I was just browsing eBay, and came accross this auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=73381&item=5708981 036&rd=1

Can anyone who owns the real thing tell if these are really WE tubes, or
some rip-off? At this price it's odd nobody has bid on them if they are
really the real thing.Maybe factory seconds??

"François Yves Le Gal" wrote:

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 09:35:34 -0600, MaxH wrote:

Can anyone who owns the real thing tell if these are really WE tubes, or
some rip-off?

Could very well be some relabeled Chinese VA tubes or new WE OEM versions
or... The pictures are too small and too fuzzy to be affirmative.

That's the impression I got too - however the pins look like brass? Is this
normal?



Maybe factory seconds??

Quite improbable IMO.

I thought of that because of the old style boxes, which would have been on
hand at the factory, and the fact that the tubes lack serial numbers, but
claim to be of late production. I know in the old days of USA tube
production, it was common practice for factory seconds to be sold as "off
brands".

In article , MaxH writes:

Can anyone who owns the real thing tell if these are really WE tubes, or
some rip-off? At this price it's odd nobody has bid on them if they are
really the real thing.Maybe factory seconds??

Max:

They are also being offered on Audiogon. There was some discussion about them
on the Audio Asylum. The consensus is that they were not made by WE. See this
link:

http://www.audioasylum.com/scripts/t.pl?f=set&m=33345

Gerry

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 09:35:34 +0000, MaxH wrote:

I was just browsing eBay, and came accross this auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=73381&item=5708981 036&rd=1

"These tubes are exactly the same as the one with the retail packaging
except they are packed in the "old style" box"

What's the chance that WE/AT&T's lawyers & beancounters
would let UNMARKED and unshredded WE boxes out of the factory?

The late AT&T issue 300B boxes were marked and had radiation
stickers on them. Not unknown for faked boxes to be made in
Taiwan & Hong Kong.

--
Ned Carlson Triode Electronics Chicago,IL USA
www.triodeelectronics.com

Ned Carlson wrote:


The late AT&T issue 300B boxes were marked and had radiation
stickers on them.

What part of a 300B is radioactive? AFAIK, the filament is oxide-coated
nickel, not thoriated tungsten.

Bob Weiss N2IXK

On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 20:33:10 GMT, Bob Weiss wrote:

What part of a 300B is radioactive? AFAIK, the filament is oxide-coated
nickel, not thoriated tungsten.

Bob Weiss N2IXK

I don't know! But there were hazardous-materials stickers on the
boxes. Perhaps something radioactive was the secret ingredient in
WE's cathode coating?

Besides thorium in the filaments of 845's, gas regulator tubes
contain some small doping of a radioactive material.

Current production of Western Electric 300B is by Westrex based out of
Atlanta Ga. The tubes last time I checked were manufactured in the old WE
tube plant which is leased to Westrex. See their website for more details.
http://www.westernelectric.com/300B/specs300Bindex.html

The tubes sold in that auction look similar, and given the date code could
have been manufactured by Westrex, but I think that is doubtful. The price
per tube is not a bargain, in the NYC area you can buy the genie article
with serial numbers/and in the proper current blue box for about the same
amount of money per tube.

Also I do not recall ever having seen an nos western electric box in
anything but the classic blue and white color scheme.

I used to sell this tube with some of the amplifiers I manufactured, and
don't recall seeing brass pins either. It was definitely the most refined
300B I used, although the Vaic was good too.

Kevin K.




"MaxH" wrote in message ...
I was just browsing eBay, and came accross this auction.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...em=5708981 03
6&rd=1

Can anyone who owns the real thing tell if these are really WE tubes, or
some rip-off? At this price it's odd nobody has bid on them if they are
really the real thing.Maybe factory seconds??



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.721 / Virus Database: 477 - Release Date: 7/16/2004

Ned Carlson wrote:

Perhaps something radioactive was the secret ingredient in
WE's cathode coating?

I doubt it. According to Bernie Mager's book, the coating was the
standard "double carbonate" that every other manufacturer used. A
mixture of barium carbonate and strontium carbonate, that was reduced to
a mixture of oxides during the exhaust process.

The mystery continues...

Bob Weiss N2IXK