I totally agree.I have never understood why the 4CX250 Ceramic tube was not used in more amplifiers for both CB & Amateur Radio? I recently saw a New Amateur Amplifier with One or Two of them in it but I can't remember which company it is that is building them? They are CHEAP & are very low drive required so they are a WIN WIN choice.They will die quickly if they are over driven but if driven at the proper drive they will last a very long time.
SIX-SHOOTER
It is possible that when d&a, palomar, Varment ect ect were building amps the ceramics were more expensive than the sweeps.
Amp builders of the craze days would purchase the absolute cheapest components.
I'd be surprised if d&a and the other p builders were paying 50 cents for sweeps in bulk.
If a single 250b was $8 back in the day and it cost them $6 to tube a 10 tuber that would be a savings of $4.
That adds up when pumping out 50 amps a day.
I'm going to see if a seachs will come up with ceramic tube prices during the 60's and 70's.