EI Telefunken 12AX7 NOS tubes Yugoslavia (4) matched tubes total, smooth gray plates

I have for sale a matched quad (4) of the EI prewar 12ax7/Ecc-83 smooth plate tubes. These are early 1980's vintage NOS (new old stock tubes) that are part of a 100 tray factory lot. Because the tubes are part of a factory tray they were more than likely all manufactured on the same day. USA sales only...
EI purchased all the factory tooling from Telefunken and basically made an exact copy of the famous Telefunken smooth plate 12ax7 using original Telefunken machinery. These are the highly desirable smooth gray plate 12ax7 tubes with the halo getter just like the famous Telefunken 12ax7 they are modeled after.
These pre-war EI tubes are known for their excellent sound and reliability at a much lower cost than buying a Telefunken tube. Let me know if you need more than 4 tubes and I can adjust my price. Also, if you own Audio Research equipment and need to know how many 12ax7 tubes your preamp takes please email me.

The tubes have always been stored in a smoke free, temperature controlled environment. The lettering on the tubes say made in Yugoslavia and they have the EI factory markings and glass design. The lettering is mostly complete to partially complete on the tubes but fragile due to age. The tubes pictured are from the 100 tray lot and are an example of the lettering. The tubes will come in generic white tube boxes.

All the tubes are matched on a mutual conductance tube tester and test as new and passed all tests for shorts and leakage. I've had a quad in my ARC SP-6 preamp for awhile and I'm very impressed with their excellent sound and low noise. Like most NOS European tubes such as Mullard and Telefunken the tubes flash when energized and this is normal for this tube type, due to the special filament design.

Check around the web and typically you will see these NOS prewar tubes offered at $30-$40 or higher per tube not matched. I am fortunate enough to have access to one of the last large supplies of these NOS tubes and I will offer them at reasonable prices. Also, the origin of this tubes cannot be questioned as they clearly are labeled made in Yugoslavia
Shipping will be $5 via Fed-ex or $6 via us postal....actual cost are twice that amount I lose money on shipping. I carefully box, all my tube shipments. NO INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING and no Canadian sales. Continental USA sales only

For payment, I accept PayPal and USA post office money orders. I will absorb the PayPal fees. Audiogon members with less than 3 feedback items please email me before buying the item to verify payment method.
If you have any questions about these (4) EI prewar 12ax7 tubes please email me thanks.

Ive done some research on the internet and this is a summary of what I've learned about Elektronska Industrija or better known as EI of Yugoslavia. Contrary to popular belief, from some tube sellers (to increase prices) the EI factory was not destroyed in the war. If you do a Google search on EI Yugoslavia and page through the search results, you will find you'll find EI's outdated web site from April 2002 that states the factory was not destroyed in the Yugoslavia war (which was primarily between 1991 and 1995). EI produced tubes well after the war was over and this is a commonly known fact, as many popular online tube vendors sold these newer after war EI tubes. Current production of EI Vacuum tubes stopped many years ago and it will not resume. The primary difference after the war, was the quality of the tubes suffered greatly due to many factors such as shortages of quality materials and employee turnover which impacted quality control. There was also a UN embargo in place during this time which didn't help matters either. Quality issue, during and after the war are well documented on audio web site discussion boards.
The actual EI factory building was sold around 2005-07 and the new owners of the building had no interest in vacuum tubes, so production will not resume in that building.

The most recent information on EI is that Western Electric did in fact attempt to purchase the tooling from the old EI plant back in 2006-07. It was reported (even by Western Electric) that they thought it was a done deal. Some industry insiders that I know, who have direct contact with employees at Western Electric were able to confirmed the transaction never went through however, due to a number of obstacles. So, it appears the old EI equipment is sitting in storage off site at a location close to the old factory. Hopefully, the new government will allow the equipment to be purchased by a tube manufacturer in the future and allow the equipment to leave the country, but right now it's sitting idle in storage.