The following is a snip from the June 3, 2005 issue of The Wall Street Journal dealing with bargains around the world:
RUSSIA
WHAT TO BUY: Hi-fi equipment
Russia, backward? Nyet. In a case of old technology trumping the new, tube amplifiers -- a stereo technology last big in the U.S. in the 1960s -- are still made in Russia. Tube amps incorporate low-tech vacuum tubes, which stereo fans say produce a warmer sound than digital equipment, and the gear is catching back on not just with Russia's super-rich, but with music buffs on a budget. The key: The country has lots of new and Soviet-era vacuum tubes, plus out-of-work electronics specialists. Made in Russia and Ukraine, the amps start at around $600, less than half the cost of most Western models.
The catch: These things can weigh 50 pounds or more and require careful packing and extra baggage fees (fragile tubes should be removed and carried on). Plus, getting to a retailer may take some code-cracking: To reach Andre Popkov's Renaissance Audio Systems in Moscow, take the subway to the next-to-last stop (it's called Skhodnenskoye -- but you have to read Cyrillic), find the yellow-brick Mendeleyev Chemistry Institute, pass under the Do-Not-Enter sign... on second thought, email Mr. Popkov beforehand. With advance notice, his manufacturers will also customize equipment for U.S. voltage.
RUSSIA
WHAT TO BUY: Hi-fi equipment
Russia, backward? Nyet. In a case of old technology trumping the new, tube amplifiers -- a stereo technology last big in the U.S. in the 1960s -- are still made in Russia. Tube amps incorporate low-tech vacuum tubes, which stereo fans say produce a warmer sound than digital equipment, and the gear is catching back on not just with Russia's super-rich, but with music buffs on a budget. The key: The country has lots of new and Soviet-era vacuum tubes, plus out-of-work electronics specialists. Made in Russia and Ukraine, the amps start at around $600, less than half the cost of most Western models.
The catch: These things can weigh 50 pounds or more and require careful packing and extra baggage fees (fragile tubes should be removed and carried on). Plus, getting to a retailer may take some code-cracking: To reach Andre Popkov's Renaissance Audio Systems in Moscow, take the subway to the next-to-last stop (it's called Skhodnenskoye -- but you have to read Cyrillic), find the yellow-brick Mendeleyev Chemistry Institute, pass under the Do-Not-Enter sign... on second thought, email Mr. Popkov beforehand. With advance notice, his manufacturers will also customize equipment for U.S. voltage.
Haha! Great read.
Whatever else was wrong with the old soviet union, they sure produced good scientists and engineers. Now they make some pretty good tubes too it seems!
Whatever else was wrong with the old soviet union, they sure produced good scientists and engineers. Now they make some pretty good tubes too it seems!
Lets stick to "Russian Tubes" as a whole. Discussing only the "Russian" part is probably not the thread starters intention.
/Hugo 🙂
/Hugo 🙂
Been using "Russian tubes" since I started tinkering with these circuits for the past 3 years and they work great!
My first DIY'd preamp used a Sovtek 6N1P, really learned a lot from that one. 😉
My first DIY'd preamp used a Sovtek 6N1P, really learned a lot from that one. 😉
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