Home Tubes Asylum

Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ

Have a look at this

Hi Marc,

I guess I've never really done any experiments with this... but then again this is kind of how I like to do things. I do a lot of research for example, on what the best NOS tubes there are out there and then I seek `em out! Same goes for new tubes:-) When I hear enough great things about a certain type of tube, I just go for it! Why mess around with anything else - Right? Plus, what I wrote was from two years ago... I might have heard something back then - but I just don't remember, and it's been awhile since I've done this.

The reason I suspect this makes a difference (at least technically) is because many tubes that come new or NOS have pins that are practically blue and black! I don't know what this substance is, but it's obviously a byproduct of production... caused maybe by the extreme heat - and the resultant chemicals?

I found this little snippet from Brenden at tube world to be kind of interesting if not relevant to this topic. It deals with cryogenic treatment, but this part in particular has to do with the pins:

"As received, a typical electron tube exhibits several problems that directly impact its sonic performance. Most serious are the many internal stresses in the construction materials that accumulate during most of the stages of manufacture and; a very hard, heavy oxide-coating on through-glass pins to which direct connection is made. Seven and nine-pin miniature tubes are typical of those pins
which are heavily oxidized while power tubes such as KT88 and EL34 are fitted with bases whose pins are tinned with the result that contact quality is much improved. The degree of sonic improvement is SUBSTANTIAL."

It's a neat little article. The rest of it is linked to from below...

Brian






This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Analog Engineering Associates  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
  • Have a look at this - BrianM23@msn.com 05/30/0319:49:42 05/30/03 (1)


You can not post to an archived thread.