[sfo1972]

 

 
Ask for a picture of the codes - usually on the bottom of the tube and printed/etched on the side. When the silkscreen is wiped as a result of handling, as can be seen from the picture, the codes are usually the best source of recognizing if this tubes is what the seller is advertising.

+1 They are hard to spot sometimes.  I find a good halogen desk lamp works great and holding the tube at an angle rolling to spot the codes.  Sometimes all you can read is the etching reflected.

 
Something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Living-Accents-Halogen-Architect-Adjustable/dp/B0044FZ5SE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1428650088&sr=8-5&keywords=halogen+desk+lamp

 

[sfo1972]

 

  Hey Oskari or ThurstonX....take a look at these.  Seller insists they are 1961...I say 1971.  I'm not buying them...I'm just having fun arguing with him. I've never seen a Heerlen Philips from the early 60's just labeled "Philips" and not Philips Miniwatt.  I also thought all the early 60's were 7L followed by a number...that starting in the late 60's and into the 70's the code was 7L followed by a letter.
What say you tube date gurus ???  Don't spare my feelings, lol.
 
http://www.ebay.pl/itm/MATCHED-PAIR-OF-E88CC-PHILIPS-SQ-HERLEEN-6922-E188CC-CCa-7308-E288CC-ECC88-6DJ8-/131478630160?ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQL:1123

 
If my bleary eyes don't deceive me, I see 7LG, which is 1971.  Of course he wants to say 1961, as that makes them more desirable.  That said, the approximate starting bid of $56 isn't bad, even if they are used.  They do look in excellent condition.  Wouldn't pay a great deal for them, but might be worth a moderate price.  Interestingly, they are grey shields, though I'm not sure what that counts for with Heerlen E88CCs, if anything.  FWIW, there is no mention of the year in the listing.
 
 
A fun eBay tip I discovered for myself, esp. if you're in the US, and which might work for others who live in countries with their own eBay presence:
 
replace the top level domain - .pl, in this case - with .com, which gives us:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MATCHED-PAIR-OF-E88CC-PHILIPS-SQ-HERLEEN-6922-E188CC-CCa-7308-E288CC-ECC88-6DJ8-/131478630160
 
Then the currency is approximated in US dollars.

Maybe my eyes are totally shot, I am curious as hell where you spotted the 7LG in the pic? Was it on the tube on the left or right hand side?

 

[sfo1972]

 

  Hey guys sorry i got a question to ask,
 
How to i tell the quality of the tubes from places like ebay, on some websites like Upscale Audio they have an option to pay extra for things the cryo treating and platinum or gold grade, does that make a big difference cause some of the harder to find tubes cost almost double the price on there (compared to some of the average ebay ones) but would the platinum grade and cryo treatment make enough of a difference or is it better save the money and get a simply matched pair from ebay?  Thanks
 
Sorry another question.
I've narrowed down my choice to either Herleen Philips Miniwatt E88CC / 6922. matched pair balanced triodes $215
or
the Genalex Gold Lion E88CC / 6922. matched pair cryo treated $114.
which of these do think would give me a great mid range and sound stage without distorting anything else, how would the sound of these compare to each other and the price? thanks?
 
I am kind of leaning towards the Gold Lion since they are New stock which would be help to keep as a reference high end tube, whereas the Herleen's are NOS so I'm thinking of getting the Gold Lion and then changing tubes a little down the road and use my Gold lion for comparison vs any NOS tube i get down the road.
 
So please tell me what you guys think would this be alright or should i just spend double the money and get the Herleen tubes?
 
Thanks.

 
Big Tube Retailers (Upscale, et al.; I just made that up definitely charge more, and if you're not willing to risk eBay, then I suppose it buys peace of mind.  As for cryo-treating, most people will tell you to save your $16.  I have no clue if it's science or unicorn tears.  As far as NOS vs. new production goes, 99% of the people in this thread will probably tell you to go NOS, whether it be on eBay or from one of the BTRs.  Of course, we'll never know if I'm right until 100% of the people reply to your question 

 
One thing I like about good eBay sellers is that you see the actual tubes and usually get to see the factory codes.  You won't get that with almost any BTR, but then you're paying extra because they're reputable, or so the theory goes.
 
As for which to buy, never heard the Gold Lions, but were I to buy them, I'd go with the eBay seller I found who sells for around $70-$75 a pair.  They guarantee them, so why pay more than that.

+1 - Good advice hoss.
 
I had a similar nagging question regarding the fairy dust of cryo treatment and gold pins. See @rb2013's response to point 3 in a question I posted on the grand tube shoot-out thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/761078/6922-tube-review-17-top-6922-6n23p-e88cc-cca-7308-e188cc-tubes/60#post_11480303
 
I definitely recommend NOS as well. Given the evidence from tube rollers reporting improved/ricjer sound qualities of NOS when compared with new production tubes. But you can ask @reddog about the Goldlions as he is a big fan of those new production tubes.
 
What year are the Miniwatts? They seem a bit pricey? Maybe someone can refute that. But anything north of $200 should be getting into the high-end tubes like the Teles, Siemens, and similar.

 

[reddog]

You should get some NOS tubes, from a credible seller, from ebay. If not you can get Nos tubes or the current production tubes from Upscaleaudio, although that route is expensive. The best current production tubes I have used are the Genalex Gold Lions., but my NOS Telefunken E88CC platinum tubes blow them away. I would say the Gold Lions were a very good Scotch blend and the NOS Telefunken tubes are like a exquisite single-malt scotch. I use the Gold Lions mostly for watching tv and I use my Telefunken E88CC tubes for listening to music.

 

[mikoss]

Saw these for sale. Seller is saying Amperex ECC88, but do they look abit funky?

I see a dimpled getter... Probably not Amperex/Philips.

They look like French tubes to me... the getter flashing up near the top, above the getter itself. Also the metal "50" tab I'm pretty sure these are Lorenz or something... I'll try figuring out exactly who made these, but they're not Amperex.

 

[BleaK]

He is saying that on one tube it says 6f3, and on the other 40b. I have no idea what that means... 

 

[sfo1972]

  He is saying that on one tube it says 6f3, and on the other 40b. I have no idea what that means... 

I assume he is giving you the last 3 digits of each code...
 
6f3 should be 1966 June week 3.
40b, maybe 1950 Feb, not sure about the 'b' I am trying to dig some info.
 
Having the full code would be much better than the last 3 digits

 

[BleaK]

 
I assume he is giving you the last 3 digits of each code...
 
6f3 should be 1966 June week 3.
40b, maybe 1950 Feb, not sure about the 'b' I am trying to dig some info.
 
Having the full code would be much better than the last 3 digits

Yeah he seem like he is a bit of tube noob himself, I just want some good amperex tubes lol

 

[Guidostrunk]

My good friend Larry , is selling these on here. Nice price , also. http://www.head-fi.org/t/761754/1965-amperex-dumont-herleen-7308-e188cc-nos-matched#post_11483567

Cheers

Yeah he seem like he is a bit of tube noob himself, I just want some good amperex tubes lol

 

[sfo1972]

 

 
I assume he is giving you the last 3 digits of each code...
 
6f3 should be 1966 June week 3.
40b, maybe 1950 Feb, not sure about the 'b' I am trying to dig some info.
 
Having the full code would be much better than the last 3 digits

Yeah he seem like he is a bit of tube noob himself, I just want some good amperex tubes lol

 
 

My good friend Larry , is selling these on here. Nice price , also. http://www.head-fi.org/t/761754/1965-amperex-dumont-herleen-7308-e188cc-nos-matched#post_11483567

Cheers

Yeah he seem like he is a bit of tube noob himself, I just want some good amperex tubes lol

There you go - I was just gonna post asking the guys to recommend someone for you, and Guidostrunk came through as usual.
 
Also, check this out by Brent Jesse:
 
http://www.audiotubes.com/6dj8.htm
 
 

6DJ8 Amperex Bugleboy Logo, made in Holland, carefully matched pairs.

New Old Stock white box and original box. These are originals from Heerlen, Holland, and the most popular type of this tube. 1960s vintage many with the exact same date codes, sweet-sounding tubes (sounds like the more expensive 6922), with about the lowest noise in their class. These pairs are critically matched to 1-2 percent or less deviation on a Hickok TV-7 or 539A mutual conductance tester, with test data supplied. Fair to excellent labels, overall very rare pairs! Stock up while you still can!

$110.00 per pair

In Stock

 
 
1960s Bugleboy are really good and sweet sounding tubes. I recently acquired a pair and think they are top notch. Not my all time favorite, but a solid performing tube with great qualities.
 
Keep us posted with what you end up doing.
 
Cheers

 

[BleaK]

Thank you for the help guys! I'll keep you posted!

 

[Guidostrunk]

Hey what's up brother? How you been? Really appreciate all your hard work on putting together the tube code thread. It's going to help tremendously.

Cheers my friend,

There you go - I was just gonna post asking the guys to recommend someone for you, and Guidostrunk came through as usual.

Also, check this out by Brent Jesse:

http://www.audiotubes.com/6dj8.htm

6DJ8 Amperex Bugleboy Logo, made in Holland, [COLOR=FF0000]carefully matched pairs.[/COLOR]

New Old Stock white box and original box. These are originals from Heerlen, Holland, and the most popular type of this tube. 1960s vintage many with the exact same date codes, sweet-sounding tubes (sounds like the more expensive 6922), with about the lowest noise in their class. These pairs are critically matched to 1-2 percent or less deviation on a Hickok TV-7 or 539A mutual conductance tester, with test data supplied. Fair to excellent labels, overall very rare pairs! Stock up while you still can!

$110.00 per pair

In Stock

1960s Bugleboy are really good and sweet sounding tubes. I recently acquired a pair and think they are top notch. Not my all time favorite, but a solid performing tube with great qualities.

Keep us posted with what you end up doing.

Cheers

 

[Oskari]

Also the metal "50" tab I'm pretty sure these are Lorenz or something...

 
Tungsram (when it's two characters like that).

 

[mikoss]

   
Tungsram (when it's two characters like that).

There you go. Was trying to remember the name, but things are slow going this morning One too many last night... 

 
PS. Oskari have you heard Tungsram's? How do they compare to Philips? I've never heard them, but I assume they're in the same category as say Sylvania/Matsushi7a made tubes? 

 

[ThurstonX]

Maybe my eyes are totally shot, I am curious as hell where you spotted the 7LG in the pic? Was it on the tube on the left or right hand side?

 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MATCHED-PAIR-OF-E88CC-PHILIPS-SQ-HERLEEN-6922-E188CC-CCa-7308-E288CC-ECC88-6DJ8-/131478630160
 
First pic, tube on left, the 'G' in '7LG' is directly below the last 'C' in 'E88CC'.  You'll need to use the "Mouse over to zoom" feature, or click to enlarge.  It's pretty clear.