FAKE TUBES ALERT!

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FAKE TUBES ALERT!

Postby vintage_dog » Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:10 am

Be warned:

There are fake or rebranded NOS tubes out there!

I recently came across a "NOS Mullard 6SN7" in Mullard boxes with white printing of Mullard on the glass. "Made in USA"! Mullards are made in the UK, not USA!

These are actually Russian 6SN7s. If you want them, you may pay pesos 500/pair.
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Postby Audiogeek » Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:15 am

Thanks VD. I heard there are a lot reproduced Mullards branded tubes in the market nowadays. I think i saw one in a store. Medyo hawsyaw nga printing. Thanks.
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Postby jetok » Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:23 am

thanks for the heads up VD.
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Postby jamants » Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:37 am

thanks VD!
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Postby vintage_dog » Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:43 am

guys, there are also new production Mullards (EL34, etc). These are not fakes, but are not NOS either. they are priced same as svetlana or sovteks. so don't pay NOS prices for them...
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Postby bono » Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:43 pm

Thanks for your concern to your fellow audiophile.
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Postby jadis » Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:59 pm

yes. i heard too that there are fake Telefunkens that have the engraved diamond at the bottom. these usually have very 'fresh' paint markings, and it pays to know how non-fake Tele markings look like. for mullards and amperex tubes, i look for the acid etched markings near the bottom of the tube. amperex has a 'delta' mark before some numbers, and mullards have two rows of letters and number codes. asterix instead of delta on amperex means they are US made as opposed to Holland made, both authentic.
Last edited by jadis on Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby John Martin » Tue Dec 06, 2005 10:21 am

HAVE COME ACROSS A US MADE MULLARD 6SN7 MYSELF.
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Postby bruno » Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:27 pm

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Postby pigdog » Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:20 pm

i have encountered current production EL34 in mullard boxes, which are actually SED, however these are not fakes as the manufacturere has the liscence and items were declared accurately as made in russia and priced cheaply. on the other hand i have been swindled with fake mullards ecc83 and ecc82 from a very well known hong kong dealer which i would rather not mention in public, however should you guys be buying from hong kong, let me know in advance and i will discreetly reveal the culprit. the fact is everyone in the industry knew that this dealer has been naughty and selling chinese made preamp valves dressed up as amperex or mullards. this occured years ago when i am still a newbie in the game and coudn't tell the difference between the chinese ones from the european one. the same seller is actively selling in ebay and has 100% favorable feedback, also going to thier store looking at some el84's they refused to let me look at the tubes in detail, tubes were kept behind a locked glass cabinet. nonetheless my sources in the uk are more straightforward, they will declare the items as NOS or Pulls and priced accordingly. sometimes i would buy older but still usable tubes for testing purposes or for trying out audio gears suspect audio gears as it is better to use older ones in case of any problems before sqwitiching to the valuable NOS.-pigdog/ctr
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Re: FAKE TUBES ALERT!

Postby amandarae » Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:08 am

vintage_dog wrote:Be warned:

There are fake or rebranded NOS tubes out there!

I recently came across a "NOS Mullard 6SN7" in Mullard boxes with white printing of Mullard on the glass. "Made in USA"! Mullards are made in the UK, not USA!

These are actually Russian 6SN7s. If you want them, you may pay pesos 500/pair.


Yep! Because Mullard never made a 6SN7, ever!
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Postby mozilla » Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:25 am

Pigdog,
I know the fellow who are are referring to. A lot of people and HK friends have warned me as well about him. Hope no one has bad experiences here w/ him.
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Postby pigdog » Fri Dec 09, 2005 9:31 am

unfortunately, i got burned by this hongkong dealer once way back when i was a newbie. nowadays i avoided them at all costs. this seller has a really nasty reputation amongst tother dealers in hk
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Postby Oldfogey » Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:00 am

Why are we tiptoing around, and not naming this fellow? I will say that Lorenz Tang of WiWi Tubes, AKA the Bugleman on Ebay, occasionally sells real tubes :twisted:

The Tele CCA's that I bought from him years ago were definitely NNS ( New New Stock) Hahahaha :( Oh well, you win some and you lose some.
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Postby vintage_dog » Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:15 am

3 types of sellers of fake tubes:

1. really don't know they are fakes.

2. were victims themselves and they want to pass them on para hindi lugi. masakit isipin naisahan sya, so tinitingan kung paano makabawi. he knows they are fakes but pass them on as "genuine" or responds "hindi ko alam" if asked...

3. in the business of making fake tubes for profits. madami ito a HK. am not aware of any locally.
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Postby amandarae » Fri Dec 09, 2005 11:20 am

Also, RealJazzCat of Ebay! Yes, Wiwi tubes. You buy 'em, you go wiwi :cry:
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Postby jadis » Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:35 pm

Re HK fake tube sellers, Ken Chan of Sound Chamber told me he never and will never buy tubes from any HK dealer. This, despite the fact that he speaks Cantonese and is a native of HK! He sources the expensive ones from European dealers and the cheaper ones on ebay.

Tube buyers really need to be aware of their tube needs and research on how to detect fake from real tubes. Imagine the feeling of 'wearing' them all fake tubes and being happy about the sound of your tube gear WITHOUT knowing they are fake! The blast comes in when someone will identify it as a fake, and you suddenly feel pain in your stomach. Just this morning, a tube lover but not an 'aware' buyer showed me 6 used Telefunken tubes and asked me to test it on a tube tester. Lo and behold, one had 4 ridges typical of Amperex and Mullards on the top area, and even has a <> at the bottom. All others have no ridge on the crown. 2 other tubes measure weak, and the others good. This would be the first <> I have seen with diamond and ridge marks. I really don't know what to make of it. But I wouldn't buy it when I see one.
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Postby mozilla » Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:38 pm

Here are the Mullard EL34 repros.
http://www.tubedepot.com/mu-el34.html

They are manufactured by Reflektor (Saratov, Russia) for New
Sensor - makers of EH, Sovetk etc.

It seems that New Sensor has aquired some of the rights to the "Mullard" brand.
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Postby pigdog » Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:47 pm

i certainly agree with one of the writers to this posts, after being burned by WIWI :x i learned my lesson, also i tend not to buy the super expensive tubes in hong kong with an the exception to the following: less expensive mullards and 300B's as these are made in china anyway. so no point buying TJ or Shuguang 300B in the US. in hong kong i find Brian Cherry of DIY in Mongkok to be reliable and honest, his TJ's are sold with the "birth papers" and matched with the SOPHIA. occasionally i got to Mr. Wong at Choice Audio for an odd piece. but mostof my collections were bought directly from my two sources in the UK and i basically go to thier shops and pick the tubes myself.
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Postby pigdog » Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:51 pm

Audiogeek wrote:Thanks VD. I heard there are a lot reproduced Mullards branded tubes in the market nowadays. I think i saw one in a store. Medyo hawsyaw nga printing. Thanks.

Definetely "Hawsiaow"! :x as mentioned before, i got suckered into buying a quad of Mullard Ecc83 from wiwi for the price of a real thing and at that time i was am "innocent" newbie :oops: and i could not tell the difference between a cheap bargain bin chinese ecc83 over the mullards

Wiwi begone! :evil: the normal reaction for us in hk whenever we been had is to utter: "di** n* Lo M*! :twisted:
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