The end of tubes??? Thoughts?

[gtirard]

This company makes tubes for hifi in the USA, and they are considering extending their production to other types, including 12AX7, EL34, 6L6, KT88 and more…

So they are asking feedback from the market:

We make electron tubes — Western Electric - Maker of electron tubes and high fidelity

If you want preamp or power amp tubes to be built in the USA, you can tell them

 

[Aussie Player]

Not in my house.
2 tubed
1 hybrid tubed pre-amp
1 class D.
This gives me to the option to spoil myself depending on the venue and likely audience, (drunk or sober).

 

[agedhorse]

This company makes tubes for hifi in the USA, and they are considering extending their production to other types, including 12AX7, EL34, 6L6, KT88 and more…

So they are asking feedback from the market:

We make electron tubes — Western Electric - Maker of electron tubes and high fidelity

If you want preamp or power amp tubes to be built in the USA, you can tell them

Have you looked at the cost?

 

[gtirard]

Have you looked at the cost?

they're just testing if there is a market for now

if we all check that the price is most important for us, they will know

 

[frankie5string]

they're just testing if there is a market for now

if we all check that the price is most important for us, they will know

View attachment 4628292

From the relatively recent incarnation of the Westrex company and a 40 pound CD player... <sigh> I remember the 203C... I'd be really surprised if they made anything that wasn't labeled and priced as exotic goods.

 

[Wild Rice Chris]

they're just testing if there is a market for now

if we all check that the price is most important for us, they will know

View attachment 4628292

They already have the 300B in production.

Matched Pair $1499 • Single Tube $699 • Matched Quad $3099

 

[gtirard]

They already have the 300B in production.

Matched Pair $1499 • Single Tube $699 • Matched Quad $3099

Wow, ok, I didn't know, I see what you all mean.

 

[agedhorse]

Wow, ok, I didn't know, I see what you all mean.

Yes, that’s why I mentioned it

 

[Bassist30]

I love amps with tubes and transistor amps also. It comes down that those who do love tube amps find a company that can copy that in a way of an amp that's light and sounds like a tube amp. Right now, there isn't one. Some class D and transistor amps have some kind of simulation of a tube but don't sound like one. At this time.

 

[seamonkey]

At this time.

In your opinion
I find Quite the opposite
In real double blind tests people can't tell. Some of the tests are very funny when the players are honest.
The real and model amps null out when gains are set correctly. Null testing is simple in a DAW.
Modelers can also recreate the sound of Solid-State amps.
Some of the blind test compare a single modeler to several other amps -- and pedals.

 

[byacey]

They already have the 300B in production.

Matched Pair $1499 • Single Tube $699 • Matched Quad $3099

Lee deForest is probably rolling in his grave over this.

 

[beans-on-toast]

300B’s have always been expensive. The hi-fi crowd has a lot of money to spend which doesn’t help with the pricing.

I recall that towards the end of Western Electric’s original 300B production, sub assemblies such as the plates and other metal structures were produced in Mexico, the tubes were assembled in the US. That’s when they went from welded to crimped plates. Even today, welded NOS sells for more, folks claim that it affects the sound. I don’t know if the change was due to cost or environmental concerns.

I have a nice Western Electric tube tester, made by Hickok. It test regular tubes as well as the WE line.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

In your opinion
I find Quite the opposite
In real double blind tests people can't tell. Some of the tests are very funny when the players are honest.
The real and model amps null out when gains are set correctly. Null testing is simple in a DAW.
Modelers can also recreate the sound of Solid-State amps.
Some of the blind test compare a single modeler to several other amps -- and pedals.

It reminds me of the compliments a friend got on the 'great overdriven Hammond sound' on an album which was a cheap Bontempi home organ into a Boss overdrive pedal... Sometimes people can't tell, especially in a mix.

 

[frankie5string]

It reminds me of the compliments a friend got on the 'great overdriven Hammond sound' on an album which was a cheap Bontempi home organ into a Boss overdrive pedal... Sometimes people can't tell, especially in a mix.

Lol! I remember those... I had one of their chord-organs. You had to use the chord buttons because if you played more than three keys on the keyboard section, it would lose air pressure and bend the notes flat. Fun times.

 

[teleharmonium]

The real and model amps null out when gains are set correctly.

Where did you hear this ?

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Lol! I remember those... I had one of their chord-organs. You had to use the chord buttons because if you played more than three keys on the keyboard section, it would lose air pressure and bend the notes flat. Fun times.

This was one of the electronic ones, if somewhat tonally limited you would have thought. Lacking a keyboard player he used to play it live with his feet whilst playing the guitar in some insane prog time signature. Talented, but no way would I have played his toejam-infested keyboard!

Anyway, the point is that we may sometimes hear what we want it expect to hear.

 

[Old Fart]

300B’s have always been expensive.

Yup. And even the Chinese ones are spendy, while the Chinese mass production tubes (EL34, 6L6, 12AX7, etc) are considerably less expensive. So no, Western Electric is not going to have to charge $1500 for a 12AX7. If they made them, then they would be more expensive than Russian or Chinese ones. But they might be worth it. NOS American-made 12AX7s are available now, but you won't buy them for $8. And in the meantime, Russian tubes are just plain unavailable and before that, Russian production was having its problems. It was largely in hiatus when the war started. All this means that tubes will get more expensive. And this will create opportunities for someone. I'd like to see more stuff made in America, including tubes, and I am willing to pay for that.

 

[seamonkey]

Where did you hear this ?

From the developers and reviewers.
Some devs start with a schematic and completely model it in a spice. It's the same circuit.
They can measure and null this. Optimize the model and repeat. The final is not spice but it is modeled after the schematic.

Watch a lot of the high end VST reviews and you'll see null testing. Some reviewers don't have the real hardware so they rely on Invalid Link Removed for the originals.
An if you don't like a VST then you always have accessanalog for the original.
This site is amazing, and very affordable.

 

[byacey]

And in the meantime, Russian tubes are just plain unavailable and before that, Russian production was having its problems. It was largely in hiatus when the war started.

I understand the Russian state cellular phone manufacturers have been glomming up everything the tube factories have been able to produce.

 

[beans-on-toast]

When bankers who don’t have amps start buying up every tube they can get their hands on as an investment, you know there’ll be price hikes. They did this with Les Pauls and Stratocasters. Things were nutty for several years. Regular musicians couldn’t afford to buy these instruments. The manufacturers stepped up their quality and did reissues. It changed everything and knocked the vintage market off it’s feet. Things have never been better.