[Vintage-Audio] 7591 replacements

Fri Jun 7 08:25:01 2002

Howdy,
Wish everyone on the list well. Just thought I'd take advantage
of the discussion on Radio Shack "LIFETIME" tubes and compare
the experience of others with mine on getting them exchanged.
Only done this once (SO FAR) but taking the tubes I wanted to
exchange into the local store resulted in a total blank stare
from the sales person. This in itself was no surprise. After
getting the manager he dug into his book and provided me an
address for correspondence. I've inserted their reply.

Dear Mr. Frolik,

This is in response to your letter regarding the tubes.  You can still
send them in without the receipt for exchange as long as they are not
broken or cracked.  You will need to send them back in the original boxes,
and well packed for mailing.  We suggest that you send them back by UPS,
FEDEX, or USPS insured mail so that you will have a tracking number on
them, however this is not required.  The address you will need to return
them to is:

RSU Fulfillment Center
Attn: Returns
401 NE 38th St
Ft. Worth, TX  76102.

By the way the first letter I wrote came back. Seems like the "ACTUAL"
zip code for the RSU Center was 76106. Just thought I'd mention that.
Anyway the tubes finally arrived but they were of a significant "LOWER
QUALITY". Or at least that was my experience trying to stabilize them
in the circuits involved. Never could get them to perform correctly
so modified the circuits and got some Svetlana equivalents and haven't
looked back. Everything has performed flawlessly (just my 2 cents on
Russian tubes .... Hi). Now these were power tubes so receiving tubes
may not be an issue as to performance quality. One observation that
leads me to a question is the replacements tubes (while having the RS
Logo)do "NOT" have the lifetime label on the envelope. Again this is
not really a surprise since RS probably scrambles to get tubes to meet
the legal requirements of the original "LIFETIME" warranty. This may not
be an issue as long as one keeps the paperwork detailing the swap but
without that paperwork the lifetime warranty probably would end there.
Course maybe by my acceptance of these standard tubes it ends anyway.
Soooooooo guess I've rambled on long enough .... Hi. I have other RS
"LIFETIME" tubes to swap out but just haven't gotten to it. Any info
or experience others have had more recently would be of interest.
Might find out there is a better way.
Skip
WB4GMQ/AAV4HC

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Helmut Usbeck
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 01:41 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Vintage-Audio] 7591 replacements

Amazin' but true, if you took one of those down to the Rat Shack today they
would replace it.  Two things to watch out for.  One, make sure there's
still
at least some of the Rat Shack Logo on it, otherwise they will send you on
your way.  Find someone in the store who knows what a tube is.  I returned a
6BQ5 from a set I have and the kid behind the counter said they didn't have
any.  Another sales type told him to call the warehouse and order me
another.
The kid then asked me what it was and I told him it was a vacuum tube.  He
asked me what it was it used for and I told him that was the  devices used
in
electronics before semi-conductors came about.  He told me he knew all about
electronics and never heard of one.  He called the warehouse and said
there's
a guy here who needs a tube for his vaccuum cleaner.  I burst out laughing!
The kid didn't like that and kicked me out of the store because "I was
making
fun of him".   I left and got my tube another day, no problems.  Sales type
was Oriental.  Losing face or some such non-sense.

Helm.  WB2ADT

On Wednesday 05 June 2002 13:29, you wrote:
> I thought so. I had an ST-70, and each pair of 7591's I put in would get
> microphonic after a few months. My solution was to buy a set of Radio
Shack
> LIFETIME 7591's, and get free replacements when they went microphonic.
They
> never went microphonic! Had the amp about 5 more years, and the tubes were
> still just fine. I wonder how Radio Shack replaces these LIFETIME tubes
> today. Of course, I wish I still had the amp.--Mike--WV2ZOW
>
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