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Why Can't Tubes Be Mass-Produced Cheaply?

I often read that old tubes manufactured from the 60's or earlier are collectible items and often much sought after, and new tubes are not as valuable. Reasons cited are that these older tubes are a rare species, and they often sound 'better' and hence the hefty price tag on them. I am puzzled as to how these older tubes are different from the new ones and why they are better-sounding. Why can't technology today produce tubes that are similiar in quality to those in the yesteryears, or even better them? After all vacuum tubes, electron tubes or valve tube(where they call it in Britain) are electronic components made up by plates and filament. What happens if these old tubes become extinct? Why are there still so many of these old tubes available for sale although it has been almost 4 decades since they were manufactured? I mean once these tubes have run out of life they will basically be disposed off.

Pardon my ignorance as I cannot seem to find any discussion on this matter elsewhere. Any opinions would be much appreciated.
ryder

Showing 4 responses by dan_ed

dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Don't sell current production tubes short. In many cases these can be as good and even better than high dollar NOS tubes. There are always exceptions, but I have found that the NOS tubes I have tried ended up rolling off the highs and/or lows.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Thanks, Sidssp. That is good advice and probably true for some of the small tubes I've tried. However, some of the NOS power tubes I've tried were purchased from very reputable dealers. Some of these have a wonderful mid-range but offer this at a cost to the top and bottom. In other cases the NOS tubes were just fine but the new production tubes are just as good for a lot less money. Other folks I have discussed this with have had similar experiences. I think it is also a function of the gear and personal preferences. It is hard in this discussion to keep from generalizing and I don't mean to discourage the use of NOS tubes. Rather, I'm attempting to offer some hope to tube lovers who may be becoming disheartened by the price of some of the more popular NOS tubes. For many applications there could well be a very good current production tube that won't take a second mortgage to buy.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Albert's point is well taken and something I mentioned earlier. If the circuit is demanding, like driving real hard or whatever, then there probably are tubes that work better than other. Maybe NOS, maybe not. I have also had good results with new JJ and EH small signal tubes. (I have a pair of the new ECC99 on the way, heard several good reports on these.) I'm using some NOS Tesla right now that I find very special and they only cost $40 a pair. No, I won't tell you which they are cuz I don't want the price to jump. ;-) In my amp I have found that the new production EH EL34s are better than some very high dollar NOS EL34s that came with the amp when I bought it. These were supposedly the best EL 34s ever made. I can't remember exactly what they are and I'm not at home right now to check.

Not to stray off topic too much but I have moved away from such equipment because I have found other designs that work better without the need to drive the tubes hard. I've also not found in my humble experiences a design using the 6922 that I like. And I've tried the PQ white labels and a few others. I'm not slamming any make or model, just hoping to help explain why some may find NOS necessary and others can find great performance with some current production tubes.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
BTW, to those who sent me email. Hope you don't mind if I answer here so I don't have to reply more than once. Long story short, this thread contains the sum of my experiences. Maybe not in any detail, but the high points are here and not just in my replies.
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