He replied, "OK - that's great, too - thank you very much!"Ī singular, enjoyable experience - all the way around. "Well, I don't have any that I speak to in person about tubes, but I'll definitely post on the forums about this visit!" On the way out, he thanked me for my business, handed me a few business cards, and asked me to tell my friends. ![]() I was already in the system from previous purchases. He took my standard debit card and completed the sale. While printing up the receipt, he said, "OK - let me take all these back and test them for you." Wow - all while I waited. I picked out various and sundry mainstream and off-brands, then got a couple of sockets to boot. When I had a specific interest, he would open that particular tube box and let me look at the tube construction - mica spacers, getter construction, etc. Raytheon, ITT, Westinghouse, Arcturus, Bendix, JAN, and many others - all mixed in with the familiar GE, RCA, and Sylvania and TungSol! Tube brands were available I never knew existed. Regardless, he was cheerful the entire time, and would place the whole bin on the desk for me to peruse. Not endowed with a limitless wallet, I was taking the opportunity to have him help me look for the no-name, more obscure tube numbers - instead of the expensive, mainstream varieties. For instance, where they might have a separate listing for RCA clear-top 12AU7's, those would be in their own bins. Each bin was chock-full of tubes in their original boxes of the type I was requesting - 12AE6A and 12FK6 for my Milletts 5963, 5814, and 6189 for the 12AU7 SOHA, and 6GM8 for Head-Fi user dsavitsk's new MEHA design.Īs he looked up these tubes on their website, I gathered that they had separate bins for each category of tubes. The bins were of the modern, colored plastic variety - yellow and perhaps 1-1/2 feet long, and 1 foot tall and wide. ![]() ![]() After a few seconds, he would come back to the desk with one of the bins. I would mention a tube number that I was interested in, he would look it up on their website - perhaps for a bin location - then go back in the warehouse area among the bins. He proceeded to graciously help me for about the next half-hour. "No problem," he replied, "Were you interested in some tubes?" I said, "Excuse me - you don't really have a store front, do you? I was in town briefly visiting relatives and as a satisfied customer, I'd thought I would come by." Looking forward from the entrance, between the desk in the corner and the plate glass window on the right, was a large entryway - you could see rows and rows of large plastic bins to the right, and the backs of red "GE" and other tube testers on a counter in front.Īfter a few moments, a guy came out and greeted me. Next to the window hung a large Sovtek poster of a large tube. A guy was busily working at a desk and computer, and looked to be constantly talking on the phone - perhaps taking orders and answering questions. To the right was a large plate glass window that covered most of the wall. A large photo of Led Zeppelin standing next to their Boeing 707, and a Guitars calendar adorned the wall. In one corner, there was an industrial style desk arrangement with a computer. To the left were file cabinets with several Christmas cards displayed on top. Through the door I entered into medium-large foyer, similar to a reception area you might find for a large warehouse or a small factory. Other than the numbered address, this was the only indication of the business that went on inside. On the door, a piece of 8-1/2 x 11 paper with the TubeDepot logo taped to the inside of the door's window. A small door was at the top of some metal steps - basically at the height of a typical loading dock. ![]() I had some time free from the relatives yesterday, and thought I'd try to find the place.Īfter a few wrong turns, I found a small industrial/commercial warehousing area between a couple of major residential thoroughfares. I'm in Memphis for the holidays, and in an area close to the TubeDepot's address.
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