, and in good working order at the time of shipment...All items are sold as is, and being that I cannot test all tubes in real word situations, it is possible that a bad one gets by, even though it tested fine...That being said, if such an occurance takes place, just email me and I will do my best to remedy the situation...I have no desire to stick you with tubes that do not live up to functional expectations...Please feel free to email with questions, and thank you for looking...

 
 
IMO Ebay is the one way to get high quality NOS without paying dumb amounts of money, not to mention any reputable tube seller will take returned tubes for up to 14 days, depending on the seller.  However if some people are that scared of Ebay tubes then by all means go spend an arm and leg at places like TubeMonger.

 

[slntdth93]

Does anybody have issues with audio glitching/freezing when switching application windows? i.e. I'm listening to something on WMP/foobar, then when I switch to chrome, I have a 2 second freeze on audio.
This is also happening a lot when I'm watching a video on VLC or GOM, AC3 audio or DTS

 

[milan616]

 You probably need to go into Sound Devices, Playback Devices, choose your Aune T1 and disable the DTS and Dolby Digital formats here: 
 

 

[NCSUZoSo]

   You probably need to go into Sound Devices, Playback Devices, choose your Aune T1 and disable the DTS and Dolby Digital formats here: 
 

 
I was going to tell him the exact same thing, the Aune T1 can't decode things like DTS or DolbyD.  When you uncheck those boxes your movie player should default to PCM stereo output (at least PowerDVD 14 does) even though the incoming signal will say DTS or whatever it is in, the output should say LPCM 2.0 if it is working correctly, however you may have to manually set that in your movie player by selecting stereo output instead of having it auto detect.

 

[mikoss]

Hey, good news for HTC one m8 users out there, USB audioplayer pro bypasses the boomsound feature!!! It's expensive at almost 10 bucks, but totally worth it. On a side note, just ordered an amperex 7308 from upscale and driver grade is 65 now. I'll post back when I get it

You can also just disable boomsound if you plug headphones into the HTC One M8. I really enjoy the sound from this phone and wonder what kind of amp circuit it has inside... sounds to me like a class D. I use it as my portable player when I'm on the go and really love the sound of the mids in particular... very lush sounding. Less of that metallic solid state sound and more rich/warm to my ears. 

 

[mikoss]

...
 
IMO Ebay is the one way to get high quality NOS without paying dumb amounts of money, not to mention any reputable tube seller will take returned tubes for up to 14 days, depending on the seller.  However if some people are that scared of Ebay tubes then by all means go spend an arm and leg at places like TubeMonger.

Agreed. I buy all of my tubes from eBay.
 
I have noticed lately that prices for 6DJ8's has become insane. Be extremely cautious about paying a crapload of money for tubes that were selling a year ago for less than half the price they're listed at now.
 
That said, I just picked up a pair of NOS Phillips SQ Holland E88CC's for around $90 US shipped. I really love the sound from these tubes and I've noticed the prices lately are ridiculous on eBay.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/271581979865?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
 
Search around and make sure the pictures and description match what you're looking for. If you need help, post here and someone will surely help you out.

 

[NCSUZoSo]

Another thing is most rare/expensive tubes have distinct properties to determine if they are fakes.  For example Siemens is one of the brands that puts the four heat dissipation lines on the top of the tube in an X pattern.  This is something that can not be faked as it must be done during the production of the tubes.  Then you have stuff like what are the pins made out of and what type of lettering/numbering is on the inside of the tube (if at all).  I personally wouldn't buy from anyone on Ebay that doesn't offer at least a week return policy, because even if it is the correct tube as listed it could be damaged during S&H and the seller is not at fault for that (unless they packaged it very poorly).  All of my tubes from Ebay arrived here safely, but the guys/girls I was buying from are very good as packaging tubes.  I would still like to know if there is a way to determine if my Siemens 6992 is really a CCa tube, but nobody knows enough about CCa tubes to give me a definite yes or no.  It was made in Germany and the code reads "A9 E6" on the cover (I can't remember the name off the top of my head that is what I am talking about) that is silver located outside two plates with one on each side..

 

[mikoss]

  Another thing is most rare/expensive tubes have distinct properties to determine if they are fakes.  For example Siemens is one of the brands that puts the four heat dissipation lines on the top of the tube in an X pattern.  This is something that can not be faked as it must be done during the production of the tubes.  Then you have stuff like what are the pins made out of and what type of lettering/numbering is on the inside of the tube (if at all).  I personally wouldn't buy from anyone on Ebay that doesn't offer at least a week return policy, because even if it is the correct tube as listed it could be damaged during S&H and the seller is not at fault for that (unless they packaged it very poorly).  All of my tubes from Ebay arrived here safely, but the guys/girls I was buying from are very good as packaging tubes.  I would still like to know if there is a way to determine if my Siemens 6992 is really a CCa tube, but nobody knows enough about CCa tubes to give me a definite yes or no.  It was made in Germany and the code reads "A9 E6" on the cover (I can't remember the name off the top of my head that is what I am talking about) that is silver located outside two plates with one on each side..

How does it sound compared to other Siemens tubes? I love the bass and extended, nuanced highs from the Siemens tubes I have, but the deal breaker for me are the mids. They seem to lack the clarity and lushness of the Amperex tubes I have.
 
Perhaps the CCa has great bass, highs, and clear, lush mids? If so, holy grail.
 
Also, totally agree about fakes. There are very few that I've come across on eBay, aside from the usual "shipped from Hong Kong" or "I think this tube is this even though it has no markings and none of the tell-tale signs...". I don't think it's very tough to spot the tube you're looking for on eBay, as most of the people selling them have testers and pictures.

 

[NCSUZoSo]

This is the only Siemens tube I own, so I have nothing to compare it to.  I can tell you there is no lack in the mids/presence region, I thought the tube lacked bass until I pulled out my Nichicon Fine Golds from the primaries location and put in the popular Panasonic caps (FW's I think) and I immediately had my bass back. 
 
I have a RCA made Amperex 6992 (West Germany printed on box) which is also kind of an odd find and that is my only other Aune T1 tube, I sold my GE USAF (JAN) 6992.
 
 
BTW, I ran across this today on Ebay: 1957 Siemens 6992 and I believe it is one of the "holy grail" Siemens tubes.  It has the highly sought after pinched waist where the spacer/shield touches the glass.  Obviously you can verify this with pictures as it is very hard to see if you have it in your hand.  However you can see the waist is pinched in the pictures and that is the first sign you found a very rare tube.

 

[SirMarc]

Mikoss, I also use the m8 as a player out of the house, of course boomsound is off lol, and it is very impressive for a phone. The problem with the m8 is if you go straight USB out, boomsound cannot be turned off and it sounds terrible with the t1. USB audio player somehow bypasses boomsound and now I can listen through the phone, which is more convenient for me than through my laptop. I compared side by side using foobar/wasapi on the laptop and my phone and they sound the same.

 

[SirMarc]

I have the t1 on my coffee table in my man cave. Its so much easier to have the phone sitting next to me on the couch to change albums and also, I like to do serious listening at night with the lights out and the laptop screen was killing me lol