[UntilThen]

I really wondering how the he1000 sounds on the 339i

Ask @xtiva he heard it at my place last night on audiophile vocals from Tidal HiFi.

 

[UntilThen]

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/313390351448?_trksid=p2471758.m4704

I was bidding on this NOS pair of Chatham 6as7g and it sold for US$385 !!!

 

[hp4fun]

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/313390351448?_trksid=p2471758.m4704

I was bidding on this NOS pair of Chatham 6as7g and it sold for US$385 !!!

I am completely lost! Why? It is not 5998. Chatham 6as7g did not sound superior than many others and did not get rave reviews in the past. Is there something I did not know about this particular pair?

Disclaimer: I bought *exactly the same pair* from the seller and returned them because one of the base was slightly loose.

Edit: FWIW, I paid $100 for this pair last month.

 

[Bruc3]

Maybe some people bidding thought it was 5998

 

[UntilThen]

I am completely lost! Why? It is not 5998. Chatham 6as7g did not sound superior than many others and did not get rave reviews in the past. Is there something I did not know about this particular pair?

Disclaimer: I bought *exactly the same pair* from the seller and returned them because one of the base was slightly loose.

Edit: FWIW, I paid $100 for this pair last month.

Because that is a brand new NOS pair in immaculate condition. When I got to US$200, I gave up. True Chatham 6as7g shouldn't cost so much but it's impossible to find such a new pair again and I've had a pair of Chatham 6as7g in the past. It's pretty good. Lighter in tone than GEC 6as7g but still good.

 

[Galapac]

With 42 bids it looks like some got caught up in a bidding war...the psychology of wanting to win is strong.

 

[tintinsnowydog]

That's a ridiculous price. Two years ago they were going for 20$ a tube.

 

[UntilThen]

This is what you want to bid on. and watch the price go up.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Rare-Pa...m2afd586999:g:DecAAOSwMxBgEDMa&frcectupt=true

 

[UntilThen]

That's how much my GEC 6080 cost now.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2x-GEC-...122952?hash=item44723921c8:g:W2oAAOSw1uZgEENN

This is not even an identical pair.

 

[hp4fun]

Because that is a brand new NOS pair in immaculate condition. When I got to US$200, I gave up. True Chatham 6as7g shouldn't cost so much but it's impossible to find such a new pair again and I've had a pair of Chatham 6as7g in the past. It's pretty good. Lighter in tone than GEC 6as7g but still good.

I lost $243! (or $100 according to UntilThen's bid)

They were two listings and the starting bids were both $10. I got $50 each. Almost overprice but still acceptable.

Or should I feel less guilty when I the return shipping was covered by the seller?

 

[UntilThen]

Anyway back to LF339i. Preamp out to v280 for a bit more tube tone... LCD-X connected to v280 and Hekse connected to LF339i. I prefer the latter by a lot.

A little discovery here. v280 by itself is heaps better than L339i preamp out to v280.

 

[hp4fun]

This is what you want to bid on. and watch the price go up.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Rare-Pa...m2afd586999:g:DecAAOSwMxBgEDMa&frcectupt=true

The numbers are pretty ....bad.

Valve 1) Ia 74/90 - Gm 5.4/5.9
Valve 2) Ia 51/88 - Gm 4.5/5.6

 

[hp4fun]

With 42 bids it looks like some got caught up in a bidding war...the psychology of wanting to win is strong.

I did a quick comparison a few weeks back in this thread. It is better than the RCA 6AS7G but not as good as 5998. I actually can't think of a reason to keep them other than they are NOS.

A bendix 6080WB pair beats them by miles.

 

[UntilThen]

I lost $243! (or $100 according to UntilThen's bid)

They were two listings and the starting bids were both $10. I got $50 each. Almost overprice but still acceptable.

Or should I feel less guilty when I the return shipping was covered by the seller?

Facts of life. If you have just started collecting these tubes now, you will pay a premium. When I paid US$238 for my NOS pair of Tung Sol 5998, @Skylab must be laughing because he paid US$50 for a nice pair in his time. So as we advance into the 21st century, say goodbye to NOS GEC, Tung Sol, Mullard, Brimar, Bendix, Sylvania, Ken Rads, etc.

 

[Galapac]

Facts of life. If you have just started collecting these tubes now, you will pay a premium. When I paid US$238 for my NOS pair of Tung Sol 5998, @Skylab must be laughing because he paid US$50 for a nice pair in his time. So as we advance into the 21st century, say goodbye to NOS GEC, Tung Sol, Mullard, Brimar, Bendix, Sylvania, Ken Rads, etc.

One of 3 things will happen:
1) The price will continue to rise on these old tubes and they will become an investment for us to sell, eventually becoming obsolete as they age, wear out, break, etc.
2) Some company like Western Electric is doing now will come back and start making premium tubes for the audiophile market
3) SS amps will get to a point where you can dial-in a tube sound of your choice with such accuracy making points 1 and 2 moot.