Why are people paying these stupid tube prices?

?

Viva Tubes is charging close to $1500 for a quad of KT150.

Because those are the prices, and they ain’t coming down....I can guarantee you that....they will charge what people are willing to pay.

Have you been following the latest news in tube world? Many dealers legitimately have supply chain issues which has caused price increases, others have used this situation to price gouge. There has been availability issues for NOS tubes for a couple of years leading to price increases, but the interruption of Russian tube exports has wreaked havoc among music production and home audio.

The two dealers mentioned above are included in what I would call price gouging.

One is 2/3 cheaper (tube store) would not call that gouging man. The Viva guy is out of this world high, price and I think on dope too. 

With fuses available retailing for 10K this don't seem so bad.

$184 at Upscale, not to terrible. I think most tube users know it cost more to run tubes.

@music_is_life your post doesn't make sense.  Did you pay $139 or $350 each?

And then there's your question "why are people paying these stupid prices?"  Perhaps you should ask yourself?

@lpretiring 

Who's asking 10K for a fuse? I gotta see this! 

@zavato 

Check out QSA website for their Gold fuse. But you might prefer their Silver for the modest sum of 5K.

Q:

"Why are people paying these stupid tube prices?"

A:

Because many of us here are rich, famous and extremely sexy.

DeKay

@dekay ,

Appreciate the shout out! 😁

way too much gouging going on.   There are reputable dealers that have had only modest increases ....   thank god im fully stocked for multiple re-tubes on everything I own .  

Did someone say tubes?

All the best,
Nonoise

There are reputable dealers that have had only modest increases

Really?  Who is selling KT120s between $50-100 each?  I would love to know.

We need American tubes. Any word on new production? I hear it’s a business that attracts rich single women. How about smugglers with large aircraft on the site? I’m out of ideas.

Try and keep up here @ketchup I paid $139 at The Tube Store. Viva Tubes is selling the same KT150 for $350.00 and Upscale is in the $190 range, 

I know I can talk in circles and I confuse and confound myself quite often.

$1400.00 plus for 4 KT150's is insane. 

So no I will not ask myself that man, I will find the best price and HORD like it's TP at the peak of COVID 19.

Did you pay $139 or $350 each?

And then there's your question "why are people paying these stupid prices?"  Perhaps you should ask yourself?

It's not my fault that your single sentence post did not make sense and was riddled with grammatical errors.  I mean, the second post was simply a question mark, so I'm not the only one.

Try to make more coherent posts next time.  But thanks for clarifying, I guess.

We need American tubes. Any word on new production?

Western Electric just started thinking about making something other than 300Bs, but we're probably years away from actual production.

Yes sure thing dude. 

I had a great conversation with John at Tube Store today and bought two KT150's at $139 each after my back-up stash of eight KT 150's purchased three years ago from another source turned out to contain one cracked tube (lesson learned-open the box and check your tubes even if you have no intent to use them soon-no matter how good the outer box looks). Since my ARC Ref 150 SE requires matched pairs, buying just one new KT150 was not an option. John mentioned Tube Store is getting low on KT 150's at the moment. And-the source I bought from three years ago has no Russian tubes at all which I find amazing given their otherwise huge inventory. It seems to me that distribution is uneven and depends upon connections though that is just my assumption.  

And yes OP, I had the same impression as the other guy-that you were accusing Tube Store of price gouging. 

@fsonicsmith let me be clear I am only pointing out how high the prices are at Viva Tubes. 

The folks at the Tube Store are trying to be as fair as they can with pricing. 

Sorry if I confused you or anyone else, that was not my intent. 

The Russian tube plants and companies are American owned.

The money is not in audio anyway, It is in Radar, Microwaves, Sonar (okay that is kind of audio) Diagnostic tool both medical and electrical. Well so I have been told. 

We need American tubes. Any word on new production?

I guess I picked a rotten time to sell my tube amp..

Free market capitalism without government price regulation and the individual freedom to purchase, not purchase or find an alternative. Its all good man (Better Call Saul).

Vendors should price at what market will allow (that is real price).  Apologies if this all sounds insensitive, markets are adjusting and will find their equilibrium based on purchase decisions. But, I totally get the initial shock.

Another movie reference; "sell me this pen."

Um, perhaps you should have mentioned Viva Tubes pricing in your o.p.? I’m with the others… it read poorly. Sorry. Regarding tube prices in general, inflation sucks. Everything is more expensive. But tubes don’t seem too bad overall. Good ones have always been a bit pricy.

Maybe Shuguang in China can increase production? 

Most of  China is shut down again due to the COVID 19. Another spike in the bug over there.

It could be worse if you had a Jadis JA200MKII.

'Why are people paying these stupid tube prices?'

1.   Panic buying.

2.   Speculation.

3.   Certainly a big part of the increase is caused by 1. and 2.

4.   Therefore greed.

5.   And selfishness.

Aren't we a horrible lot!

I was told  by a reputable source that WE will be producing small signal tubes and power tubes .....not might, will be

Only common,  and desirable tubes are being gouged..   My forthcoming amp uses e180f for the driver / input position,  I just picked up a pair of NOS Telefunken for $150.   A lot , sure , but imagine if they were CCA or 12ax7?    I bought Mullard and Amperex e180f and they were between $6 and $20 each for true nos.   First time in 20 years getting a break on the price of tubes.

1. Tubes burning out

2. Covid 

3. Russia

4.  Audiophiles burning money 

5. The laws of supply and demand

The Shunguang plant in China is not up and running yet. As a state-owned enterprise the government seized the property after a fire at the facility. I don't know at what stage the new factory is in, but we won't see their tubes soon.

And with New Sensor, the Russian government stopped tubes from being exported, causing a supply chain interruption. Now that the factory is running at full capacity, their brands are available again. But the scuttlebutt is the US and Canada have added a 35% tariff to Russian imports.

In the US, WE has produced some tubes other than 300b's and are beta-testing them in a select group of audiophile's systems. There are very good reviews of their 6SN7. 

Tube Depot has KT150's for 144.95.  They are Tung Sol, so not sure if they are good enough for your amp.

Back in the day, we used 6550's, which were pretty good tubes, and KT88's as well.  Tube Depot as those as well.

Cheers!

TubeDepot isn’t presently selling the TS KT150 - look at the specific page

I may be wrong but I don't think Psvane or Linlai make KT150s

Been loving SS since 1965! I’m still enamored by those SS devices. Tube heads are boobheads. 
 

Tubes: A fool’s errand!

The manufacturer New Sensor / Electro Harmonix sells the tubes on their own online store. Their prices have increased drastically in the past month or 2. Take a gander - KT120 for $150 each. Gold Lion KT88 $170 each. You can imagine the KT150 and 170 prices. Between double and triple the previous "usual" prices, across the board. That may or may not be indicative of prices going forward. But in a worst case scenario, those are the "new" tube prices, and any onshore vendors selling for anything less than that are simply burning through existing stock on hand.

In a better case scenario, these are just temporary price spikes intended to keep hoarders from wiping out existing stocks before we get a better picture for the long-term prospects of Russian manufacturing.

The only place Iam willing to pay is Grant Fidelity, some tube dealers they just recycled.Be careful, and don’t panic.

@lowrider57

And with New Sensor, the Russian government stopped tubes from being exported, causing a supply chain interruption.

I believe this is mutual with the US banning imports from Russia

The executive action bans imports from key sectors of Russia’s economy, such as seafood, alcohol and nonindustrial diamonds, according to the text of the order.

That action will block more than $1 billion in Russian revenues and help ensure American citizens are not “underwriting” President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, the White House said in a fact sheet.

Banned imports

Maybe if people didn’t buy $200 headphone amps and burn up rare tubes for mediocre sound we wouldn’t have this problem

I was told  by a reputable source that WE will be producing small signal tubes and power tubes .....not might, will be

I would not expect them to be inexpensive.

@music_is_life 

I must agree with @ketchup . I had no idea what your original post meant until there were subsequent posts to help decipher it.

You have a better chance of finding a dispensary sale. Well, maybe not you mountain and west coast kids.

I'm not expecting WE tubes to be inexpensive,  I  just bought two pair of 300b.  What I do expect is for them to be of high quality.   

Maybe if people didn’t buy $200 headphone amps and burn up rare tubes for mediocre sound we wouldn’t have this problem

LOL. They'd be much better of with a $3000 power cord.

@tony1954 okay got it. 

@oddiofyl I highly doubt these $200.00 headphone amps have a quality tube in them. Bet the tube they supply is the cheapest part. 

I know it was sarcasm. 

Maybe if people didn’t buy $200 headphone amps and burn up rare tubes for mediocre sound we wouldn’t have this problem