Overpriced Tube Amps

These posts have been a tour de force for you, Marty! Thanks for the belly laughs!!!

By the way, anyone remember George Wendt doing the Meister Brau commercials? Kind of like what Marty just put out there, only the company was actually serious. Still, when old Nahhhmy is your pitchman, you can get away with a lot.

I think the original poster is right, but is position is not acceptable in these pages. I think he is wrong though on the actual prices for decent tubes. Dealing with power tubes (namely 6550s)local dealers do want something like a $100 CAD/tube while reputable dealers such as thetubestore.com will sell you matched pairs for around $56.00 USD. These days the CAD is worth about 0.86 USD.

So basically what you have is roughly $100. each vs. $32. each in CAD.

I don't think that three times the price is warranted.

I know audiophiles like to pay wasy more to get a rush, but my stingy nature prevents it in my case.

In 1968 you could be a nice Cadillac for about $5000. Nobody bats an eye at $50,000 for a nice Cadillac now.

A Marantz, 7C, 9 and 10 cost you a cool $1600, another $700 for the Dayton-Wright ESLs, $200 for a turntable with arm and cartridge and $200 for a decent tape machine (unless you got a pro model in which case it was $1500!). Total with cheap tape deck: $2700.00

Inflation has devalued the American dollar well over 10-1 in the last 40 years. If you had to buy the same stereo today: $27,000. That's with no performance increase over 1968! $200 30 watt/channel recievers were available in the US in 1968 and were that way until 1988- we grew up thinking audio is the one thing that is cheap. Good audio is not and never was.

In 1970 a 6550 retailed for $15.00! Enjoy the cheap prices we have on tubes today- it will not last forever. It should be no surprise that an NOS tube could cost $100 or $150. Think of the American labor that goes into making an American-made output transformer and see if you can even build one for less than $100 (not sell- build!) that has any performance or power handling ability.

The 'audio costs too much!' mentality is entirely unrealistic. It ignores the real world we live in- unless you want to complain that *everything* costs too much and then I'm with you :)

Inflation has nothing to do with comparing current prices of two readily available products. I think you miss the point.

I think you are right :) nevermind....