I have an amplifier with four 572B tubes. I have been running the same Cetron 572Bs since 1976 in this Dentron Clipperton L and in a Hunter Bandit before. This summer I decided to lay in another set to stretch the life of the amp. I ordered a quad of the premium Chinese Tubes from the distributor that I considered to be the best available. When I received and installed them they didn't work. After some investigation and head scratching I found that one of them had an open filament.
The distributor replaced them with another set and a rude accusation that I ruined the tubes by overdriving them. The second set lasted a month, but were not as good as the 30 year old Cetrons when installed and were dead by the end of the two CQWW DX contests. I pulled the new tubes and reinstalled the Cetrons which are still going strong. I emailed the distributor and asked what he would recommend that I do and how he would be willing to help. After my second email, I received a very rude phone call from the "Customer Service Department" which essentially told me to stuff it. My conclusion is that amplifier tube supply as far as 572Bs are concerned is dead now. The Chinese are not making a good product and the US distributor feels that he can do nothing about it, so his present approach it to stonewall the problem. My next amplifier will be whatever I deem the best solid state amp available at a price that I can manage. I hope that my Clipperton will hang in until I can recover from paying for my K3. Willis 'Cookie' Cooke K5EWJ _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
