I know a few here have been following the great British valve project, and ive been in contact with them over the last couple of years and it looks like they have made great progress in getting the machinery needed to operational condition.
I think they managed to get an investor for the needed funds, which is good news.
If these tubes are up to standard, ill take them hands down over modern chinese or russian tubes any day.
I dont know what parts of eastern europe bought the old mullard tooling, but they have acquired alot of machinery which is amazing to see was saved, and I know they sourced from Serbia, which makes me think most of it was from the EI plant, as they were using Mullard and Telefunken machinery there.
From what i understand, the most important thing to get right is the alloy used on the cathodes, this not only is important to the sound of a tube but the longevity of them also.
I would love to know if the telefunken cathode formulas are still in the archives somewhere, I believe it was never patented so that it remained a trade secret.
I think this will be the hardest thing for them to achieve, but I wish these guys all the best.
Great British Valve Project - Brimar Thermionic Products - Official Site
Im most interested in some new ECC83 and EL34 to the market.
I think they managed to get an investor for the needed funds, which is good news.
If these tubes are up to standard, ill take them hands down over modern chinese or russian tubes any day.
I dont know what parts of eastern europe bought the old mullard tooling, but they have acquired alot of machinery which is amazing to see was saved, and I know they sourced from Serbia, which makes me think most of it was from the EI plant, as they were using Mullard and Telefunken machinery there.
From what i understand, the most important thing to get right is the alloy used on the cathodes, this not only is important to the sound of a tube but the longevity of them also.
I would love to know if the telefunken cathode formulas are still in the archives somewhere, I believe it was never patented so that it remained a trade secret.
I think this will be the hardest thing for them to achieve, but I wish these guys all the best.
Great British Valve Project - Brimar Thermionic Products - Official Site
Im most interested in some new ECC83 and EL34 to the market.
I think one of the biggest hurdles for any new vacuum tube start up is the restrictions placed by ISO rules. Some of the raw materials used in vacuum tube production, lead for instance, are not being allowed in consumer products.
Its potentially a problem, but lead solder is still commonly available, and used in lots of electronics today.
Perhaps more of a problem is cathode materials, but i have no idea what chemicals or heavy metals are used in tube production.
I think grid wires are dipped in solder after being wound, but lead free solder could be used, everything else is welded together.
I honestly don't care about price if these tubes perfrom better than chinese tubes im happy to pay double for something made in the UK
They won't even be trying to compete on price. The name and origin will be the USP here.
I have my doubts that this will ever get off the ground. If Techtube failed -and they were actually making some tubes already- I can't see this working at all.
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There's more reason to be optimistic for Brimar - they have a hard-nosed attitude to (business and setup) cost-control. I have worked with them, in one of their minor branches, and they are good folks.
Support them with purchases of their carefully tested OEM valves (rebranded form far East factories), if you need some new production stocks: Brimar Tube Range - Brimar Thermionic Products - Official Site
About the Project: Great British Valve Project - Brimar Thermionic Products - Official Site
Support them with purchases of their carefully tested OEM valves (rebranded form far East factories), if you need some new production stocks: Brimar Tube Range - Brimar Thermionic Products - Official Site
About the Project: Great British Valve Project - Brimar Thermionic Products - Official Site
Yes im optimistic and excited about it too. I hope the old engineers will be around long enough to pass their skills on to the next generation so we see high quality tubes once more. My only question is how they will make the cathodes? Will they import them from another plant like russia or china or will they be able to coat them themselves? This is the true key to a high quality tube. What the main issue we have had for a long time from Russian tubes is that the workers simply knew how to assemble the tubes and most of the engineers had long since left and there was no real quality control from an engineers standpoint. I think things have changed over there in recent years but there is still room for improvement. Either way these brimar tubes will be better than what we currently have available.
I am hoping they will be even better, something close to the original mullards would be nice. I always thought Brimar tubes were of high quality, but an old school TV tech tells me that in the day, Brimar tubes were always looked to as a cheaper, substandard tube of poor quality. This was news to me, but its way before my time. Either way, ive got NOS brimars and cant fault them. The new Brimar tubes will be closer construction to an original Mullard im expecting anyway. Remember its just a trademark they own, but at least this will have more going for it than a russian made telefunken or mullard. It really sickens me why they even bother using those old brands for marketing.
Who knows? One theory i hear is environmental regulations would prevent alot of the toxic materials from being used in modern tubes, hence one reason why china and russia get away with alot. But im unsure if any heavy metals or toxic compounds are used on the cathodes at all. Either way, the secret of a good tube is the cathode as this is what releases the electrons.
New production has nothing to do with older tubes. They have put back to work old machinery used by Mullard and other glorious companies, people are not the same and standards might not be the same. The market exists if they have a good plan. Those who say the contrary simply don't have idea of how to run a business....
Other companies have failed because regardless of the quality of their products they simply didn't sell enough. Clearly Brimar are already in the guitar amps market which IS (a good part of) the main market. It's not certainly the HiFi one.
Apart from this Brimar used to make nice tubes like the 6SN7GTY, EL84 just to name a couple. Not to speak of the re-branded classic American tubes like the 6F6 and 6V6. Like EVERYONE else, cheaper tubes appeared by the end of the sixties when factories were moved to other places, started to save on materials etc....
Can someone help me to identify R600-R607 thank you
P.S. They don't make in UK all tubes they sell. They state it clearly. For example they have the 12AX7 (which looks like a Sovtek 12AX7LPS) and the ECC83 which is made with the old Mullard machinery.
Other companies have failed because regardless of the quality of their products they simply didn't sell enough. Clearly Brimar are already in the guitar amps market which IS (a good part of) the main market. It's not certainly the HiFi one.
Apart from this Brimar used to make nice tubes like the 6SN7GTY, EL84 just to name a couple. Not to speak of the re-branded classic American tubes like the 6F6 and 6V6. Like EVERYONE else, cheaper tubes appeared by the end of the sixties when factories were moved to other places, started to save on materials etc....
Can someone help me to identify R600-R607 thank you
P.S. They don't make in UK all tubes they sell. They state it clearly. For example they have the 12AX7 (which looks like a Sovtek 12AX7LPS) and the ECC83 which is made with the old Mullard machinery.
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I think their quality control dropped back at the end when thorn took over the company from STC.
I believe their earlier tubes were much better quality.
If I remember correctly "Brimar" were making the CRT's for head-up displays in current military aircraft. The filament structures were outsourced to a tiny (one man and his dog) company in the US. I believe he had a special formula "slurry" for coating the filaments. I wonder if the new Brimar will make their own filaments or still use this supplier. I can't imagine he was cheap, but he was probably very good because high standards were expected.
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