If Western Electric can make new tubes that are affordable, i.e. not $1500/pair like their 300B, I think that everyone would buy from them.
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Not to throw water on the Western Electric flag… but… I guess the assumption that their tubes will be better than all others… why? Honestly, the best tubes in the world were coming from ex-communist countries as the Russian’s economy and scientific development was so retarded. Heck, Russian MIGs used tubes in their electronics up through the 1970 and beyond (circa 1984 in MIG 25). Countries in the Soviet Union continued to improve and perfect tube design and manufacturing. They were the best there for a long while.
The best tubes are defined by listening and longevity. Those can be made anywhere there is business will to do so.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
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One reason, perhaps the main reason, that tubes continued to be used in the former Soviet Union is that unlike transistors they do not fail when there’s an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that occurs as a result of a nuclear blast.
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Which reminds me, need to invest in a pre 1960 vehicle that uses points, carburetor, generators, and electromechanical voltage regulators.
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I LOVE Mullard EL34 tubes!!
I would like to invest in some Mullards, but my god are they pricey. Bet they’d sound sweet though.
You can go as modern as 1974 or so depending on the manufacturer 
Russian tubes should be shipping again soon. The factory is American-owned, and I understand they have permission to again ship.
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My understanding as well based on an email a local audio dealer shared with me on Wednesday, Tung-Sol KT120/150s, as well as other Russian tubes, should be shipping. again soon.
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EAT! Wow cool, I never heard of them… Czech…
Anyone try these KT88s? They will work in my PrimaLuna… crap, more money to spend.
KT150… now that is a nice powerful tube. I think they did a good job with that one. They sound really great in my PrimaLuna, but so different than the EL34.
Interesting times.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
The tube saga is far from over. Even if they do get here there’s signs they may cost more.
Oh Brother!
See “Drink of choice” thread
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You’re gonna have to 'splain that to me Ron.
Lots of stress about us getting our tubes. I think we could use a drink; take the edge off.
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Ah! As long as it ain’t Stoli!
Buy Amurican🤘🏼
Corn, not Taters!
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If you hate long posts as much as I do, please skip.
I have to say with regard to this “issue”, despite being a tube fan, that I’m not overly concerned, as the digital tech that emulates the sound of tubes is very much on the cusp of being equivalent-ish. So if no one steps up to make new ones (which I actually doubt very much), the alternatives will be pretty dang good. Or most of us who do care a lot’ll die before that.
Yeah - I realize it sounds like in the mid-80’s when techies said “perfect sound forever”. But fortunately, a lot of what went on back then, and in the pre-digital world has informed the development of the current tech.
Recently got a plugin for recording audio that was made by Martina McBride’s husband, John. He owns and runs Blackbird Studios in Nashville.
The hardest of hardcore analog guys, he has one of, if not THE biggest and best collection of analog recording gear on the Planet.
As an aside, he’s also a Beatles fan. When asked how many copies of the “Butchers” cover Yesterday and Today album he has, he thought for a second and said, “A hundred and forty nine”. So he’s clearly obsessive. Guy after our own hearts.
Back to analog - though admittedly not tubes - he bought the Neve console that was built for Motown LA, and later owned and used by Donald Fagen for Aja and The Nightfly.
He then got a hold of the designer, and they did a complete audiophool upgrade on the entire thing. Many hundreds of $k ensued. (He is the first to admit, god bless him, that he would never have been able to do any of this unless he had married a “rock star”).
He was not into this whole trend toward Emulating analog devices with digital, until he realized that:
A) According to a lot of high end owners of the real gear that these digital emulations are based on, it had gotten pretty dang good, and
B) He thought about how much money he’d spent on this rare board, and the mods, and that it could all go South. So - why not?
Is their plugin, used on every channel of your digital audio workstation (DAW) just like using the board in Blackbird Studio A? Hell, naw.
But - progress🙏🏻
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In case you’re curious, here’s the plugin I was referring to:
The awesome bit about digital plugins vs. analog devices is that for $99, you can use as many copies of it as you want, across any/all of your channels. Whereas if you were lucky enough to own a single mono channel from this board - which Nobody is - you could only process one mono channel.
But I hasten to reiterate that it ain’t the same thing as being in the room with that board.
So in this sense, I totally get the Tube Paranoia. There will come a time when this particular sound is no longer extant on the planet.
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I personally would love to see a “tube sound” emulator in digital form. It would also be nice to be able to tailor the sound to favor different NOS designs. Kind of like different flavored of DSD software.
I imagine that it is not far off.
However, there is a fairly large gap between what we buy and listen to as audiophiles, and the stuff I’m describing. It’ll merge hopefully, eventually.