Sovtek's sad tale

[Johan Potgieter]

Yes, coming from the days of predictable performance from RCA and the like, I don't always sleep well regarding some Russian tubes. I am at present sticking to ...EHs, after having examined/chopped open several defunct samples (thrown out by the disco fraternity). I found the EHs' internal construction most consistent, also characteristics.

To join Dave, I would also appreciate recent news about the Sovtek matter.

 

[Jim McShane]

I have not heard much about this issue of Mathews losing control of his factory in Russia as of late. But the prices of the tubes he sells have sure gone UP! I wonder if this is strictly a function of exchange rates or is production getting more difficult?

Three primary forces are at work driving up the prices:

1. The weak US dollar (for customers outside the US this may not apply of course)

2. Increases in energy, transportation/shipping, and raw materials costs

3. Some wage inflation in Russia

On the plant - at this point, it's pretty much Mike Mathews 1, Russian thugs 0. He seeems to have beaten them, with the help of a number of his larger customers and the US government.

 

[Salas]

Three primary forces are at work driving up the prices:

1. The weak US dollar (for customers outside the US this may not apply of course)

2. Increases in energy, transportation/shipping, and raw materials costs

3. Some wage inflation in Russia

On the plant - at this point, it's pretty much Mike Mathews 1, Russian thugs 0. He seeems to have beaten them, with the help of a number of his larger customers and the US government.

Great! For keeping the factory.

More Golden Lion types please. A proper 12AU7 from that level of construction too.

 

[DigitalJunkie]

don't mind blowing up some tubes, but I don't want to fry any OPT's or other expensive things.

The parafeed setup could work nicely..
I just had the thought of using some big resistor,in place of the OPT.
You would need suitable HV equipment to measure the output power though.
Yea,Maybe parafeed is the way to go.