7308 tube code question

I think he said it was a * on the bottom row, which signifies made in USA.

The delta, or triangle at the beginning of the bottom row denotes Holland. If it was an F it would be France. All three countries made them based on the same design in Philips-owned factories.

OK, now I am confused...the tubes say made in the USA, has a *5B etched under the VR5, which I am told means made in the USA, but also has the large white triangle (delta) which denotes made in Holland. Please note that the triangle is quite large and independent of any lettering. Am I confusing this triangle with a triangle used in place of the * to denote origin of manufacture??

Good question: I only have two out right now (just received them back from a friend) and they are etched VR5, *5D (also 518 on one and 535 on the other, towards the top). The white printing is: USN-CEP 7308, Made in U.S.A., Amperex and (65-35 on one and 65-14 on the other. There may be a faint delta on the bottom (between the pins), but it may also just be a natural variation in the glass (I cannot see it clearly enough). There are no remains of a large triangle on these and as the rest of the print is in good shape I doubt that there ever was. Hopefully Kevin can further ID these. The most important thing however is how they sound.

These tubes sound awesome. I have a Sonic Frontiers Line 3SE with 10 NOS Valvo 6922. I replaced all 10 Valvos with the Amperex 7308s, and what a difference, especially in the deep bass and a more fleshed out natural midrange. The soundstage is huge with these tubes. I generally experience a subtle change when tube rolling, but this change was dramatic. Some tell me that changing all 10 tubes in my pre-amp with 7308 is overkill (instead of changing just the first two positions), but what the heck, you only live once.

USN-CEP - That is the older Navy code for Amperex Electronic Products. "C" is for Commercial. The remaining letter or letters identify a company:

CG = General Electric
CW = Western Electric
CRC = RCA (Radio Corporation)
CRP = Raytheon (Raytheon Production Corp)
CTL = Tung-Sol

The 65-35 on Dekay's tube is the date code i.e. manufactured on the 35th week of 1965. The delta symbol on my tubes are above the Amperex name and in the same colour ink as the rest of the lettering.

In the case of the delta being in paint on the tube, that doesnt' signify holland manufacture. the * does mean US made, sorry I didnt' notice that in the orig. post. Tube codes such as * and delta are always etched on the amperex, near the bottom of the tube.

-Ed