[Waverley ARS] Got any old 4 pin Western Electric 274A rectifier valves - now worth over $1000

[Simon Buxton]

Eddie

If you follow the audiophools, its not just the valve type, its the 
brand, colour (black is best) and shape of the anode, the shape of the 
glass (globe is better than ST) and when it was made that really matter. 
Mil versions are better than civvy and so on. And yes, a good rectifier 
is supposed to improve the audio as does green paint on CDs, fancy 
speaker wire etc. The 247A does handle higher voltage and current than 
the 80. Western Electric are considered the top US brand for 1930s audio 
valves, and were used in a lot of cinema audio, though I don't know how 
good the current ones are felt to be.

Valve collectors only pay highly for very rare early valves, usually 
pre-1920. Early radio set people want working triodes but don't usually 
care about brand - these are getting harder to find, especially new in 
box, but not normally over the $100 mark.

73 Simon

Eddie Hanham wrote:
> Dear Simon,
>
> Not sure "Audiophools" are sending up the price of the WE 274A, 
> because full wave rectifiers don't affect the audio quality, but 
> maybe collectors are more interested.
>
> Can't understand why they are paying so much when you can buy them 
> from Western Electric for $US500 see:
>
> http://www.westernelectric.com/pricing.asp
>
>