Tube question

Assume that it's related to that only reason tubes are still made at all is that in former Soviet/Yugoslavian and Chinese they still rely on military equipment whereas West went Transistor long ago.We are a mnor side show.Kind of bummer that all tubes are now made in totoletarian countries.
Chazz

ok, given that Chassbo, are those Chinese/Russians up to snuff? Why not then? What is it in the inherent nature of the tube that is making it so hard to duplicate with the same quality? or is that not really the case?

Warren, I don't believe that you will have any tube manufacturers chime in here for explainations. If they did, they would probably tell you that tubes today are better than ever. At least many measure that way, but then transistors have better measurements than tubes, so what does that tell you?

ok, given that Chassbo, are those Chinese/Russians up to snuff? Why not then? What is it in the inherent nature of the tube that is making it so hard to duplicate with the same quality? or is that not really the case?

Basically your questions are unanswerable. 'What is the meaning of life?' kind of questions. Science can't figure out why people prefer the sound of tubes when transistors test better on the scoresheet. Science cannot figure out why people prefer vinyl when digital test better on the scoresheet. Why ask why? Just listen and enjoy.

One analogy that I have heard from a tube equipment manufacturer goes back to the same answer that has basically been ignored over and over in this thread...demand.

He said, what are the odds that a golfer who golfs 3-4 times a year will be better, or even as good, as a golfer who golfs 3-4 times a week?

In other words, there really is no use for a high quality tube anymore. It's not like we use them for military applications like we used to. Many of the best tubes were basically driven by the military powers of the West. That's where all the $$$ were spent on quality, PQ's, 7308's, JAN, what have you, because lives were at stake.

The stakes on tubes are not quite so high these days. They're pretty much just for musical pleasure. That's all.

Or maybe, just maybe...stay with me here....the vacuum tubes get better as they age and leak. Maybe today's stock will sound as good in 40 years as todays NOS tubes today. Yeah...that's the ticket....you have to age them like fine wine, or a good bottle of scotch........yeah, that's the ticket.....if only they would put less vacuum in a vacuum tube, they would sound better right off the bat. :)

John

Hi John,

In 40 years (or less) aging and hearing won't be priority ...... I'll be six feet under in my own
leaking vacuum !

First, NOS tubes can produce more of an audible effect as the quality and tweaking of your system improves. Same as a car...you can feel the difference that a few pounds of tire pressure produces in say a Ferrari. A Neon or Focus, and you couldn't tell if the tires were only inflated to half pressure!

Second, the purity of chemical compounds used on the cathodes is much better than on modern tubes. The vacuum isn't as hard on modern tubes. The tolerances [especially on the grid wires and their windings] are nowhere near NOS tubes. I think it was RCA that determined that the location and bend angle of the grid wire terminations could effect the performance. When their manufacturing plant closed, file cabinets full of decades worth of irreplaceable engineering data were just left in the abandoned buildings...generations of knowledge lost forever. Also, I believe that EVERY NOS tube was burned in for 100 hours at racks in the plant.

That being said, NOS tubes were not made with the audiophile [came later on] in mind. It is important to have someone test [and match, if necessary] the NOS tubes, as some can be quite noisy, especially if used in a MC phono preamp. Andy Bowman at Vintage Tube Services is the best, period! Chinese tubes seem to be VERY quiet, but they will not last all that long, compared with an NOS. But at the cheap prices for Chines tubes, does it really matter?!

Actually, the only demand for tubes is from audiophiles [not really a market, in the big scheme of electronics], R.F. applications, and guitar amps, most of which use a 6L6, so these 6L6's will be produced forever!