UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Powered By Google Custom Search Vintage Radio and TV Service Data

Go Back   UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum > General Vintage Technology > Components and Circuits

Notices

Components and Circuits For discussions about component types, alternatives and availability, circuit configurations and modifications etc. Discussions here should be of a general nature and not about specific sets.

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 27th May 2011, 6:36 pm   #1
M0FYA Andy
Nonode
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 2,510
Default Mazda PP3/250 valves

I am slowly making progress sorting my collection of valves, and have discovered a couple of Mazda PP3/250's. According to the National Valve Museum - http://www.r-type.org/exhib/aaj0154.htm - the PP3/250 was Mazda's answer to the PX4.

They are untested apart from checking filament continuity, but they are clean and look in physically good condition.

Knowing that some people go crazy for PX4's, are PP3/250's sought after, and what would be an estimate of what they might be worth?

Many thanks,

Andy
M0FYA Andy is offline  
Old 27th May 2011, 7:00 pm   #2
GrimJosef
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,310
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

Using the most basic definition of what something is worth i.e. 'what someone is prepared to pay for it' one went for £260 on eBay a couple of days ago. There's no arguing with that.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/290566118463

Cheers,

GJ

Last edited by Station X; 27th May 2011 at 7:31 pm. Reason: Link added.
GrimJosef is offline  
Old 27th May 2011, 7:03 pm   #3
M0FYA Andy
Nonode
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 2,510
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

I think I would regard that as "freak result"!

What is a realistic estimate?

Andy
M0FYA Andy is offline  
Old 27th May 2011, 7:13 pm   #4
GrimJosef
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,310
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

Brilliant ! I'll give you £50 for the pair. You might want to look at this eBay item first though. This is what they're worth.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/220733407428

Cheers,

GJ

Last edited by Station X; 27th May 2011 at 7:33 pm. Reason: Link added.
GrimJosef is offline  
Old 27th May 2011, 9:22 pm   #5
M0FYA Andy
Nonode
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 2,510
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

Hmmmm............

I need to get mine tested.

Andy
M0FYA Andy is offline  
Old 27th May 2011, 10:31 pm   #6
Mr Moose
Octode
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Gloucestershire, UK.
Posts: 1,043
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

Hello,

It seems that to get the highest prices on ebay you have to be prepared to send them abroad. Balloon shaped valves also tend to fetch more, as do tested good ones or N.O.S.

Towards the end of valve production the valve designations became fairly interchangeable, so you have PX4s badged as AC044s and PP3/250s and sometimes vice versa or other combinations (AC044s as 4XPs etc).

The sad thing is that I, like many others I expect, have domestic radios with dud or missing PX4s and these prices put them well beyond what we can pay.

Yours Richard
Mr Moose is online now  
Old 27th May 2011, 11:42 pm   #7
GrimJosef
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,310
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Moose View Post
It seems that to get the highest prices on ebay you have to be prepared to send them abroad.
It seems that's right. Both buyers on the auctions listed above are based in South Korea.

Cheers,

GJ
GrimJosef is offline  
Old 28th May 2011, 7:38 am   #8
Alan Stepney
Rest in Peace
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Dorset, UK.
Posts: 947
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

The price realised appears to be rising.

I sold a pair about 18 months ago and got less than half the amounts those are selling for.
And, yes, they went "out east".
Alan Stepney is offline  
Old 28th May 2011, 7:42 am   #9
Sean Williams
Dekatron
 
Sean Williams's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: St.Ippolyts, Hitchin, Hertfordshire QRA IO91UW
Posts: 3,517
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

Speaking from experience of selling these valves before, £250 is not unrealistic, especially on eBay, and selling to the likes of China, or Japan.

Yes, they need testing, and you will need to pack them very well, but in every transaction i ever had when I sold off my valve collection, dealing with overseas buyers was far easier than dealing with domestic customers!

If you've no use for them, then pass them on, but don't kick yourself when you get a radio, or amp that needs one or two.....

HTH
Sean
__________________
Engineers make things work and have spare bits when finished
Sean Williams is offline  
Old 28th May 2011, 7:48 am   #10
M0FYA Andy
Nonode
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 2,510
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

I certainly wouldn't want the potential hassle of sending expensive valves abroad, with disputes about liability if they arrived u/s.
I think these are going to remain in my valve collection, I may need one some day!
But they are now properly boxed - they had been in a large box of loose valves for a number of years!
Many thanks for your replies.
Andy
M0FYA Andy is offline  
Old 28th May 2011, 7:59 am   #11
evingar
Octode
 
evingar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Newbury, Berkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,770
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

A wise decision Andy.

Aside from potential use in projects, these certainly aren't going to get less rare as time goes on, so the price can only go one way ( taking Audiophoolery as a given constant ! )
__________________
Chris
evingar is offline  
Old 28th May 2011, 9:40 am   #12
neon indicator
Retired Dormant Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Co. Limerick, Ireland.
Posts: 1,183
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

At that price I be tempted to learn Glass blowing!
neon indicator is offline  
Old 28th May 2011, 9:56 am   #13
murphyv310
Dekatron
 
murphyv310's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK.
Posts: 5,420
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

Too True! Mine have now come out of the box of loose valves, polished, tested and carefully put in boxes with plenty of packing, I think I may even put them under the bed!
__________________
Cheers,
Trevor.
MM0KJJ. RSGB, GQRP, WACRAL, K&LARC. Member
murphyv310 is offline  
Old 28th May 2011, 10:43 am   #14
GrimJosef
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,310
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

Quote:
Originally Posted by neon indicator View Post
At that price I be tempted to learn Glass blowing!
Someone's already doing it http://www.sophiaelectric.com/. If you click on 'Vacuum Tubes' you'll find new production PX4s towards the bottom of the page. At the factory gate they're about half the price of the old ones ($350-$400 per pair). They used to be available from KR Audio too http://www.kraudio.com/index.php?opt...emid=7&lang=en (maybe they still are ?) - made in the Czech Republic and slightly more pricey, I think, than the Sophias. It seems there's not enough demand for the big Chinese and Russian factories to be making them.

Cheers,

GJ
GrimJosef is offline  
Old 28th May 2011, 8:34 pm   #15
Lucien Nunes
Rest in Peace
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 2,508
Default Re: Mazda PP3/250 valves

One odd thing about these audio triodes is that many of the examples sold into the boutique hi-fi market are going into new-build amplifiers, where the valve choices are dictated by fashion. One day, when the PX4 has become completely unobtainable, the PP3/250 might suddenly be the valve to have, regardless of whether it's the same inside!

I'm always troubled by the paradox that eventually all modern Far-Eastern gear will have old British valves in, while all old British gear will have modern Far-Eastern valves. I think you're wise to sit on them; that's what I do. Not literally, you understand...

Lucien
Lucien Nunes is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 1:30 pm.


All information and advice on this forum is subject to the WARNING AND DISCLAIMER located at https://www.vintage-radio.net/rules.html.
Failure to heed this warning may result in death or serious injury to yourself and/or others.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 - 2023, Paul Stenning.