Shortage of Vacuum Tubes From Russia

[RJVB]

A quick check on my local reference site of quality audio(phile) equipment (Son-Vidéo.com la référence hi-fi et home-cinéma) shows that even those hyped Project turntables start at a tenth of that price. I got my Technics used, in a recycling store, for maybe 40€ ... and it came with a gorgeous Stanford element (for which I found a NOS stylus). To spare that vintage material I also "inherited" the Grado Silver element my mom had herself talked into. That's all "real quality" enough for me, I'm not going to trick myself into believing I even have the listening conditions to hear the difference with equipment costing 10x more. (In fact, I'd probably feel so bad for wasting that much money that I wouldn't appreciate it if I could hear a tiny difference.)

A new Loar LH-700 can be found for less than 2k€ if memory serves me well; I paid 750€ for my LH-650. I've said this before, but 2k and up for a used Eastman AR805 (the AR605 can be found for a bit less) is a bit ridiculous if you can get a new luthier build for 4k€ or even a bit less.

[2bornot2bop]

wow whats speakers are you using
with your system ?
i think speakers are so important ....

Very important. I use Martin Logan Summit X’s. They’re electrostatics. And do a wonderful job over the audio spectrum. $15k new. I bought used for $4500. To enjoy high end audio it’s smarter to buy speakers, amplifiers, many audio items used.

[2bornot2bop]

Fender has its eye on the audiophile market. Swamp Ash, Jazz Bass Sunburst, $3,500

Fender knows where it’s at. Vinyl has made its second resurgence, and this time in a big way. That fender reads to be a very solid turntable. I’d rather have a VPI for $3500. Add another grand and I’ve seen the fabulous used VPI HRW for $4500 on US AudioMart. A $10k turntable for pennies. Good on Fender for joining the craze!

[2bornot2bop]

It’s made by MoFi Electronics. The Delrin platter was a surprise. I have guitar picks made of that.

Fender PrecisionDeck Turntable — Mobile Fidelity Electronics

$700 of that is for the cartridge. So all in all, it’s priced correctly.

MoFi records are extremely well respected, and still today bring 5 to 10 times there original 1978 $29 price. Gulp? True story.

[2bornot2bop]

So, it’s interesting that the Fender turntable is nearly identical to the original Mofi Ultra Deck turntable. Completely down to the platters Orange belt. The tonearm assembly, feet, everything associated with the Ultra is identical to the Fender except the plinth. Fender went all out on their plinth. I’m simply surprised that both turntables are nearly identical. And Mofi priced their Ultra originally in 2018 at $2k with cartridge. That’s a very solid buy. Today it’s $2400. Still a very solid buy for that turntable.

[ArnoldSchoenberg]

Amid supply crunch, Western Electric publicly floats expansion into guitar tube manufacturing | Guitar World

[starjasmine]

Amid supply crunch, Western Electric publicly floats expansion into guitar tube manufacturing | Guitar World

Thanks, Arn!

The article links to a form on the Western Electric website; they are actually asking consumers which tubes are most important to them, and whether price, quality, speed of delivery or "all of the above" are most important. So iffn' you love tube amps, let 'em know!

There's also a free-form comment section, so I rambled on about how hard it is to find 6L6s that can handle the plate current in a stock Boogie MKIIC+ and how I prefer lower-gain substitutes for 12AX7 in my Fender tweeds ... but not so low-gain that I can't still distort on demand.

Submitting the survey puts you on a mailing list for announcements about the availability of the USA-made tubes.

UPDATE: I am a big fan of JJ tubes, BTW. Have used them in my Fender amps for decades. But I'd give those WE tubes a whirl, if only to see how they compare to the NOS Philips 6L6s I stockpiled for the Boogie years ago.

[EllenGtrGrl]

Eventually, yes. I do think they will pay that. Are you familiar with ANOS tubes? "Almost New Old Stock" aka, used, aka garbage.

Given time, the box saying Made In The USA will be enough.

The more common term for them in RF (radio) applications is "Pulls", as in used tubes "pulled from service/use" in an electronic device. Having had a ham radio license since I was a teenager (callsign AF9J), I've had to deal with tube supply issues, since the late 80s, when as a tight for money recent college graduate (who couldn't afford the latest and greatest solid state radio transceivers, and had to settle for old used tube radios) I had to deal with tubes being "unobtanium", due to many older radios using tubes that were no longer made. Even though nowadays I have modern radio gear, I still have some old tube radios (most of which I restored myself), that I occasionally take for a spin on the air. Their tubes haven't been made for decades, so unless I can find NOS (new old stock) tubes (good luck with that), which cost a bundle, and oftentimes aren't of very good quality (a lot of NOS tubes are NOS, because nobody would buy them, due to them being of poor quality), I usually settle for Pulls that I find while scouring hamfests (ham radio oriented swapfests).

With regards to making tubes again in the US - I know that there is thread by a tube fanatic on the TDPRI, expounding the fact that Western Electric (not the original company but a relatively new company that owns the name), is contemplating expanding their tube making operations in the US (they have a modest facility in Kansas, that makes specialty tubes), but I'm not holding my breath. Tube manufacturing is environmentally unfriendly, which adds to the cost (due to having to keep things clean environmentally) of making them. Honestly, until I read the TDPRI thread, I was under the impression that other than Eimac, who only makes tubes for high power applications (it's usually cheaper to use tubes to make 10s of kilowatts, or megawatts of power, than solid state devices - but this paradigm could be changing, due to the recent influx of FET [field effect transistor] devices, that can make serious power, without breaking the bank), the last tube maker in the US was GE, who quit making them in 1986. New Eimac tubes go for stupid money (a new 3CX1500, that will put out 1500 watts will set you back $2000). I have a feeling that if Western Electric expands their tube manufacturing, to cater to the relatively small boutique-style market for guitar amp and audio tubes, it'll cost quite a bit more for their 6L6s, 6V6s, EL34s/6CA7s, etc., than what we paid for them up until recently.