From Kevi–(at)–PSCALEaudio.com Sun Mar 16 02:10:07 CST 1997
Article: 26670 of rec.audio.tubes
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From: Kevi–(at)–PSCALEaudio.com (Kevin Deal /UPSCALEaudio/)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.tubes
Subject: Re: Amperex Bugle Boy 12AX7 reborn. Any Good?
Date: 15 Mar 1997 15:06:02 -0700
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In article <3329b7fc.409883--(at)--ews.hkstar.com>,
yauy–(at)–kstar.com (Patrick) wrote:
>I have seen Amperex Bugle Boy 12AX7 (and 12AU7) reborn being sold
>locally (Hong Kong). They were marked as “Made in U.S.A.” and
>accompanied by certificates dated 1996.
>
>Any one tried it before? Is it comparable with NOS Bugle Boys?
It has nothing to do with a real Amperex Bugle Boy from a manufacturing
standpoint. They are U.S. made JAN spec tubes, mostly Sylvania/Philips ECG I
would guess. Wash ’em, label ’em and there you go….
The history is this:
NV Philips (Holland) bought Amperex in 1955 to market Philips Holland and to
a lesser degree German and French made tubes in the U.S. They also
manufactured Philips designs in the Amperex tube plants, more specifically the
6922 and 7308.
Some British made stuff was made in the Mullard factory, since Philips owned
Mullard outright since the 1920’s. These could also be found branded Amperex,
most often EL-34’s and 5AR4’s. That’s why the internal construction is so
similar on all those tubes.
In later years, Philips bought Sylvania…hence Philips ECG which are based on
Sylvania designs. They look the same….they ARE the same. When that
happened the Holland and U.S. factories Amperex stopped production of audio
numbers in the 70’s as far as I can tell.
National bought the Amperex name. They are taking U.S. made tubes and testing
them, supplying some report of somesort, them labeling them Amperex with the
Bugle Boy. I have my own opinions on National as a company and a name
in tubes…but should speak to my attorney before airing them.
The constuction of the tubes will be U.S. made and be based on U.S. designs.
Not that they are bad…I just want to clarify that the rumors about buying
old manufacturing equipment from Holland and so on is B.S.
Best Regards,
Kevin DealFine Tube Components, Home Theater,
UPSCALE and Vintage Tubes from Telefunken,
Audio/Home Theater/Rare Tubes Mullard, Amperex, etc. Showroom
1410 Lemonwood Dr West Open 7 Days By Appointment.
Upland, CA 91786 (909) 931-9686
