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Kris Power Pump

distortion

Active Member
Jan 1, 2006
106
1
26
atlanta, ga
Just bought one of these in good working condition that is extremely clean.. probably a 9/10.. it does about 100 swinging 250-ish watts-wise. This thing is cleaner than the elkin I sold on ebay. I did some trading around and got it out of my dad, and I'm thinking about selling it...

What is this thing worth?

Thanks,
Josh
 

Uh, at the risk of being labeled a "nay-sayer", it would be worth about half what the tubes alone bring on the open market. At least around here that's been the rule. For some reason, that generic type tube is more sought-after than the equipment that uses it, whether it has the tubes in it or not.

Go figure.

Could be that someone who thinks about buying a 30 year-old linear is thinking about the next set of tubes, and what they'll cost down the line?

"Clean" is all very nice, make no mistake. But if "clean" also means "original", then selling it is the only smart thing to do. Even a linear wrapped in plastic and stored in a controlled environment will have oxides form in controls, and on switch and relay contact surfaces. Unless that stuff gets cleaned off, those contacts may arc when they are switched. That can turn a "good' (but oxidized) contact into a pitted, worn-out contact. And sooner than you think.

Original filter capacitors (and bleeders) will have to be replaced before you'll get any reliable service from it. Those parts are not meant to last 20 years, let alone 30. If they are still good, it's because the mileage is very low. Once the normal stresses of operating are placed on those parts, they ussually "remember" how old they really are in a month or three. Then they fail. How many other parts will fall in the line of dominoes is hard to predict, except for one factor. The bigger the fuse in line, the more additional items will "pop" beyond just filter capacitors.

Keeping it to use kinda sticks you with the cost of 30-year maintenance items. Sell it, and those become the buyer's problem.

Not too different from finding a 1977 car in a barn under a tarp. Might start, might run down the block. Just don't start any long road trips on those 1977 tires, or hoses, or brake cylinders, or crank seals, or,,,, or.. You get the idea.

73
 
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Thanks for the reply. This amp has been kept in good operational condition for quite some time now. My dad used it a few months, then my uncle, then my uncle traded it back to my dad for a larger box in trade. Then I traded my dad a 2 pill driver for it, just to play with it. I have about $125 in it, but I know that it has been well maintained and such. My only hope is that I can get $125 out of it. I can see where your coming from in the maintenance of a tube linear, however, and I certainly do not really want to have to deal with that... but do expect it to give someone quite a while of trouble free service.

Thanks,
Josh
 
The last two Kris amplifiers that i sold on Ebay were both in very good cosmetic condition. The 200B brought $125.00 and a Mach 3 brought $150.00 on a "buy it now". Both had new HV filter caps and bleeders installed and the 6LQ6's were in good shape. The little driver tube (6JG6A) in the Mach 3 was getting a little tired though, hence the "buy it now" price.

Hope this will give you some reference for your pricing.
Good luck.

73,
 
I just picked up a Palomar Skipper 300 also in very good condition paid 175 see they're selling for over $400 on eBay I also understand that eBay is pulling back on the sale of linear amplifiers on its website
 
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I take it you prefer pill amplifiers
no, its just the days of tv sweep tubes are over. they weren't designed to be used in rf amplifiers, they are low power, fragile, rip off expensive and so on and so on. if a person wants to spend 400% what its worth in money and go broke buying the tubes used mind you just to keep one alive then that's their deal, i don't judge. its all about common glass rf valves and steel tubes in this day and age. side note: yes transistor amps are great, transistors (not pills, pills go in your mouth not an amplifier) are not going anuwhere anytime soon. tube manufacturers are getting VERY scarce.
 
Hahaha television sweep tube amps, please
if a person wants to spend 400% what its worth in money and go broke buying the tubes used mind you just to keep one alive then that's their deal, i don't judge.
I've been running TV sweep tube amps for many (40+) years and still do today. In fact my daily driver amplifier has its original TV sweep tubes in it to this day.

Good thing you don't judge.:unsure:

73
David
 
keep the drive low and the tubes should last a long time.
Hard to find a radio small enough to match the baldy driver tube in that one. Wasn't so tough 50 years ago, but newer 40-channel base radios routinely push double what's safe drive power for this amplifier, even with just one final transistor. A radio with dual finals will smash that driver stage in a hurry.

We routinely remove the driver tube and reconfigure a proper input circuit to drive the two 6LQ6 finals direct. Oh, and it needs to have fixed grid bias added.

Can't remember if we ever posted that procedure. Not feeling ambitious enough to search for it right now.

There is one of these in line in the backlog here. Should post a "how-to" if it turns out we didn't already do that.

73
 
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no, its just the days of tv sweep tubes are over. they weren't designed to be used in rf amplifiers, they are low power, fragile, rip off expensive and so on and so on. if a person wants to spend 400% what its worth in money and go broke buying the tubes used mind you just to keep one alive then that's their deal, i don't judge. its all about common glass rf valves and steel tubes in this day and age. side note: yes transistor amps are great, transistors (not pills, pills go in your mouth not an amplifier) are not going anuwhere anytime soon. tube manufacturers are getting VERY scarce.
Thank you for your input
 
no, its just the days of tv sweep tubes are over. they weren't designed to be used in rf amplifiers, they are low power, fragile, rip off expensive and so on and so on. if a person wants to spend 400% what its worth in money and go broke buying the tubes used mind you just to keep one alive then that's their deal, i don't judge. its all about common glass rf valves and steel tubes in this day and age. side note: yes transistor amps are great, transistors (not pills, pills go in your mouth not an amplifier) are not going anuwhere anytime soon. tube manufacturers are getting VERY scarce.
Thank you for your input
Hard to find a radio small enough to match the baldy driver tube in that one. Wasn't so tough 50 years ago, but newer 40-channel base radios routinely push double what's safe drive power for this amplifier, even with just one final transistor. A radio with dual finals will smash that driver stage in a hurry.

We routinely remove the driver tube and reconfigure a proper input circuit to drive the two 6LQ6 finals direct. Oh, and it needs to have fixed grid bias added.

Can't remember if we ever posted that procedure. Not feeling ambitious enough to search for it right now.

There is one of these in line in the backlog here. Should post a "how-to" if it turns out we didn't already do that.

73
Thanks for your response it's really appreciated
 

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