Buying vacuum tubes in India

[murali]

Can anyone suggest a good place in India where I can buy vacuum tubes? My new Aesthetix Atlas power amplifier is arriving in another week and it uses a pair of 6SN7 tubes for voltage gain, the rest being solid state, and I always like to stock some spare tubes, like I did while using the VTL 5.5 line-stage before replacing it with the Audio Research Reference 3. All those NOS tubes I bought for the VTL (12AX7 and 12AT7) are still lying around, makes like Telefunken, Mullard and Amperex whereas I already bought a spare set of tubes with the ARC preamp.
Thanks in advance.

murali

 

[gobble]

Try: BE3 Amplifiers - INDIA

--G0bble

 

[bijuraj7007]

@ murali I have marched quad NOS Telefunken 12 ax7 and a pair of jan Philips 12at7

 

[GeorgeO]

It's a matter of luck to locate what you want-the best NOS tubes have( like the best vintage cars) all been taken overseas.

 

[Asit]

George,

Are you saying then basically not to buy them from within India? My Leben amp uses a pair of 5-star GE 5751 (pre) and a quad of Sovtek EL84 (power) tubes. For some time now, I have been thinking of getting extra tubes, but am quite confused what to get and where to get them from. As far as I see my pre tubes are excellent, but I can use also some NOS Telefunken 12AX7's (in place of 5751's). But these are very very expensive. I tried out a cheap pair of 12AX7's (Electro Harmonix, borrowed), but these are not as dynamic, and clean as my 5 star GE 5751's. On the power tubes, the best EL84s are arguably the Amperex Bugleboys, but they are even more expensive because I need a quad set of them. Reports on the new Gold Lions are very very good and I probably will get them then. But the big question is: from where? Any help will be welcome.

What happened to your yearly trip to Kolkata?

Regards

 

[prem]

Hi Asit

The Gold Lions are supposedly very nice. Why don't you just order them from abroad? They pack it very well and ship it. Alternatively since you do travel abroad, you can pick it up on one of your visits. Gold Lions will not be available here. I would not suggest buying vintage tubes from India.

 

[gobble]

On that note I've been only disappointed with the quality of NOS 12AU7s I got from above link. I got Mullard, Telefunken, Funkwerks, BEL from this source.
The best overall across the spectrum turned out to be Shugangs (abroad) even though they are not lively.

--G0bble

 

[Asit]

Prem,

Can you suggest some reliable sites where I can buy tubes from, since I do not have any plans to go abroad immediately. Arj gave some pointers some time ago, but I seemed to have misplaced them.

Regards.

 

[prem]

Tube Depot should be fine.

 

[stevieboy]

Can anyone suggest a good place in India where I can buy vacuum tubes?

murali

Hi Murali,

Be3 is a hit and miss affair with fakes/rebadged etc in the lot, though he'd take tubes back if you find them to be fake. I've picked up practically all my tubes from ebay through well established sellers and a few bargains from good feedback guys who generally don't sell tubes as a regular affair, but other stuff.

Regards

 

[gvenu]

Tube Depot should be fine.

Also thetubestore is fine. They also have high end audio caps (like AuriCap...)

 

[murali]

In the past, I had bought all my NOS tubes for the VTL preamp (12AX7 and 12AT7) including Telefunken, Mullard and Amperex from Brent Jessee of audiotubes.com in USA. His prices are reasonable and is an excellent guy to deal with. In fact I am now considering to order the 6SN7 tubes of RCA and GE with him. In the Aesthetix power amp, hybrid in design, the tubes are used in the input voltage gain only and therefore, needs a bit of study before choosing the right ones. Though 6SN7 B-65 or something like that of Marconi-Osram made in the 1960s or earlier are considered as the finest ever 6SN7 tubes made, they are seldom found and that too at prices > $1,000!!! So I plan to try out the other reputed ones (RCA and GE but Raytheon and Tung Sol are also supposed to be good) available for more sane prices and especially to suit the function mentioned earlier.

cheers.
murali

 

[jls001]

Even Soviet era 6SN7s are supposed to be quite good.

 

[arj]

I have found Jim Mcshane very very friendly... just write to him : Jim McShane Home Page
Cryoset were also very prompt Cryoset.com - Cryoset Certified Vaccum Tubes

both of them gave me tested and matched tubes.

of course problem is shipment from US to india..i bought them during business trips to the US

 

[murali]

I have found Jim Mcshane very very friendly... just write to him : Jim McShane Home Page
Cryoset were also very prompt Cryoset.com - Cryoset Certified Vaccum Tubes

both of them gave me tested and matched tubes.

of course problem is shipment from US to india..i bought them during business trips to the US

arj,
Good to hear from you after a long time. I wonder what happened to some of the others like suri with whom we used to involve in serious discussions. Hope they are all fine and still pursuing this (madness) hobby we are in.

regards.
murali

 

[arindamcc]

George,

Are you saying then basically not to buy them from within India? My Leben amp uses a pair of 5-star GE 5751 (pre) and a quad of Sovtek EL84 (power) tubes. For some time now, I have been thinking of getting extra tubes, but am quite confused what to get and where to get them from. As far as I see my pre tubes are excellent, but I can use also some NOS Telefunken 12AX7's (in place of 5751's). But these are very very expensive. I tried out a cheap pair of 12AX7's (Electro Harmonix, borrowed), but these are not as dynamic, and clean as my 5 star GE 5751's. On the power tubes, the best EL84s are arguably the Amperex Bugleboys, but they are even more expensive because I need a quad set of them. Reports on the new Gold Lions are very very good and I probably will get them then. But the big question is: from where? Any help will be welcome.

What happened to your yearly trip to Kolkata?

Regards

TubeDepot.com!

Tube Store

 

[GeorgeO]

Hi Asit

Yes, you can get both variety, decent prices and your choice of mfr from any one of the US options, so my suggestion is that it is best to buy from there.

Annual Calcutta trip happened in Feb, when a cousin from Italy came on a visit and I took a week off to see Konark dance festival etc. I was sorely tempted to make a trip next month, along with some friends for the XLRI Alumni Homecoming at Jamshedpur in Nov third week, but with my son's wedding coming up in early Jan, looks like taking a week off for fun and games with the boys may not meet spouse approval!

I havent totally ruled it out, but it looks remote at this time.

 

[sidvee]

Guys I have had mixed luck with tubes. On a recent visit to US I bought a pair of JAN sylvania 6922's from the tube depot. They were packed well but when I used them one was bust. More recently I had a quad of tungsol El34's shipped to me from singapore. The shipper shipped via singapore post so Indian posts messed with the package and when it arrived I was sure that the tubes would be bust. To my surprise all of them worked perfectly. So regarding shipping I think it is a luck of the draw as well as the type of tube. I think power tubes are more robust.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[arj]

arj,
Good to hear from you after a long time. I wonder what happened to some of the others like suri with whom we used to involve in serious discussions. Hope they are all fine and still pursuing this (madness) hobby we are in.

regards.
murali

Likewise do write about/post pics of your new setup. How is it doing.

Aesthetix..wow..thats i some preamp

 

[murali]

Likewise do write about/post pics of your new setup. How is it doing.

Aesthetix..wow..thats i some preamp

One correction, Aesthetix - it is Atlas stereo power amp. The preamp is still ARC Reference-3. I almost bought the ARC Reference-110 stereo power amp but at the last minute got cold feet, especially now that I am returning home for good next year and may find it difficult when it comes to replacement of tubes in power amplifiers regularly. The first choice in upgrade from Ayre V-5 was Ayre V-1 solid state but decided to go the hybrid route (as a compromise) where it was ARC HD-220 versus Aesthetix Atlas. After writing to several (audiophile) friends, I decided on the Atlas. Unlike ARC's other products, the hybrid has mixed opinions whereas the Aesthetix Atlas is unanimously regarded as one of the best.

cheers.
murali