I later examined these tubes and found them all to be intact, and all tested as NOS-in other words the emission pinned the meter of an emission tester and read as high as any similar NOS tube on my transconductance tester. I bought those and left my card with the seller, who indicated he had more at home. Some of the boxes fell apart at the touch. A number of these were UX245 and UX226, both sought after antique tubes today, which audiophiles are building amps around.
Under piles of glass jars full of screws I found box after damp box of globe shape tubes, mostly RCA and Silvertone 4-pin base types. I was at a garage sale recently, which was actually in a large barn with more than a few leaks in the roof. I can't help but launch into a NOS tube buying "experience" I had recently, so please bear with me. There they joined the ranks of the even older "NOS" army: the octals, locktals, and "globe" tubes, some of which have been holding down shelves since the 1920s. Radio, TV, and Hi-Fi shop owners cussed about the huge racks of tubes they bought (against their better judgment when the latest product flyers showed all solid state components) and shuffled them to the back room, then to the basement, then to the garage or barn. No one really cared, since virtually no consumer products used them anymore. Except for CRTs and some industrial/military tubes, vacuum tubes by and large were no longer being produced anywhere on earth.
TV sets, radios, hi-fis, and industrial equipment embraced the new silicon replacements for tubes practically overnight, and tubes went the way of the vinyl LP record just as quickly.Įnter the murky, half forgotten world of the NOS tube. TV repairmen put away their tube caddies seemingly overnight, still stuffed with 6BK4Cs, 12AX7s, and 6DW4s among millions of others. Many of these billions of tubes suddenly found they were sitting on a shelf, certainly no longer NEW, but definately OLD STOCK that no customer had ever purchased. It fits well in the tube world, since tubes were made by the billions up through the 1970s, and the solid-state changeover took place rather rapidly. Actually, Unused Old Stock is a better term, but trying to say the word "UOS" proved to be too difficult! New Old Stock can be found in everything from computer drives to Ford Model T ignition coils. The only constant here is that the product is unused.
It is mainly a retailer's term for any stocked item which is either A: out of production B: discontinued from the current line of product C: has been sitting on a stockroom or warehouse shelf for some time or D: any combination of the above. New old stock is not by any means just a tube catchphrase.
So what's a NOS anyway? This is the acronym for "New Old Stock". With this rebirth comes the hoary holy grail of every tube aficianado: the NOS tube. Dusty old tube lore is being reprinted, and tube amp schematics from the 1940s are being sought out, built exactly to specification, and sanctified by tube gurus worldwide. But the retro-cool fascination is there as tube radios and hi-fi systems are making a roaring comeback.
These children of the solid-state revolution perhaps are just now becoming acquainted with these strange glowing glass bottles-heck, not even real glass bottles are glass anymore! To fill one with a light bulb filament, some wire mesh, a little can of metal, and then suck out all the air, and expect it to make sound is like some strange throwback to Victorian times when people were recording sounds on wax and tinfoil. There seems to be a mystique about tubes to begin with, as we now have nearly two generations of audiophiles who grew up knowing nothing about tubes. A phrase which has become nearly as meaningless as "world class", "high fidelity" and "factory fresh". NOS tubes: a phrase which will live in infamy.
"Why do these vintage 45 year old tubes look old? NOS Tubes: New Old Stock or Nasty Old Stuff?
NOS Tubes: Now Old Stock or Nasty Old Stuff?Ī series of articles appearing on this page from time to time, tossing my two cents worth in about those glowing bottles.