[Vintage-Audio] Tube amps with no load

[Robert J. McKee]

Steven, you pushed one of my panic buttons... the sellers
on eBay that cop out with "I have no way to test it further."
I am convinced that a fair percentage of these people are
a little smarter than they let on and they use this "warning"
for wiggle room when the buyer finds out something is not
quite right with the merchandise.
One area in particular is with reel-to-reel tapes.  Few
people are aware of how to handle and store them.  The
"power sellers" that frequent garage and estate sales know
little about tape and represent them as great condition when
just a look at the condition with high speed rewind and end
of tape not retained say to the knowledgeable it may well
be trash.  I've even had good honest people who spot
check tapes not catch partial erasures on otherwise valuable
two-track tapes from the fifties.
We just have to hold back the temptation to bid which
only serves to drive up the perceived worth of the item
we'd like to have when there is a serious question as to
condition and treatment.  Hold out for good stuff from a
seller that knows what he has and the real condition.
Otherwise your money just buys another quick pik in the
lottery.
Tired of being burned,
Bob McKee




----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven K. Wenger" <steve@wenger.org>
To: <vintage-audio@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 11:28 AM
Subject: [Vintage-Audio] Tube amps with no load


Is it just me, or does anyone else cringe when someone on eBay
writes the amp's tubes light up but I have no way of testing
it? There is a Fisher X200 amp on eBay right now. You can
actually see the amp's line cord plugged into an extension
cord, the tube's filaments are on, and no speakers are
connected.