Newproduction power tubes: Reliablity


There  isa topic going on  concerning power tube issues in his PL amp, 
Some of us have power amps with 4-12 power tubes,,  the higher number of the tubes in a amp means the more demand for  reliability.
The 2 countries making  the most power tubes are china and russsia, So basically we can say this is a Russia vs China shootout.

China has come out with incredible numbers of power tubes, varieties and styles. These are the SET tubes. Russia has a  far superior selection in the push pull category.
IMHO , as i do have a  push pull amp, I favor the russian labs as far as reliability. 
Here is where it counts, As we know, its no fun having a   multiple power tube amp, and hearing 1 or more tubes going bad. 
A  good tech is not cheap, nor so easy to locate.
So in terms of reliability/push pull, I have to side with the russian labs.
The one exception on russian power tube relaibility, is the russian KT150,, its a new tube and we have not yet had long term performance testing. It is  not a tube I am the least bit interested in. 


mozartfan

Showing 2 responses by rodman99999

"Much prefer the Svet new 6550’s, the new plant uses the exact same equipemnt as the burned down plant,

NOS Svet 6550 = New Production Svet 6550, exact same tube, "              Wrong!      All New Sensor Corp got from the Svetlana Co was the name.      The St Petersburg plant, where their =C= tubes were manufactured, burned down and took the equipment with it (a shame).       Currently; The New Sensor tubes are actually manufactured at the former Reflektor plant (X-pul factory), in Saratov.       You may have conflated the rumor, concerning Mullard’s equipment, that this page mentions, with SED/Svetlana’s: https://www.effectrode.com/news/rubble-ruins/
The Winged =C= (SED) Svetlana plant made some very reliable power tubes.      I hated to see the company fold, when their plant burned down.     Comparing them to my NOS GE and Sylvania 6550 iterations; their presentation was quite acceptable.     Used a couple octets, from Upscale, myself.     Now, unfortunately; most of what’s left are factory seconds.     As for me, if there’s a new sweetheart on the block; it’s the GL KT88, Russki repop.        They yield most of what I got from the NOS valves, in sound, and (over the past couple years) have displayed no reliability issues.