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steel tube prices
- Thread starter purenrg
- Start date
Supply and demand. 10 years ago the demand for the 8877's was not what it is now. There was still a lot of glass floating around then. Of course many folks starting to find out that those tubes work real well in 11 meter amps probably didn't help either. It's a good tough tube when used correctly. If you can find a YU209 it will be a good one to grab. It's a commercial version of the 8877.
Oh yeah, like everyone else mentioned..............inflation too! What else has went down in price or stayed the same the past 10 years? Not including the pay scale.
BC
Oh yeah, like everyone else mentioned..............inflation too! What else has went down in price or stayed the same the past 10 years? Not including the pay scale.
BC
Actually in another ten years there won't be any tube producing companys period. Kinda like a new shaker hood scoop for a 1970 hemi Cuda. 30 years ago that was a 60 dollar part.....new. Today there are very few new in the box ones left. They can command up to 10,000 dollars today.
Even if your model number tube is made new there is such little demand for them the price will be high. The only reason electronic parts get cheap is when they crank out 700,000 of them a year. I bet there are maybe 200 people a year that need your specific tube, thats why so much.
Even if your model number tube is made new there is such little demand for them the price will be high. The only reason electronic parts get cheap is when they crank out 700,000 of them a year. I bet there are maybe 200 people a year that need your specific tube, thats why so much.
Man i cant believe what I'm hearing, what makes you think in 10yrs there won't be more tubes made? Why don't you be more specific with your comment on this one, like what is going to replace tubes?
And I don't know Ameritron's productions #'s but I'll bet that they make that many amplifiers a year or 10x that many! And this is just commercial amplifiers not to speak of all the home brew/11meter amps made using steel tubes.
Sorry this just doesn't make sense!
Well, which is it? 1 or 10? That is a big difference.
I bet when the boomer wave starts to hit, it goes to more like 1/100 or less...
there is no way the price should triple like it has!!!
If you're going to own a Farrari, don't bitch when you need to replace the clutch!
Besides - Who buys a tube amplifier w/o buying a back-up tube(s)?
Just my 2 cents worth...
If you're going to own a Farrari, don't bitch when you need to replace the clutch!
Besides - Who buys a tube amplifier w/o buying a back-up tube(s)?
Just my 2 cents worth...
LOL!!!
I had to laugh when I read the Ferarri comment. Years ago I had a customer who bought a Testorossa and found it wasnt up to par. I had to replace the clutch, pressure plate and flywheel, trans seals, and some other parts that I dont remember right now, and gave it an oil change and tuned it correctly, and you should have seen his face when he got the bill!!! Parts aint cheap or plentiful, and they are packaged pretty tight in there.
You know, ya gotta pay if you wanna play.LOL!
I had to laugh when I read the Ferarri comment. Years ago I had a customer who bought a Testorossa and found it wasnt up to par. I had to replace the clutch, pressure plate and flywheel, trans seals, and some other parts that I dont remember right now, and gave it an oil change and tuned it correctly, and you should have seen his face when he got the bill!!! Parts aint cheap or plentiful, and they are packaged pretty tight in there.
You know, ya gotta pay if you wanna play.LOL!
Going by you example then the price of the clutch should be half the cost of the car. My point is the tubes are close to the half that of the amp, which I still stand my statement they are still over priced!!!
And your statement of buying a back up tube along with a new amp, now you talking over $4000 for the price of a amp. And money the way it is now, I don't think your going to see many bite that one.
And someone that was a mechanic for "ferrari", you would think they could at least spell it correctly
Yea times have changed !!!
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purnrg, read the writing on the wall man. There are lots of old timers with old Firebird tube amps and many other names and they either can't find the tubes or the ones that are out there cost hundreds of dollars.
Everything electronic is advancing rapidly, digital tv, computers, mosfets, blueray, cell phones. The ham radio tube market is very very small in the grand scheme of things. I hope i'm wrong but no company is going to build something they have trouble selling, or only sell 2000 a year of.
A local retired guy passed away about a year ago. He ran nothing but glass, Johnson, Tram, Viking Valiant's , something like that. He also spent half his life building and repairing tube stuff. The last amp he built had two 4-1000's and was about as big as a dishwasher. He said most of the popular tubes were either no longer made, or made in such low numbers that they cost a fortune. When he died a wealth of tube knowledge was lost.
Everything electronic is advancing rapidly, digital tv, computers, mosfets, blueray, cell phones. The ham radio tube market is very very small in the grand scheme of things. I hope i'm wrong but no company is going to build something they have trouble selling, or only sell 2000 a year of.
A local retired guy passed away about a year ago. He ran nothing but glass, Johnson, Tram, Viking Valiant's , something like that. He also spent half his life building and repairing tube stuff. The last amp he built had two 4-1000's and was about as big as a dishwasher. He said most of the popular tubes were either no longer made, or made in such low numbers that they cost a fortune. When he died a wealth of tube knowledge was lost.