Don't support Western Electric: shameless warranty runarounds

TubeAnon

 

The article sez:

 

guess I didn't read far enough... the article had a big white space (presumably it was ads that brave stripped out) and I thought that was the end

Still seems strange to see a manufacturing operation on the top floor of an office bldg. Getting raw materials up there, the exhaust requirements, taking everything back down for shipping, etc.

 

Check out the date on Google Maps,

This is what it supposedly looked like in May 2022: https://goo.gl/maps/8DkLLs962BAp6q5M6

 

Yep - that appears to be the very same picture featured on the WE website.

Across every article I’ve read, none of the authors have been to the WE factory to witness history in the making - the only American vacuum tube manufacturing plant in operation.

 

Yeah, you're probably right to be suspicious. My WE300Bs had made in China stickers on the back of the box and came with some weird pictures featuring green lizard people and Nancy Pelosi in the same envelope as the warranty card. They're obviously hoax tubes.

 

So… when are we shooting these faulty WEs in slomo again? Curious minds inquire.

 

When I get a free weekend when it's not raining lol

 

And shirtless

 

@purr1n I really appreciate this information. I was considering a pair of WE300B but given what you've learned I believe the same funds are better used towards a Tektronix ADA400A and power supply. The latter will enhance my lab's ability to measure time domain power supply noise below 1 uV. Probably a much better use of the resources.

 

While I am completely on your side on this and any implied warranty should be honored, I don't believe they hid the warranty info from you in a letter sized sheet of paper. I would likely ignore filling it out as well as they are as Mr Shiit said, data collection and your receipt the warranty info. I'm early in this thread and hope they've come around.

Speaking of tubes, I got hold of a Jadis to listen to and guess what, I had to open it to get it right. Distortion in one channel. Tubes were fine. One coupling cap hadn't been soldered and was only touching it's contact point to point. Nice thing about Jadis is that they test their tubes, run them and test them again. The fail them even if still OK but have changed too much after running. DA50s is a really nice amp.

That said, we expect this stuff with tubes.

 

Where's Grimlock when you need him

 

Wrong thread, apologies.

 

I'm not sure if this in jest at WE's shitty business practices, but you can see in a picture from last month that the manufacturing facility is clearly part of this building: https://goo.gl/maps/nuaRUXnXupPQnEcTA. They appear to be leasing a portion for manufacturing. The HQ is the building in the article from 2013 which appears to be owned by the guy running the operation.

 

Curious to hear your impressions of the Elrogs when they arrive. So far I haven't taken the plunge for the possibly silly reason that they look bright as light bulbs in photos, and I listen at night. Lol.

 

IMO the Elrog rectifier lives up to the hype, the only one I like better than the vintage Ken Rad in the V3 Stratus. I also liked it better than other options in the Stellaris.

 

I think you've misunderstood. Sorry that I didn't make myself more clear. I didn't mean your warranty situation with that final comment. You should be pissed about that whether the warranty page was filled out or not. I meant the failure. Current output tubes are a PITA. Doesn't mean they're not worth the effort for those willing, nor that they shouldn't have clear warranties to be honored. I'm on your side here. I just didn't think that the warranty form (that you shouldn't need) was hidden in any way.

 

I am late here but this is extremely scummy. I got my pair from a friend who drove from VA to NY to deliver them. I was initially going to pass because i wanted the 5 year warranty, but at around the same time of this fiasco he told me about the diminishing pro-rated BS fine print.

To dig WE even deeper, my friend bought them from his dealer, who told WE he was buying a bunch for his customers and that he wanted to make sure they get the warranty too. WE said yes! My friend gets his, fills out the card, sends it in, and it is returned to him with a big fat red DENIED! stamp on it. Turns out WE refused to warranty as it was bought through the dealer. The dealer then tried to send in the card himself as he bought the and WE refused there too.

You try to buy American, pay the extra premium, but WE made it not worth it. Better off buying used via a local deal, at least they will be vetted by someone.