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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 17, 2011 19:45:40 GMT
I have some lovely valves in stock at the moment, all new old stock and all from original factory cartons (sealed).... the latest addition are some 80's vintage 6N23P-EB made by The Reflector Corp in Saratov, Russia. It is generally regarded that Reflector made some of the best Russian military types with most of its production going to the Russian government. These 6N23P-EB are built like tanks! The cartons may be a bit faded and the staples that hold them together may be a bit rusty but this is a good sign of authenticity...they are almost 30 years old after all  "inside" the carton it's a different story, an absolutely PRISTINE chrome pinned 6N23P-EB pops out along with a Russian spec sheet:   A closer look:   The beauty of these type of cartons is you can test them without having to break the seals on the carton (a couple of rusty staples either end):  So you know these are GENUINE NOS and not those "pulls" from defunct equipment that so many people sell as NOS, these are the real article.   Anyhoo, just thought I'd mention I have a fair amount of them in stock  I also have extensive stock of genuine NOS 6N23P-EB Voskhod valves, JAN Philips 6922, Chinese Military 6N11 (6922 equivalents), JAN Philips 6112 (for MF X10 V3), Electro Harmonix EH-6922, Military grade 6N1P-EB and lots more which I will dig out and list over the next few weeks. Basically, this small batch on the table is for sale at the moment:  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2011 21:00:10 GMT
When you look at them, Mike, they look absolutely brand new. It's amazing how well they've kept over the years.
When I was a kid, I used to repair peoples' TV's by just whipping out valves and sticking in new ones and even they didn't look as good as that.
Ian
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 17, 2011 22:07:48 GMT
When you look at them, Mike, they look absolutely brand new. It's amazing how well they've kept over the years. When I was a kid, I used to repair peoples' TV's by just whipping out valves and sticking in new ones and even they didn't look as good as that. Ian They are vacuum tubes (thermionic valves) so, essentially, preserved |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 11, 2014 19:54:28 GMT
I've cracked open another box of these so anybody looking for absolutely 100% genuine NOS 6H23N-EB then let me know. These are the same as the last batch (pictured above) and have been in their factory sealed box for the past 32 years.... beautifully built valves and getting rarer by the day as they don't make them any more!
Mike.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 11, 2014 20:30:04 GMT
By the way...... these are the Russian equivalent to the 6922 / E88CC and are absolutely incredible in all of the X-series amps / buffers. They are military grade, long life types, and are absolutely spot on with regards to specification. The JAN (Joint Army Navy) Philips 6922, on the other hand, are pretty "hit and miss" and you can be sure that you will encounter a few that don't quite measure up in a batch of 100.... the 6H23N-EB were so well constructed that it is (in my experience) very rare to come across an "iffy" one in a batch. Those Russians were crap at making cardboard cartons but, my god, they knew how to construct a bullet proof valve! Having said that, I like the idea of the "staples" that secure the top and bottoms of the cartons... it shows that the valves have never been out of the cartons and, thus, 100% genuine new old stock.... you can even test them "in" the carton prior to despatch / for matching purposes as the pins protrude out of the bottom. These "flip top" type cartons are fine and dandy BUT you are never 100% sure that the valve inside has lived there all it's life I know a guy who collects Cuban cigars but doesn't smoke / has never smoked..... I smoke like a trooper but he has never offered me one of his finest Cubans out of one of his "many" humidors.... I can understand where he's coming from as I was reluctant to crack open another fine vintage box of 6H23N-EB. It's daft, when you think about it, why the hell am I stockpiling boxes of "valves"? I will never (in a hundred years) actually put them into service in one of my amps yet feel this urge to preserve them for "a rainy day"..... total madness! I'll be pushing up the daisies and somebody will probably bin all of my valves, thinking they are some useless form of pre-historic "light bulb", yet home in (like a vulture) on rubbish like a disposable iphone or computer (as well as my vast collection of underwear ) Nope...... time to start shifting a few boxes |
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Post by tripwr1964 on Mar 12, 2014 23:15:52 GMT
mike, do you have a price for NOS 6H23N-EB's?
think i sent a pm. thks
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 15, 2014 20:38:48 GMT
Hi Tim,
I sent you a PM a few days ago, have you received it?
Mike.
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Post by tripwr1964 on Mar 19, 2014 2:15:05 GMT
Mike,
Payment sent.
Can't wait to try them out!
Thks
Tim
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Post by tripwr1964 on Apr 3, 2014 0:46:03 GMT
yeah those are real nice mike! like them a lot.
put a set in my x10-d tonight.
plan to try the audio research ph3 tomorrow.
thks!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Apr 4, 2014 20:53:02 GMT
yeah those are real nice mike! like them a lot. put a set in my x10-d tonight. plan to try the audio research ph3 tomorrow. thks! Hi Tim, Glad you are happy with them. Give them a few hours to cook and the sound gets even nicer. Please do report back once you have tried them in the audio research ph3. All the best, Mike. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2014 22:44:35 GMT
yeah those are real nice mike! like them a lot. put a set in my x10-d tonight. plan to try the audio research ph3 tomorrow. thks! Hi Tim, Glad you are happy with them. Give them a few hours to cook and the sound gets even nicer. Please do report back once you have tried them in the audio research ph3. All the best, Mike. Perhaps we can get Bill Wilson to report back on how they perform in his new microphone preamp when it is completed ? Some tubes can be a little noisy in that application, but these should have the benefit of very low microphony as well. I would be interested to how Bill went about this, and schematics of the preamp and PSU areas too if possible.
Alex
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Post by tripwr1964 on Apr 5, 2014 15:01:12 GMT
yes they sound really nice in the audio research too.
referencing them to Ediswan cv2492's i found the 6h23p's to have much better low end bass response (tight and punchy) and high/mids to be a bit edgier then the ediswans. the ediswans are very very sweet and smooth up top but lacked in the bottom end. these 6H23P's take care of all that.
i'll get some more hours on them and report back.
so far i like them in both PH3 and X-10D!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Apr 7, 2014 19:19:08 GMT
If anybody is interested I have decided to let go of 200 x 6N23P. They are from the Voskhod plant in Kaluga and have the rocket logo and CCCP stamp. Made in the former CCCP. These are considered more desirable than the late 1980's /1990's Soviet production. All from the same batch / all date coded 03-1980. Absolutely 100% NOS / never seen the light of day. A superb batch and every last valve tests as new. They are minty fresh and extremely rare to find them in totally "as new" condition. There's a guy on ebay who sells used "matched" pairs for almost £50 and I nearly fell off my chair when I saw his listings |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Apr 8, 2014 20:14:01 GMT
There's a guy on ebay who sells used "matched" pairs for almost £50 and I nearly fell off my chair when I saw his listings I think it's time to release my collection to the market |
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Post by jom on May 30, 2014 21:16:13 GMT
Hello there i am new to this forum and was wondering how i could purchase a pair of the valves you are selling i have an xcan v2 and one valve has failed do you list on ebay or is it through the forum if none still available do you have anyone you could recommend as a reliable source ??
Hope you can help
Many Thanks
John
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2014 2:55:08 GMT
Hello there i am new to this forum and was wondering how i could purchase a pair of the valves you are selling i have an xcan v2 and one valve has failed do you list on ebay or is it through the forum if none still available do you have anyone you could recommend as a reliable source ?? Hope you can help Many Thanks John Hi John Send "Pink Floyd" (Mike) a PM with your requirements. Unlike many suppliers his valves are fully tested and can also be matched to close tolerance pairs on request too.
Regards Alex
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 4, 2014 20:51:04 GMT
I cracked a random carton open today, that has been sitting there for years, and found 100 X 6N23P valves inside. I went through the entire 100 and all tested as new but the 1997 date codes didn't quite compute in my brain...... I tracked back a good few years and remembered that these were bought as "non marked" valves / tubes that had been officially marked with the OTK stamp in 1997. It was common practice, back in the day, for "spare" / ready to fit consoles to be populated with "ready to go" / "new" valves and most of the time these were supplied to the Russian military unmarked / naked tubes. The 1997 marked tubes are most definitely 1980 NOS but they test like no tube I have ever tested before! Every SINGLE one of them tested perfect and excelled with the gain test...... most 6N23P on my analyser will max out at 32.00 gain..... these are realising 39.00 / 40.00 gain!!! The BEST a 6N23P-EB will do is 36.00 so these are insanely good. You will normally find a few duds in a batch of 100 but ALL of this batch measure up to within milliamps, this is (by far) the best box I have cracked open so far...... they are all closely matched and that is very rare to find in a batch of 100. I am going to be selling my stock of Russian valves / tubes over the next couple of years and will begin with these........ They have mind blowing specs and will blow your mind sonically (or your money back) that is how impressed I am with this batch. PM or email me.     |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 5, 2014 20:31:58 GMT
I'll be listing these on ebay in the next couple of weeks, just thought I'd give first dibs to members of the Grotto first.
Mike.
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Post by lenjoh on Nov 12, 2014 13:55:33 GMT
Hello Mike,
I could use a couple of these 6N23P valves. Are there some left and for how much per quad or 20 pcs?
Regards,
Johannes
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 27, 2015 21:17:12 GMT
Cracked another batch open today..... rocket logo (Voskhod plant) and they are all from the very early 1990's (all with same date codes) and these guys measure just like the other batch did, absolutely 100%. There's a pattern beginning to emerge here! Most of my 1960's / 1970's / 1980's (never used) 6H23N valves measure well within spec but these 1990's valves absolutely go off the dial with regard to transconductance and gain, and off the dial in a GOOD way! I am beginning to question this idea that "vintage" is best and am also beginning to wonder if an unused valve made in the 1960's (for example) will be "absolutely" preserved in a vacuum for eternity or until it is put into service. I have asked myself the same question over and over, over the past few months, "why should a "never used" batch from the 1990's measure a lot better than a "never used" batch from the 1960's? They (whoever "they" are) all reckon that the older valves were "better made" but that's as far as they seem to take it. What evidence do they have that the valves were better made and how can they explain why an "unused" 6H23N from the 1960's doesn't measure as good as an "unused" 6H23N from the 90's? Don't get me wrong...... I have quite a few 6H23N from the 60's that measure as good as the 6H23N from the 90's BUT possibly only 20 out of a batch of 100. The 90's batches are coming closer to 98 out of 100 which is one hell of a difference / improvement. Could it be the case that somewhere / somehow this seemingly "eternal" vacuum preservation is not quite as eternal as we think? A tin of baked beans (before the advent of the "sell by" date) used to be thought of as "good for hundreds of years" until Scott of the Antarctic died and they discovered tin pest instead en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_pest Who are we to say (without a research facility and budget) that a vacuum will preserve the contents of a valve / tube forever? 60 years, for example, of oxidisation on the pins (external to the vacuum)...... are we saying that this doesn't migrate "inside" the vacuum? No research will ever be done on this as valves / tubes are "yesterdays" technology but I, for one, am interested in finding out what the true shelf life of a "never used" valve is....... the fact is this, from my hands on experience, they were either "experts" at making valves back in the 60's or they were crap at making them OR the shelf life was never intended to be 50 years.......... One FACT I have gleaned from this is that you are more likely to get 98% out of a batch of 1990's 6H23N and 20% (80% duds) from a batch of 1960's 6H23N...... a batch of 1970's = 40% and a batch of 1980's = 77%......... Yep, there's a definite pattern going on. |
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Post by jc on Feb 27, 2015 21:35:44 GMT
A tin of baked beans (before the advent of the "sell by" date) used to be thought of as "good for hundreds of years" until Scott of the Antarctic died and they discovered tin pest instead en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_pest Well that made me take the trouble to look, ooh cor blimy mate, you learn sumfin new evryday dunya. (I mean it, not sarcy) Maybe it's the glue used to hold the glass to the bass, adhesive pest? Over the years maybe the vacuum gets marginally compromised? |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 27, 2015 22:01:36 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 27, 2015 22:07:28 GMT
The "whiskers" that Mark refers to are actually "tin pest"..........................
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jc
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Post by jc on Feb 27, 2015 22:15:39 GMT
Tin pest, it was reality and now reality AGAIN with the lead free solder "directive" All good sh1t CJ Yep, I noticed that reference on the lead free solder and agree it's all interesting stuff. So all that lead free soldered stuff is going die of tin pest in cold climates. I assume the manufacturers care not a jot as if you have the item that long they really want you to buy a new one anyway. Start cuddling up to your newer amps in winter Mike! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2015 22:57:16 GMT
The "whiskers" that Mark refers to are actually "tin pest".......................... Virtually invisible tin whiskers often grew in Telecommunications relay spring sets causing equipment failures. Like many other Telstra employees I would have replaced 100s of relay spring sets due to this problem. Eventually I discovered that charging a large value electrolytic capacitor to the 52V exchange voltage, and connecting it between the relay set frame and the faulty relay spring Zapped the fault, usually without even the tiniest spark.
Alex |
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