Sanity Check on Replacement Tubes

[Dhouse7516]

Hey all,

Seeking advice. I have been looking for some backup 6fj7s for my SEX 3 that I recently built. I found a local guy who is selling NOS Sylvanias for $12.75 each. That seems a bit high to me, but considering that I can’t find them anywhere, I’m tempted to take the plunge. Please let me know your thoughts and if you are aware of more reasonably priced sources.

Thanks!

[Larpy]

When Bottlehead revised the SEX 2 to the SEX 3, they bought up all the 6FJ7s they could find.  Even now, 6 years later, vendors I'm aware of still have no stock of 6FJ7s.  Even ebay comes up short: a few singles, but no pairs.

Presumably, there are lots more 6FJ7s out there, but sellers probably don't realize there's a market.

Given that, $13 for a tested NOS 6FJ7 might be about as well as you can do.

[Dhouse7516]

Thanks, that makes sense. This guy is actually asking $12.75 per tube, so $25.50 for a pair. That seems nuts for 6fj7s, but given how hard they are to find, I am tempted to pull the trigger.

[Paul Birkeland]

There are definitely tons and tons of these sitting around but a lot of the big tube sellers don't bother listing every random Compactron since there is very little demand for most of them.  We ran into this issue when we used the 6DN7, and now there are plenty of 6DN7s floating around. 

[Dhouse7516]

That’s an excellent point, Paul. Thanks. This local guy’s Sylvanias seem promising so I will probably grab them.

[Altecboy]

Fair Radio Sales has them for $7.50.  You can email them for brand.

[tvr2500m]

Probably a good idea to grab them. Rolling all the 6FJ7 variants I've been able to find, the S.E.X. always sounds great with any of them (and there are quite a few variations, though I'm surmising that only GE, RCA, and Sylvania manufactured this tube), but there's one that appears to be Sylvania-made that's my favorite by a small margin.

[twofires]

For anyone outside the US looking for 6FJ7, Vacuum Tubes Inc might not have the lowest price (USD$12), but their international shipping costs are pretty reasonable if you're ordering a few sets.

https://vacuumtubesinc.com/index.php/vacuum-tubes/new-tubes/6fj7.html

When I ordered I got two sets of Sylvanias in original boxes.