Russia war about to cut vacuum tube supply

[BTL]

Before you get too excited, have a look at what the tube they currently produce sells for.

They seem to have a fundamental understanding of the market they are entering (live music) as well as the market they currently serve (audiophile) and I wouldn't be surprised if this expansion wasn't a part of their business plan from the outset.

[JSett]

Before you get too excited, have a look at what the tube they currently produce sells for.

I saw that, but I'm not worried. They've clearly just positioned themselves, with that tube, in the upper tier of the supremely gullible Hi-Fi snakeoil corksniffers and thus marked it up accordingly. Historically very easy to sell expensive stuff to people into that scene.

I expect they'll just market the guitar ones about double or triple what a JJ/EHX/etc are. A JJ ECC83 is about £20 here so it's not all that hard to believe a USA built (vintage quality) equivalent would be about £50-60. And I'd pay that.

[i love sharin foo]

Yeah, for a tube that would theoretically be of similar sound and quality to a good old stock one, so would I. We’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out.

[jthomas]

Admittedly I can't say that I know much (really, anything) about the business-side of tube manufacturing. (But of course, that won't keep me from offering an observation/opinion.)

I've seen photos online of tube manufacturing at the Shuguang factory and videos (online) of tube manufacturing in the US back in the day. These show factory environments with lots of employees working on making multiple tubes in batches... one after the other. I suspect that the current owner of the Western Electric is making smaller (maybe artisanal) batches of tubes. I would assume that making the kinds of tubes that guitarists would be most interested in and making them in quantities sufficient to sell them at competitive prices likely will require a major effort at retooling and scaling up manufacturing... that may not be economically viable.

That said, I would love to be wrong.

[øøøøøøø]

I think the market is ready for a $75-$99 12AX7 of exceptional quality and long life.

That’s the price point I’m expecting and would be happy to see.

Too much more expensive than that, though, and I’m not sure too many people would justify the extra cost

[fuzzjunkie]

Before you get too excited, have a look at what the tube they currently produce sells for.

I saw that, but I'm not worried. They've clearly just positioned themselves, with that tube, in the upper tier of the supremely gullible Hi-Fi snakeoil corksniffers and thus marked it up accordingly. Historically very easy to sell expensive stuff to people into that scene.

I expect they'll just market the guitar ones about double or triple what a JJ/EHX/etc are. A JJ ECC83 is about £20 here so it's not all that hard to believe a USA built (vintage quality) equivalent would be about £50-60. And I'd pay that.

I toured a waterfront home that was for sale once with a friend. The owner was a hedge fund manager or something. Had a Maserati and Rolls Royce in the garage, plus a spot for whatever he was driving while out. There was a home theater room, his office had 6 monitors running stock market reports, and he had 2 music rooms.

One for casual listening that was set up like a nice living room with sofas, a small cocktail bar, a view of the ocean, and a wall of vinyl. It had a very nice turntable stereo system. Probably $10-15k for a mid range tube power amp.

The other was for serious listening. Sound proofing and just one leather lounge in the center. Two high end turntables, 2 stereo speaker groups and one quad group that could be selected from a monitor system. Everything was sitting on vibration stabilizers and run through a choice of 3 high end power amps. Two tube and one solid state. There was one cabinet with a few bottles of expensive whisky and brandy. The vinyl selection was just a few dozen, mostly jazz and classical, whereas the casual room was a few hundred and had a wider range of genres. This room was probably over $100k with the gear and sound proofing.

This guy was definitely a cork sniffer, but I wouldn’t have minded a taste.

[mackerelmint]

I think the market is ready for a $75-$99 12AX7 of exceptional quality and long life.

That’s the price point I’m expecting and would be happy to see.

Too much more expensive than that, though, and I’m not sure too many people would justify the extra cost

Yeah, for longevity along with the quality, US made? I'd shell out about that much for it. Not in a guitar amp, but for a Hi-Fi system, yes.

[postboredom]

its a good thing tubes last forever.

[jthomas]

I was looking around some tube retailer sites earlier today, and it appears that new manufacture tubes are becoming available. Not a lot, but some. Doug's Tubes, Tube Depot, and the multiple storefronts for CES (e.g., amplified parts). Mostly JJ and Chinese tubes, I think. I haven't yet seen any Russian tubes, but they may be out in the wild somewhere. Hard to generalize prices, but JJ tubes are not much more than what (I think) was being charged before the Russian-Ukraine war.

Tube Amp Doctor is offering red-base Chinese made tubes that are something relatively new (again, I think they are new). I've read (on line) that these came from the Psvane factory, but I cannot say that this info was accurate.

[hexes]

i picked up some psvane stuff, had one useless 12ax7 out of 3, so I’m already soured, but i’ve also had a few bad tung sol out the box too before things got crazy. psvane are already being resold for $30-50 per 12ax7 online with typical fake reviews and that is just stupid.

however; doug’s tubes has been my hold out. I’m thankful he limits purchases as it gives hobbyists like me a fighting chance. just received an order last week.

i also got a pile of russian EHX tubes recently for more 2020-2021 prices, thankfully. i’ve been having decent luck with their factory’s tubes, despite the tung sol issues mentioned.

[jthomas]

Doug and had had some friendly communication a few years ago after I bought some tubes. Very nice and ethical guy. Similarly I can personally recommend Mike at KCANOS. Stellar seller. (no affiliation)

[jthomas]

I bought 2 of the Psvane 12AX7's as a test and to have some backups. (about $20 apiece so about 100% above prices before the Russia-Ukraine War). Fu*k Putin, by the way. The one I tested was no worse or better than the Russian Tung Sol in my Watts 1624 clone or the JJ 803s in my Weber Maggie (i.e., Hunter One-Stroke). Equally loud and no obvious difference in tonze. (That said, I am not a cork-sniffer.) No idea about longevity.