Amperex - Brooklyn, New York

Brooklyn, New York

Originally located at 79 Washington Street in Brooklyn, New York, Amperex was a long-established manufacturer of transmitting tubes when they were acquired by the Dutch firm, Philips around 1955. Philips continued to improve and enlarge the tube plant in New York, but also used the Amperex name to distribute their new line of Dutch-made miniature tubes, (12AX7, 12AU7, 12AT7) to feed the booming U.S. hi-fi market. Classic hi-fi brands such as Marantz, Fisher, and H. H. Scott, Inc., used these tubes. Amperex also produced the 6DJ8, 6922 and 7308 frame grid tubes. Developed by Amperex in 1958 when transistors were beginning to supplant tubes and originally developed for video and radar use, the 6DJ8 also excelled in audio amplifiers needing its high transconductance, and it still has a niche market among audiophiles.

Amperex tubes were original equipment parts in many models of Tektronix and Hewlett-Packard test equipment. Although Amperex stopped making vacuum tubes long ago, hoards of new old stock (especially the original "Bugle Boy" series) are traded for profit, and other manufacturers produced compatible tubes more recently.