[abvolt]

I agree the ge 6as7g is a great all around inexpensive tube which I like, I enjoy tung sol 6as7g a little more and the mullard 6080 is one of my favorites

 

[adeadcrab]

Including shipping, for 4 tubes from parts express to australia each tube was about $17

 

[Badas]

  Including shipping, for 4 tubes from parts express to australia each tube was about $17

Cant complain about that.

 

[JOHNNY LOLO]

Aren't they the same as the parts express GE 6AS7GA??? They look identical to me...

Talking about GE 6AS7GA is this the one?

THANKS!

Heh, that pair has been an ebay forever. Badas is referring to these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6AS7GA-GE-JAN-Vacuum-Tube-072-612-/221562674917?hash=item33962a1ee5:g:avwAAOSwEK9UKZ5v

They can be had from PartsExpress for even less; though, this is a parts express ad. I bought mine from ebay, same as as above, as it was easier and the difference in cost came to a shade more than $3. If one were buying a lager quantity, going directly to the source is a better idea.

 

[MIKELAP]

Aren't they the same as the parts express GE 6AS7GA??? They look identical to me...

Talking about GE 6AS7GA is this the one?

THANKS!

 

Heh, that pair has been an ebay forever. Badas is referring to these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6AS7GA-GE-JAN-Vacuum-Tube-072-612-/221562674917?hash=item33962a1ee5:g:avwAAOSwEK9UKZ5v

They can be had from PartsExpress for even less; though, this is a parts express ad. I bought mine from ebay, same as as above, as it was easier and the difference in cost came to a shade more than $3. If one were buying a lager quantity, going directly to the source is a better idea.

They look idendical to me to ,so i bought a pair , plus side is they ship from Canada none of that GLOBAL SCAMMING PROGRAM . 

 

[Liu Junyuan]

It's the paradox of these tube discussion threads that it is no wonder tubes become more rare the more they are praised even as we often must rely on others to tell us which tubes are worth buying. The more you "hype" the tube, and especially when you draw conspicuous attention to the likelihood of imminent scarcity, the more difficult it will obviously be for all of us to actually find them. I dont want to sound like I am complaining, but unless certain people take pleasure in intensifying an unnecessary supply-shortage, this would seem to be an onvious side-effect of these threads, which are both indispensable sources of valuable information and direct causes of hoarding, market-scarcity, and rising prices. I suppose it can't be helped...

 

[MIKELAP]

It's the paradox of these tube discussion threads that it is no wonder tubes become more rare the more they are praised even as we often must rely on others to tell us which tubes are worth buying. The more you "hype" the tube, and especially when you draw conspicuous attention to the likelihood of imminent scarcity, the more difficult it will obviously be for all of us to actually find them. I dont want to sound like I am complaining, but unless certain people take pleasure in intensifying an unnecessary supply-shortage, this would seem to be an onvious side-effect of these threads, which are both indispensable sources of valuable information and direct causes of hoarding, market-scarcity, and rising prices. I suppose it can't be helped...

Its same as vintage gear before it was an old amp now its a vintage amp classier  and alot more expensive to  lol. 

 

[adeadcrab]

yeah, too bad

 

[JOHNNY LOLO]

It doesn't help that people bad mouth current production tubes. I have some Chinese no names that are just as good as the NOS ones. There is a lot of wankery in audio. Support new production tubes and before you know it they'll be cloning the rarest tubes at a fraction of the going price. But at the moment there is no market for it due to snobbery and NOS FOTM herd mentality.

It's the paradox of these tube discussion threads that it is no wonder tubes become more rare the more they are praised even as we often must rely on others to tell us which tubes are worth buying. The more you "hype" the tube, and especially when you draw conspicuous attention to the likelihood of imminent scarcity, the more difficult it will obviously be for all of us to actually find them. I dont want to sound like I am complaining, but unless certain people take pleasure in intensifying an unnecessary supply-shortage, this would seem to be an onvious side-effect of these threads, which are both indispensable sources of valuable information and direct causes of hoarding, market-scarcity, and rising prices. I suppose it can't be helped...

 

[Jeb Listens]

I do agree that there is a lot of excitement in tube rolling and it invariably pushes up the price and scarcity.
 
However,  many of the NOS recommendations made on this thread are made by people who have taken the time to perform careful and extensive listening comparisons across the entire range of available tubes.   Many of these are also motivated by the desire to find viable inexpensive alternatives to the rare & premium tubes. 
 
Although some varieties are getting scarcer I think its fair to say that, as a whole, stocks of NOS 6AS7/6080s are absolutely vast.  If you have found that Chinese modern production tubes have generally been comparable in quality to NOS tubes that you've heard then there's really no reason at all to get involved in the premium NOS race.   
 
As far as I'm aware Sovtek are the only modern production tubes in this family. Is that correct?  However, Thomson 6080, Tung Sol/Chatham 6080, GE 6AS7G, Svetlana 6H13C, RCA 6AS7G- all are  plentiful and great sounding choices for a budget option.
 
 
Specifically for buying tubes in the 6080/6AS7 family I can't find much to  complain about unless we are talking about chasing the most expensive and rarest tubes.

 

[Shaffer]

Here's what I do: There are two people on this forum whose tube advice I trust. Two. All the purchasing decisions are made by me. Couldn't care less what's being promoted in the thread as FOTM. I've discovered many fantastic tubes - replying on myself - for a fraction of the cost of a "holy grail." The moral of the story? Don't listen to anyone other than yourself and your own expertise. Don't have the expertise? Study and use your ears. This isn't rocket science.

 

[mordy]

Hi Jeb Listens,

Thank you for your thoughtful and balanced summary. There is some merit to what Liu Junyuan states, but on the other hand, if we don't let other people know about great tubes, how will we find out? Not everybody can try out a lot of stuff, and especially not the expensive ones.

On the other hand, if we can find inexpensive tubes that sound great, as long as they are available in larger quantities, the price is not going to change much. Only the very rare ones will go up in price if there is a sudden demand.

The other part of the equation is the synergy between different tubes. It may be possible that different amps react differently to different combinations.

Shaffer,

Looking for the great inexpensive tubes that you found, I am not able to find the information. Would you be so kind to list again the discoveries you made? Very interested to hear what you found...Also if you could post the links to the sellers that you mentioned - thanks.

 

[adeadcrab]

Look on my works, ye mortals, and despair...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Shuguang-Chinese-6N13P-T-6N13P-6H13C-6AS7G-Vacuum-Tube-2PCS-/171504380343

 

 

[mordy]

Hi adeadcrab,

I also thought of the Shuguang tubes - I have one called 6N5PJ. So far, except for the visual tube glow, I have not find any complimentary reviews of these tubes.

(Don't know what your comment about despair means...)

 

[Shaffer]

Shaffer,

Looking for the great inexpensive tubes that you found, I am not able to find the information. Would you be so kind to list again the discoveries you made? Very interested to hear what you found...Also if you could post the links to the sellers that you mentioned - thanks.

Mordy, I posted a link in the Elise rolling thread.