Warrenh, if you'll head over to www.vintagetubeservices.com you'll find page after page of historical insights ( & photos) offering glimpses into the manufacturing processes of bygone times. Modern tube manufacturers have sales ONLY to the musical instrument and audio market, they do not have the support of military, television, and radio markets that endowed manufacturers of the past with much greater resources. Yes, the Russians & Chinese are filling a market void, but to reach the heights of manufacturing prowess greats of the past achieved would require much greater investment in R&D, facilities, and worker training. The current size of the tube market doesn't make that greater investment a wise decision from a managerial perspective. If you were to quadruple your investment in manufacturing, you'd have to recoup that in greater sales volume or you're out of business.
Tube question
I'm new to tubes, but there is a couple of things (well more than a couple, but for now): Why, with all of our modern technology, is it that we cannot make a tube with the sound quality of the ones in the late 50s to early 70s. What was it about that time, that we cannot seem to duplicate that quality today. I never, when hearing the scoop about great tubes, hear any new tube manufacturers being mentioned. Are there Chinese, Russian, American or the like, companies making very high quality sounding and constructed tubes? thanks in advance. warren