[paradoxper]

Why not get both? The RFT's are pretty cheap. LOL!!!

That wasn't a question. Of course I did with two pairs of the MELZ. I felt greedy asking for more but just may.

 

[paradoxper]

Interesting idea...

My wife is a realtor. She always says that a house is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Since the best sounding NOS tubes are getting scarce, and new production tubes are mostly(not always) a pale reflection of NOS, then "what they are worth" will keep increasing.

I think that's called good business.

 

[Paladin79]

Ha. These are all $10 tubes that inflated to the heavens. I will test any tube my heart desires for the end result of my pleasures. We are way past evaluating costs in this game. But I appreciate the anecdotes and you're clearly more seasoned with tubes so it helps narrow choices down more succinctly.

At the end of the day it is what you enjoy with your gear and your music. @bcowen got me interested in a person's ability to differentiate between 6sn7's in blind testing. I probably spent $1,000 to win a steak dinner with bottle of wine. I did go to a steakhouse here in town where Mellencamp took Billy Joel so there is that.

After a few such blind tests I was able to talk local friends into doing this on a large scale. (most have deep pockets and quality gear.)

 

[bcowen]

At the end of the day it is what you enjoy with your gear and your music. @bcowen got me interested in a person's ability to differentiate between 6sn7's in blind testing. I probably spent $1,000 to win a steak dinner with bottle of wine. I did go to a steakhouse here in town where Mellencamp took Billy Joel so there is that.

After a few such blind tests I was able to talk local friends into doing this on a large scale. (most have deep pockets and quality gear.)

You got bragging rights too, so there's also that.

 

[Paladin79]

Interesting idea...

My wife is a realtor. She always says that a house is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Since the best sounding NOS tubes are getting scarce, and new production tubes are mostly(not always) a pale reflection of NOS, then "what they are worth" will keep increasing.

My wife was also a realtor at one point in her career. Anything is worth what a person is willing to pay for it but part of my past testing proved that a group of people might like a $500 DAC over those costing $3,000-4,000. The same holds true with tubes. There is a lot of marketing and mystique that goes into some tubes, Bad Boys, Black Glass Round Plate Tung Sols, etc. When you do not know the name of a tube or the price, that is when you learn what you really like IMHO.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Why not get both? The RFT's are pretty cheap. LOL!!!

This is cartago_delenda_est. He basically takes the already inflated prices of today and multiplies them by 4. On everything. Then he adds 50 eur shipping for good measure, even if it's just over the border. If you happen to ask for a reasonable price, he never responds and bans you from buying. (not that one would at those prices)

 

[Paladin79]

You got bragging rights too, so there's also that.

And I collected a lot of GE tubes that are already willed to you if that particular codicil holds up in court.

 

[Paladin79]

This is cartago_delenda_est. He basically takes the already inflated prices of today and multiplies them by 4. On everything. Then he adds 50 eur shipping for good measure, even if it's just over the border. If you happen to ask for a reasonable price, he never responds and bans you from buying. (not that one would at those prices)

It has been a while since I bought any RFT's but many were around $100 each as I recall.

 

[paradoxper]

At the end of the day it is what you enjoy with your gear and your music. @bcowen got me interested in a person's ability to differentiate between 6sn7's in blind testing. I probably spent $1,000 to win a steak dinner with bottle of wine. I did go to a steakhouse here in town where Mellencamp took Billy Joel so there is that.

After a few such blind tests I was able to talk local friends into doing this on a large scale. (most have deep pockets and quality gear.)

Ah, all that charity bribed with meat!

 

[Paladin79]

Ah, all that charity bribed with meat!

The bet was Mr. Cowen's idea but the thing is, he knows tubes and had the courage to take on the bet. Often when folks make claims, I say "great, show me!" Generally folks either fail badly or I hear a wide range of excuses.
He is one of the few who came very close to proving his abilities. I had to listen to some pretty bad tubes trying to find one that matched up with a GE lol.

 

[paradoxper]

The bet was Mr. Cowen's idea but the thing is, he knows tubes and had the courage to take on the bet. Often when folks make claims, I say "great, show me!" Generally folks either fail badly or I hear a wide range of excuses.
He is one of the few who came very close to proving his abilities. I had to listen to some pretty bad tubes trying to find one that matched up with a GE lol.

Oh man, I've done my fair share of blind testing output transistors and it is, well, ***** soul sucking. Ha. Kudos to the driveand camaraderie!

 

[mourip]

My wife was also a realtor at one point in her career. Anything is worth what a person is willing to pay for it but part of my past testing proved that a group of people might like a $500 DAC over those costing $3,000-4,000. The same holds true with tubes. There is a lot of marketing and mystique that goes into some tubes, Bad Boys, Black Glass Round Plate Tung Sols, etc. When you do not know the name of a tube or the price, that is when you learn what you really like IMHO.

Good point. Some expensive tubes get consistently good marks by many and are also good sounding. Some are overrated due to hype. Some are overlooked and are cheap.

I am currently rolling a bunch of 6SN7s and 12SN7s in my Lampizator Baltic 3 DAC. I own some of the fabled versions but so far I like a pair of $80/pr 6SN7WGT's the best. I also like 7N7/14N7's which are inexpensive and often overlooked.

 

[jonathan c]

This is cartago_delenda_est. He basically takes the already inflated prices of today and multiplies them by 4. On everything. Then he adds 50 eur shipping for good measure, even if it's just over the border. If you happen to ask for a reasonable price, he never responds and bans you from buying. (not that one would at those prices)

If it were ‘carthago delenda est’, that is Latin for ‘Carthage must be destroyed’ (speech ending by Cato). I can only guess that the meaning is “wallets must be destroyed”. (or Cartago in Costa Rica ?!?)

 

[Paladin79]

Good point. Some expensive tubes get consistently good marks by many and are also good sounding. Some are overrated due to hype. Some are overlooked and are cheap.

I am currently rolling a bunch of 6SN7s and 12SN7s in my Lampizator Baltic 3 DAC. I own some of the fabled versions but so far I like a pair of $80/pr 6SN7WGT's the best. I also like 7N7/14N7's which are inexpensive and often overlooked.

I have worked my way though a lot of single triode tubes as well as Loktals. 7A4's are loktal single triode tubes that are fun to play around with. I came across those in some of my tube manuals so I had to give them a try.

I admit I had to look up the Lampizator but it looks very interesting. I run tubes throughout my gear except for the DAC at this moment so I am always on the the lookout for tube DAC's. Anyone sell them in the D.C. area? Some high end audio gear used to be in the Tyson's Corner area but the same store was not there on my last visit.

 

[Paladin79]

Oh man, I've done my fair share of blind testing output transistors and it is, well, ***** soul sucking. Ha. Kudos to the driveand camaraderie!

The final testing could easily take three days but we have a party after, it would be a great time to break out some 28% ABV beer that is illegal in 15 states lol. This is meant to be shared.