FourT6and2
Well-known member
And that is from what retailer?
Orange Valve Tester Mark II - My experience (so far) on how it fares against other matchers/testers?
And that is from what retailer?
dead-pan
Well-known member
Musicians Friend. Not sure why. I haven't saw this before.
FLUXX
Active member
The Valve Tester Mk2 is still the best investment I made last year.
Works perfect for me. I've found worn or microphonic tubes in most of the used amps I've bought,
and a simple tube change turned them into fire-breathing beasts.
Best example: PRS MT100: bought used-mint condition, amp sounded ok, I found 4 microphonic preamp tubes,.
Changed those tubes, broke them in, and the amp just SHINES. You can get lost in each channel for hours.
That's just one example of many.
If the Valve Tester is not working for you....it's user error
You don't tap the tube and get a number.
RTFM
The only anomaly I've found is that KT77s only read with the EL34 test (KT77 Test will give you fail)
Works perfect for me. I've found worn or microphonic tubes in most of the used amps I've bought,
and a simple tube change turned them into fire-breathing beasts.
Best example: PRS MT100: bought used-mint condition, amp sounded ok, I found 4 microphonic preamp tubes,.
Changed those tubes, broke them in, and the amp just SHINES. You can get lost in each channel for hours.
That's just one example of many.
If the Valve Tester is not working for you....it's user error
You don't tap the tube and get a number.
RTFM
The only anomaly I've found is that KT77s only read with the EL34 test (KT77 Test will give you fail)
FourT6and2
Well-known member
You absolutely do tap the (preamp) tubes. That's part of a microphonic test in an amp and in the valve tester. I took your advice to "RTFM" and from the manual, page 16:
"...tap the valve gently with a pencil to test microphony. Note: If there is any noise present in the valve some LEDs will illuminate prior to tapping."
They even include a branded pencil with the device with which to tap the tubes. It's not user error. The tester just isn't very good. That's why there's hundreds, if not thousands, of posts around the internet from users complaining about it. That's why they came out with a MKII in an (unsuccessful) attempt to address the issues with the first version.
I measured voltages on every pin while the unit does tests. During the microphonic test, plate voltage spikes to 220v and then slowly drops below 198v. That's why you get a spike on the LEDs at first and then it slowly drops to below zero. This causes tubes that ARE microphonic at actual guitar amp voltages to appear non-microphonic once the voltage drops. Then you tap the tube to see if mechanical microphony exists. The tester is janky though and inconsistent.
Seems ok for power tubes in terms of catching bad/worn valves. But the matching is silly. The difference between each LED on the matching is quite large. I have a quad of tubes that test matched on the Orange but in reality, the spread is about 10mA apart in an amp. And no, it's not the amp.
There is some value to this thing, but it's far from reliable. If there was more resolution between LEDs, maybe that would help. But considering the price, I think the Maximatcher is a better value and probably more reliable and accurate.
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