any stereo freaks here: is old tube receiver for $25 worth going after?

I knew someone who was hardcore into old tubes and stereo equip. He was a collector and had the knowledge to work on/repair electronics himself. I wouldn´t recommend getting old tube equip unless you´re prepared and researched. If you´re just thinking, hey I heard tubes were good, then I´d say it´s probably not for you. Antique equipment often needs special care.

$25.00 sounds good so if it were me I
would get it and auction it on e-bay and maybe quadruple your money.
Those old tube powered sterios and amps went the way of the ´60´s muscle cars - very sought after and parts are very expensive.

I´d say grab it and re-sell it!

yeh, read that all the capacitors will be dried out and will need to be replaced

but if the thing works, will be a cheap way to find out if i like tube sound versus solid state

hi end tube receivers cost a dead president massacre even used on audiogon

some geezer getting rid of the family console is about my only hope

montgomery wards, though...how lo end can you go...

About the highest price for the old tube receiver is about $150. If it works...and is pristine.
Other Tube equipment (McIntosh for example) might be really high.

The cheapest tubed amplifiers now are from china. Russian tubes, if you can get them are better than the chinese.
Good score on the Magneplanar.

I build very large horn speakers. sometimes.

Old radio vacuum tubes are being used increasingly on retro-replica units for nostaligic appeal. Often, the tubes serve no other purpose than to glow. May be a good investment for $25.00

All of the electrolytic capacitors in both the audio section and the radio sections should be replace with new ones. Capacitance and voltage ratings are to be the same as the old ones, and packing ie. lead placement and even size need to be considered as well.

All the tubes should be replace with new ones.

The radio section will likely need to be retuned if you replace even one capaciator in that section. Also, the powersupply filter capacitors should be replaced as well.

I would only recommend it if:

1. You are really nostaglic and want that retro 60´s look and sound of a relatively cheap tube amplifer.

2. You have experience with repairing tube electronics.

3. You have experience returning AM and FM radio sections.

4. Need a small space electric heater to offset your high priced natural gas heating this winter. In which case spend the $25 on a running old tube TV set, you´ll get more heatout of it.

Do not expect it to sound anywhere close to as hi-fi as the high end tube equipment from the same time. Look for a PhaseLinear or MacIntosh tube amplifier instead... if it is good tube sound you want.

IMHO

nothing sounds better than a good tube end on a stereo or amp. digitital is great but sumtin ´bout those tubes just can´t be reproduced by a microchip.

$150 is the highest? saw some matched mono amp blocks on ebay that were thousands...

big horns are great...like klipschorns...again out of my price range

people joke about the magneplanars...ask why i have doors standing around...they are 6 foot by 2 foot by 2 inches deep...but they have a great sound...much more realistic sound than most cones put out...and mine don´t have the ribbon tweeters, even

trying for a pair of infinity 2000a antiques that are made with rtr electrostatic tweeters, but it looks like they are gone...no response from the owner

$150 is the highest? saw some matched mono amp blocks on ebay that were thousands...


It is for something that has Montgomery Ward stuck to it. I´m thinking it might possibly be a fisher 500 in disguise.

gee, thanks, 9344...don´t get a tube unit unless you are edison himself, eh

once heard a stromberg-carlson tube affair that powered a church organ that had unbelievable sound...owner had salvaged it when the church was knocked down

marantz is another american genius...he sold his tradename to some japanese company, but nobody made tube stuff like him...if you can sell me a marantz tube amp for $150, make me a believer

You know if you hang around here enough you can learn that Old Tube Receivers are really time machines that can modify weather as well.

tubes are the best for audio. i´m building a Weber clone 1957 PRO fender tweed guitar amp. 30w, i 15" speaker. nothing sounds like pure tube. same with stereo gear. nice and round, sweet.

1677 you play I assume?

yeah, i´ve got more guitars than i can use. but this amp should be sweet. pure blues fender tweed. Weber makes good kits at a decent price.
sweet sustain and warmth. 2 6L6s or 5881s. probably 12AV7s for the pre-amp. not too much gain, a lot of sustain. we´ll see.

i crawl through charity stores looking for old yuppie equipment outcasts

usually everything is beat to death and back lo end...total crapfest

managed to souvenir a denon dap 5500 preamp and a pair of danish bang and olufson beovox 5-way monitors one fine day, with seas and other european maker speaker components in them...haven´t gotten them hooked up yet, because the screws that the speaker wires were attached to are missing...

the denon preamp was $40 and the beovox speaks were $6...and both retailed for around $1500 each back in the 70´s day

good thing about goodwill stores is that they price audiophile junk the same as rat-eeh-oh shack junk

was going to hook the denon up for a preamp to the tube receiver