[ARC5] 211s

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 10:24 PM, Brian Clarke
<brianclarke01 at optusnet.com.au> wrote:
> Warning!
>
> The eBay offerings of item numbers 250947866662 and 250947865652 are viral.
> The vendor's claims of matched pairs are spurious - all the vendor has
> matched are filament continuity, part numbers and lot numbers. Since when
> did this become 'matching'?

I think he's using the audiophile definition of 'matching', Brian.
This is the crowd that buys the vast majority of 211s and 845s on
ebay. They look for matching sets by date and batch codes to insure
similar performance, or something along those lines. Rather than
'viral' which, as Robert says, is associated with computer viruses or
visibility (like a youtube video going viral, or spreading rapidly),
it's more a case of definition to match or attract a preferred
audience.

If there's any good 211 news, it's that the audio crowd pays a lot
more for the 845s than 211s. Aside from our old military and broadcast
transmitters, a number of old amps by Western Electric and others used
845s for theater sound. And of course, if it's associated with WE and
you're into audio, it's automatically better.

There are numerous imported versions that work just fine and cost a
whole lot less than the ebay prices for US made 211/845 tubes. The
only difference I've seen is some have a slightly smaller envelope. So
it's not like there is no alternative for 191/375 owners. When you can
get $1600 for a pair of Amperex or RCA 845s and buy a set of Chinese
845s for $100 or less that work just as well for our applications,
well....

Or do as Ken suggests: look around for the deals. They do exist.
Audiophile prefer wrapped or boxed pairs to single, unadorned tubes it
seems.

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4