Inside information on Shuguang

[Rob11966]

Does anyone have any reliable 'inside info' on Shuguang?

I have read all sorts of rumors concerning cessation of their audio tube production including -

1. They are abandoning audio tubes to concentrate on street lamps

2. The factory was hit by an earthquake

3. Tube components are in short supply

4. Not a part of their ongoing business plan

To counter this, Shuguang have recently released a batch of new tubes including a rerun of the 845B's (Jan 2009) and the 'treasure series' tubes. At the same time, many of their common tubes seem to be still readily available.

I must confess that I am specifically interested in the 845 metal plate tubes (rumored to either never be seen again or available very shortly) but I would be interested in any other information concerning Shuguang tube production.

What does the rumor mill have to offer?

[Colt45]

Oz isn't that far off, take a long weekend and hop on a plane

[rtsang]

Definitely not hit by earthquake.

Shuguang factory is in Changsha city, Hunan provence, 800km from the epicentre of the earthquake that hit China last year. Please see the attached map. The star is approximately where the epicentre was. The letter A is Changsha city.

According to their website in Chinese, they are still producing transmitter tubes, including the 845.

http://www.shuguangelec.com/product/...asp?classid=31

[igrant]

Originally posted by Rob11966
Does anyone have any reliable 'inside info' on Shuguang?

I have read all sorts of rumors concerning cessation of their audio tube production including -

1. They are abandoning audio tubes to concentrate on street lamps

2. The factory was hit by an earthquake

3. Tube components are in short supply

4. Not a part of their ongoing business plan

To counter this, Shuguang have recently released a batch of new tubes including a rerun of the 845B's (Jan 2009) and the 'treasure series' tubes. At the same time, many of their common tubes seem to be still readily available.

I must confess that I am specifically interested in the 845 metal plate tubes (rumored to either never be seen again or available very shortly) but I would be interested in any other information concerning Shuguang tube production.

What does the rumor mill have to offer?

Here is Rachel from Grant Fidelity - I am Chinese so I read news both in English and Chinese :-), double sources of rumours!

We distribute the Treasure series and some generic Shuguang tubes and just met the company's people in Dec 2008 at China's larges audio show - Guangzhou AV Fair.

1. Shuguang is a huge size business operating in more than just audio industry - Hi-Fi tubes have and will always be a small percentage of the overall business. This is by industry nature, not by Shuguang's change of plans whatsoever. People outside of China mostly know Shuguang as a vacuum tube manufacturer because unlikely we need to buy TV tubes from China :-)

2. As another member pointed out, Shuguang is far away from the Sichuan earthquake center. The factory is fine and sound, operating as usual.

3. Tube manufacturing is as normal, as far as I know. Given the tube varieties that Shuguang makes, it's not a surprise that certain type of tubes could be out of stock from time to time. They schedule tube production based on projection of demand, but again, this is a 50-year old Chinese government owned factory - expect some red-tape in decision making process. It doesn't always make sense just from business point of view :-)

4. Hi-Fi tube is always part of Shuguang's ongoing business plan, although it may not generate the most profit for the group because of the market size of Hi-Fi is in general smaller than other industries they are involved in. Yes they might use supply and demand to regulate market price - but hey, that's business decision and I do happen to agree with it. Shuguang tubes quality is decent and latest Treasure Series is absolutely outstanding (we are distributing them now and had many positive feedback from customers and not one tube is bad so far). For the price of Shuguang 845B is going nowadays, I personally think it is well undervalued. Same situation is happening on many other generic Shuguang class glass tubes.

There is market opinion that Shuguang tube quality isn't good - this is partly due to Shuguang's lack of control on distribution. You may find many online or eBay sellers selling Shguang tubes at quite low price - those could be 2nd tier quality from factory and shouldn't have entered the export market. If you purchase from a Shuguang's authorized dealer, you shouldn't experience such quality problem at all. However, there is no clear message on the market who is indeed Shuguang's authorized distributor or dealer, especially on the generic class glass tubes.

Grant Fidelity currently distributes the Treasure Series tubes and we will make sure these high value high quality tubes will only be available from authorized dealers in export market. I personally suggest buyers be very cautious of buying direct from China. Some tubes from those sources are not to hi-fi grade at all and were meant to be used for other purpose.

Well, this is my 2 cents. Sorry for my not-so-perfect English (it's my 2nd language - I can explain it a lot better in Chinese :-)

Best,
Rachel
Grant Fidelity
www.grantfidelity.com

[planet10]

Thanx Rachael

Your english is fine.

dave

[Rob11966]

Thanks for the replies. Rachel, your explanation was very clear and it is good to hear that it is business as usual. If you hear any news on he 845 metal plate, let me know!

Cheers,

Rob

[igrant]

Thank for everyone's encouragement :-) Glad that I could be of help to someone confused by the market rumors..

Shuguang doesn't have any stock of 845 metal plate now and I don't think they are planned for production in short period of time. Well, if they become available - I will report right away. 845B may come out soon.

Best,
Rachel

[Cauhtemoc]

Thanks Rachel, that helps a lot.

By the way, you said that the Shuguang factory is owned by the Chinese government, but there are rumours that it is owned by Samsung. Any comments on this?

[Alex Kitic]

ust a short note regarding the above:

Wow, there is someone who really earns for a living with tubes and audio equipment! These people get to follow forums, provide help and information were needed, deal with niceties such as vacuum tubes...

Just imagine the opposite: less than 250km from me is (or was...) another vacuum tube factory (Ei) but unlike Shuguang it has long since gone bankrupt, awaits to be sold, or whatever... BUT, people do not earn for a living dealing with tubes and audio equipment where I live

I have to earn for a living, too... but I have to do some other stuff, leaving me very little time for vacuum tubes, or wheatever else...

If only I believed in reincarnation, that would help me hope for the best in some other life, where I would have been born somewhere else: either too far from things (thus unaware) or where anything counts (thus being aware and doing something I like... be it audio, tubes, robots... whatever).

But, I am not a believer. One day, it will just be the end of the game. A game you loose by birth.

Tell me about equality...

[Stixx]

Alex, don't sound so sad...

I thought serbians were fighters (not in a bad sense), are fighters and ever will be fighters...
One day everything will be better, even in srpska republika (sorry for my writing).