16 KT120s, $1200

[AnotherJohnson]

I have 16 of these and no longer own the amps that used them.

23263AFE-8350-4D8D-973A-6026C15FB627.jpeg (3.45 MiB) Viewed 1293 times

These were purchased from Upscale Audio and stored for future use. They are platinum grade, no cryo.

https://upscaleaudio.com/collections/va ... -sol-kt120

Note the current price is approximately $100/tube.

They were never put into service and have their full service life remaining.

I’d like to sell them as a lot of 16. To facilitate this and make it something of a deal, I’m offering the lot for $1200. That includes free insured FedEx Ground shipping to destinations in the contiguous United States.

Payment by PayPal F&F, or by check (held to clear).

Cash OK face to face. I’m south of Nashville near I-24 exit 76 in TN.

If they aren’t of interest here, I’ll put them on Audiogon.

[AnotherJohnson]

You may note that eight of the boxes are marked 4, 5, 6, … 11 in Sharpie. I did that when I was considering a retubing of the amps. Those eight were installed for approximately 10 minutes of use in one LP275M and then returned to their boxes. I numbered the boxes so that the tubes would go back into their own box on which their specs were printed.

I decided against the retubing since the old tubes still worked fine, but instead offered the new tubes to the buyer of the amps as spares. He already had a store of spares, so the tubes are being offered here separately. Note that I do not charge sales tax, so that’s a further savings compared to buying directly from Upscale.

[AnotherJohnson]

Bump. Make offer if you like. I have no need for KT120s at this point.

[audiojem]

I sent you a pm on these.
Thanks
AJ

[AnotherJohnson]

I looked up the receipt for these.

All 16 came in one order from Upscale.

They were delivered in July of 2020. They have been on my shelf in my listening room ever since.

I’d ordered them as spares on the fear that COVID would disrupt supply chains and would lead to tube shortages. This turned out to be a good move because in 2022 the supply chain was significantly disrupted due the war in Ukraine.

They were never put into service because none of the original KT120s in the amps showed signs of failure. I sold the amps in 2022 without using them. The eight that I marked were briefly installed in one amp to see if they made any difference in a hum problem that I was battling, but the hum was still present and so they were removed virtually immediately and the original tubes were reinstalled. By marking the boxes, I was able to put the new tubes back in their original boxes.

Since KT120s are now rare again, and Upscale will not sell new ones unless the buyer bought their amp from Upscale, these would seem to be a good deal.

I am open to offers.

[AnotherJohnson]

I’ve decided not to sell these at this time.

The situation with the factory is looking more and more like a long term problem, and KT tubes at this quality level are not readily available.

It makes no sense to give them away at this time. We may be looking at the end of an era. I hope not, but …

[Tuggs]

Do you feel confident those eight were not damaged at all by the hum? Was it an unbearably loud hum, giving a possible indication that an overload of current was passing through? Did you ever figure out what the cause was?

I appreciate that you were honest in mentioning that, you could have said nothing, and nobody would be any the wiser for it.

[AnotherJohnson]

The hum was very low. But annoying. The new tubes were only installed for long enough to hear that they weren’t the issue. Probably less than a minute. I shut the amp off and put the new tubes back in their marked boxes, and back to the shelf. There are a couple of threads on my adventures with the LP275Ms. With those amps everything had to be installed on one power strip, otherwise it was going to hum. No other solution worked. The fellow who bought the amps (with my disclosure of the hum) later found a bad 6922 socket and a defective solder joint which he was able to fix.

CJ should have accepted those amps for inspection when I asked under the warranty period. Or at least when I asked after the warranty had expired. But I was told that hum complaints come in on a daily basis, and the solution is the common power strip, and not to waste money on shipping.

[Tuggs]

Just wanted to pass on some accolades for Glen, aka AnotherJohnson. He was gracious enough to sell these tubes to me, so I can keep my KT120 amp running into the near to midterm future without worry.

Expedient with communications and shipping, he also put a lot of TLC into bomb-proof packing, ensuring these "golden goose eggs" would arrive without damage.

As evidenced throughout any of his informative forum posts, his passion for this hobby and attention to detail extends to his actions. He has earned my highest recommendation.

[AnotherJohnson]

I’m glad that these KT120s are now queued up awaiting their opportunity to shine in some CJ gear down the road. It is always a pleasure to do business with good people. This was any easy, and unanticipated transaction. Thanks!